Chief Engineer

Accor is looking for a Chief Engineer to lead the engineering team at Grand Mercure Dubai City, a 5-star hotel in Dubai. The property has 361 rooms, a range of dining options and modern meeting facilities, all backed by a passionate team focused on memorable guest experiences. This is an onsite, full-time role at the hotel, designed for someone who wants to steer facilities, safety and technical excellence in a luxury setting and help the Heartists grow in their careers.

Grand Mercure Dubai City emphasises inclusion and aims to attract and promote diverse talent. The role sits within a framework that values standards, safety and disciplined operations, while giving you the chance to shape the engineering program for a high-profile property.

If you enjoy leading a multi-disciplinary team, coordinating preventive maintenance, managing spare parts, and ensuring all systems run smoothly in a luxury hotel environment, you’ll likely feel at home here.

Keeping the engine room humming

Your day-to-day will center on overseeing engineering administration, facilities management and the preventive maintenance program, ensuring repairs are timely and the property stays compliant with safety standards. You’ll work with corporate Engineering to stay aligned with brand practices and manage the storage and flow of spare parts to keep critical equipment available when needed, all while keeping safety and fire prevention top of mind.

In planning and organizing, you’ll handle engineering purchasing in collaboration with the finance team, maintain adequate stock levels and track all items that come in and go out. You’ll implement necessary maintenance procedures, monitor their execution, and file the results properly. You’ll prioritise the engineering workload, respond quickly to breakdowns and design the annual preventive maintenance schedule for the hotel. You’ll also plan training within the Engineering division with the P&C/L&D Manager, initiate regular fire-fighting training with the Director of Security, and review staffing and leave plans to keep resources balanced for guest satisfaction and Heartists productivity. You’ll stay familiar with the Brand Standards Manual for Engineering and other related corporate documents so your practice stays in line with brand expectations.

In operations, you’ll ensure compliance with Fire, Hygiene, Health and Safety policies and you’ll oversee all technical installations across the hotel’s plant systems, including sewage and fresh water, the emergency generator, air conditioning, building services, kitchen equipment, cooling, pools, lighting, in-house music and TV systems, and paging. You’ll model a professional standard of grooming for yourself and your team, maintain knowledge of all products and services offered by the property and the local area, and provide solutions in emergencies or larger-scale problems. Your leadership will help Heartists and any external contractors deliver work that meets Accor and brand standards. You’ll run regular technical skills training, allocate duties across Engineering staff to align with brand requirements, supervise work to ensure quality, and lead daily briefings and monthly Heartists meetings. You’ll also manage any necessary plant room modifications and improvements and be prepared to take on other reasonable duties as assigned while protecting confidential information and safeguarding equipment and records.

Must-haves, nice-to-haves

What you bring to the team matters. The essentials include a bachelor’s degree in engineering, facilities management or a related field, plus substantial leadership experience in an engineering role within a hotel or hospitality setting (about five to seven years). You should have strong technical knowledge of building systems, HVAC, electrical, plumbing and fire protection, and a proven ability to lead and motivate a diverse team. Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills are important, especially when delivering timely and cost-efficient solutions.

• A bachelor’s degree in engineering, facilities management, or a related field
• Five to seven years of managerial experience in engineering within a hotel or hospitality environment
• Solid technical understanding of building systems such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing and fire protection
• Demonstrated leadership and the ability to guide a diverse workforce
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making capabilities aimed at timely, cost-effective outcomes

Nice-to-haves include professional certification, for example Certified Hotel Engineer or Certified Facilities Manager, which would be a plus.

• Professional certification such as Certified Hotel Engineer or Certified Facilities Manager

Pay, benefits and practical details

The role is a full-time, onsite position based at Grand Mercure Dubai City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Accor emphasises diversity and inclusion as part of its approach to hiring, and the hotel operates with a team of Heartists dedicated to guest service and growth. Specific pay figures, schedule details, travel expectations, work authorisation requirements or licensing are not listed in the description.

Advice for applicants

Highlight your track record of five to seven years in hotel engineering leadership, with concrete examples of managing complex facilities and coordinating preventive maintenance programs. Show how you’ve kept building systems like HVAC, electrical, plumbing and fire protection reliable in a luxury property, and point to situations where you led diverse teams to meet brand standards and safety targets.

When you describe your must-have skills, include details that prove your ability to plan and execute annual preventive maintenance programs, manage spare parts inventories and coordinate with finance on purchasing. If you’ve designed technical training or fire safety programs, share outcomes and any measurable improvements in efficiency or safety.

For interview prep, be ready to discuss how you organise engineering resources to match the Heartists’ schedule and how you prioritise work to avoid impacting guest experience. Be prepared to walk through a specific example of resolving a major maintenance issue while maintaining safety and cost controls, and explain how you’d engage with the Director of Security for fire and emergency training initiatives.

When you frame a smart question to ask, consider asking how the hotel measures the impact of engineering on owner and guest satisfaction or how the Chief Engineer collaborates with corporate engineering to implement brand standards across the property. You could also ask about the frequency of fire safety drills and how training is integrated with daily operations.