People Development Manager
AccorEnnismore, a fast-growing force in lifestyle and leisure hospitality, is bringing the Delano brand to the UAE for the first time. Delano Dubai will sit on Bluewaters Island, offering luxe rooms and suites, four culinary and mixology concepts, plus an oceanfront pool and wellness studio. The People Development Manager role sits at the heart of turning this culture into everyday experience, shaping how colleagues learn, grow and connect with the brand.
The role is hands-on and centered on people, with close collaboration to People & Culture and hotel leaders to make learning feel relevant, practical and uniquely Delano. You’ll design onboarding, brand immersion and leadership development that lives beyond classrooms, helping teams deliver hospitality that carries the Delano signature, sophisticated, personal and memorable.
Based onsite in Dubai, this fulltime position is ideal for someone who believes that great hospitality starts with great people and that development should be human, practical and tailor-made to the team and the guest experience.
How your days will unfold in the Delano learning suite
You’ll own the hotel’s learning and development plan, ensuring it lines up with what the business needs and what colleagues want to grow into. In practice, you’ll craft and run learning experiences across service, behavior and leadership, while guiding leaders to translate development needs into real, usable solutions and keeping training records up to date. You’ll bring the Delano experience to life in onboarding, shaping a journey that connects new joiners to the brand story and culture, and you’ll build departmental trainers and champions who keep learning alive within their teams. Throughout, you’ll work with operational partners to strengthen service and guest experience, and you’ll stay closely connected to Ennismore’s broader People Development programs to bring new ideas to Delano.
Success looks like a smooth onboarding cadence where new colleagues feel the brand from day one, a yearly learning calendar delivered with strong participation, and compliance that stays on track while leadership development and coaching reach managers and rising stars. It also means actively maintaining talent and succession plans that support internal mobility, and ensuring departmental trainers are equipped to keep learning consistent and effective across shifts and departments. The impact is measured through feedback, observations and guest experience indicators, with clear actions agreed with department leaders and followed through.
Must-have requirements
Background in People Development, Learning & Development or Talent Development, preferably within luxury or lifestyle hospitality
A confident, engaging facilitation style that connects with people at all levels
Experience designing and delivering onboarding and ongoing learning programs
Strong grasp of hotel operations and the pace of hospitality
Creative thinking, curiosity and a willingness to try new approaches
Excellent organization and the ability to turn ideas into action
A collaborative, people-first mindset and a real passion for helping others grow
Ability to make learning feel human, relevant and worth showing up for
Nice-to-haves
A track record partnering with hotel leaders to identify development needs and turning them into practical, brand-aligned solutions
Experience developing departmental trainers and champions who sustain learning within teams
Comfort working closely with operations to strengthen service levels and the guest experience
Pay, benefits and practical details
Role is fulltime and on-site, based in Dubai, AE, with schedule aligned to hotel operations. The posting doesn’t list salary or benefits, but it emphasizes a close partnership with hotel leadership and Ennismore’s People Development teams to shape programs and outcomes that matter for culture and guest experience.
Advice for applicants
Lead with your L&D wins in luxury or lifestyle hospitality, and place onboarding and development programs at the top of your resume so the hiring team sees your impact right away.
Show concrete examples of partnering with leaders to identify development needs and translate them into practical, brand-aligned solutions. Include outcomes or metrics that demonstrate how learning moved the needle in service, leadership or engagement.
Prepare stories that illustrate how you brought brand culture to life through onboarding and ongoing learning, and how you developed trainers or champions who kept learning alive across the team.
In your questions, ask how Delano Dubai blends global Ennismore PD programs with hotel-specific needs and what success looks like for the role in the first six to twelve months. A smart follow-up question could focus on how you’ll collaborate with operation teams to tie learning directly to guest experience.