
Hello R***ca,
I’m J***ne, an HR Recruiter at StrategyBrain. I came across your profile and was really impressed by your leadership in business development at A***p and your solid track record in cross-border M&A from your time at B***h. We’re partnering with H***l,a global hospitality leader,to find a Global Director of Strategic Business Development. I believe your experience in crafting expansion strategies and closing international deals could be an excellent fit. Would you be open to a brief conversation to learn more about this role?
Looking forward to your thoughts.
Best regards,
J***ne
HR Recruiter, StrategyBrain
Hi J***ne, thanks for reaching out. With my experience driving A***p’s international expansion and closing cross-border deals at B***A, the Global Director role sounds right up my alley,happy to chat and learn more, just let me know a good time.


Hi R***ca,
Great to hear you’re interested. Here’s a closer look at H***l and the Global Director of Strategic Business Development role,based on your A***p and B***A cross-border experience, I think you’ll find it a strong match:
1. Company & Opportunity
• H***n is a leading global hospitality group with 200+ properties across 50+ countries. We pride ourselves on an entrepreneurial culture, customer-centric innovation, and rapid international growth.
• As Global Director, you’ll sit on our senior leadership team and shape our next phase of expansion.
2. Key Responsibilities
• Develop and execute comprehensive global expansion and partnership strategies to drive revenue and market share.
• Source, negotiate, and close cross-border M&A deals, strategic alliances, and joint ventures in priority markets.
• Partner with finance, operations, and marketing to ensure seamless integration and alignment with corporate objectives.
• Build and mentor a high-performing business development team, fostering data-driven decision-making and innovation.
• Monitor market trends, perform competitive analysis, and present strategic insights directly to the executive committee.
3. Why This Role Matters
• High impact: You’ll influence H***n’s overall growth trajectory and help set our global footprint.
• Leadership: You’ll lead a dedicated team and work closely with the C-suite on strategic initiatives.
• Resources: You’ll have a robust analytics function, dedicated deal-sourcing support, and an established brand to back your efforts.
4. Growth & Rewards
• Career progression: Clear pathway to a C-level role within a fast-growing global organization.
• Competitive compensation: Market-leading base, performance bonus, and equity participation.
• Benefits: Comprehensive health coverage, global travel privileges, and a strong learning & development budget.
Would you like any additional detail on the team structure, compensation, or company roadmap? If this looks good, I’d love to set up a brief call,here are a few options in Hong Kong time:
• Tuesday, April 9 at 10:00 AM HKT
• Wednesday, April 10 at 2:00 PM HKT
• Thursday, April 11 at 4:00 PM HKT
Please let me know which slot works best, or suggest another time that suits you. Looking forward to our conversation!
Best regards,
J***ne
HR Recruiter, StrategyBrain
Thanks for the info, J***ne. Could you share a bit more about the current BD team structure,how many direct reports and who this role reports into? Also curious about the typical comp mix (base vs bonus/equity). Wednesday the 10th at 2 PM HKT works for me.


Hi R***ca,
Happy to dive in. In this role you’ll report directly into our Chief Strategy Officer and sit on H***n’s senior leadership team. The Business Development organization today counts about eight professionals globally, and you’ll have four direct reports: two Regional BD Heads (EMEA & APAC), one M&A Lead, and one Strategic Alliances Manager. Beyond that, you’ll partner closely with our analytics and deal-sourcing teams.
As for compensation, we target a roughly balanced mix: about 60% base salary, 30% annual performance bonus, and around 10% in long-term equity awards. This blend ensures you’re rewarded for both short-term impact and H***n’s long-term growth.
I’ve penciled you in for Wednesday the 10th at 2 PM HKT and will send over a calendar invite momentarily. Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like ahead of our chat!
Best,
J***ne
Thanks, J***ne,appreciate the details. Could you share a bit on the team’s recent wins and the typical deal pipeline? Also, how are performance metrics defined for this role,any specific revenue/KPI targets or P&L responsibilities?


Hi R***ca,
Happy to provide more color:
1. Recent Team Wins
- Closed a strategic joint venture in Southeast Asia that’s on track to add ~12% incremental room revenue next year.
- Executed the acquisition and integration of two boutique properties in Southern Europe, delivering a 20% uplift in local market share.
- Secured a tech-partnership with a leading travel platform, driving a 25% increase in direct-booking pipeline.
2. Typical Deal Pipeline
- We currently have ~15 active opportunities across APAC, EMEA and North America, ranging from bolt-on acquisitions ($10,50M deal sizes) to larger joint-ventures (~$100M+).
- Monthly pipeline reviews focus on 3,5 high-priority M&A targets and 8,10 strategic alliance prospects, with dedicated resourcing from our analytics and sourcing teams.
3. Performance Metrics & P&L
- Revenue targets: annual partnership revenue growth of 15,20%, with specific region-level goals cascading from the global plan.
- Deal KPIs: number of deals closed, average deal value, time-to-close, and post-integration ROI.
- P&L responsibility: you’ll own the P&L for all new partnerships and acquired assets, working closely with Finance to forecast and manage returns.
Let me know if you’d like any additional detail ahead of our call on Wednesday at 2 PM HKT. Looking forward to diving deeper!
Best,
J***ne
Thanks, J***ne,this is really helpful. Quick follow-up: what have been the biggest integration pain points post-acquisition (especially in the Southern Europe deals) and how does the BD team support those? Also, for P&L ownership, are we managing asset-level budgets or rolling up into a regional/global P&L?


Hi R***ca,
Great questions. On Southern Europe integrations, the biggest pain points we’ve seen are:
1. System harmonization (aligning property management and reporting tools),
2. Local regulatory and licensing nuances, and
3. Cultural alignment between legacy teams and H***n’s operating standards.
Our BD team supports each phase by embedding a dedicated integration lead who partners with Operations, Finance, and IT. From Day 1 we establish clear milestones,data migration checkpoints, regulatory approvals, and on-site walkthroughs,so we can spot issues early and keep the handover on track.
Regarding P&L ownership, you’ll manage asset-level budgets for each new acquisition or partnership, working closely with our regional finance teams to forecast revenues, control costs, and drive ROI. Those individual budgets roll up into the EMEA (and other regional) P&Ls you’ll oversee, which in turn feed into H***n’s global consolidated results. This structure gives you both the granular control you need on each property and the big-picture view that informs our overall strategy.
Let me know if this helps or if there’s anything else you’d like ahead of our call on Wednesday at 2 PM HKT.
Best regards,
J***ne
Thanks, J***ne,that’s really clear. One more thing: in my experience at A***p we leaned heavily on change-management workshops to ease cultural shifts,does H***n run similar sessions during integrations? And for those asset-level budgets, are the forecasting models locked down centrally or can I tweak assumptions to fit local market dynamics?


Hi R***ca,
Great questions.
1. Change-management workshops
H***n runs a structured change-management program for every major integration. We partner with our internal Change Center of Excellence to facilitate 2,3 workshops at key milestones (pre-close alignment, Day 1 readiness, and 90-day post-integration). These sessions bring together BD, Operations, HR and local leadership to tackle cultural alignment, operating-standard roll-out and communication plans. You’ll have the flexibility to adapt the existing toolkit or design custom modules based on the market’s needs.
2. Asset-level budgeting
We provide a centralized forecasting model with standard assumptions (RevPAR trajectories, staffing ratios, CapEx phasing, etc.), but leaders are encouraged to tweak inputs to reflect local dynamics,whether that’s adjusting market-specific ADR growth, labor cost projections or promotional spend. Once you’ve refined the assumptions, our regional finance teams will review and roll them up into the broader P&L.
Looking forward to diving deeper on Wednesday at 2:00 PM HKT. Please let me know if you’d like any pre-reads on our change-management framework or budgeting templates.
Best,
J***ne
Thanks, J***ne,this is super helpful. Could you share a recent example of a custom change-management workshop you or the team designed (maybe in APAC) and how you track its cultural adoption post-integration? And on budgeting, what variance thresholds typically trigger a deeper review or escalation?


Hi R***ca,
Sure thing , here are the specifics:
1. APAC Change-Management Workshop Example
• Context: When we integrated two upscale resorts in Thailand last year, we built a custom three-phase workshop series:
, Pre-close Alignment: Brought in local leaders and H***n’s Ops, HR and BD teams to map cultural sensitivities, define new service-level norms and co-create a communication plan.
, Day-1 Readiness: Ran interactive role-plays on guest interactions, system demos for the new PMS, and breakouts on leadership expectations.
, 90-Day Pulse: Convened all stakeholders to diagnose pain points, recalibrate processes and celebrate early wins.
• Tracking Adoption:
, Training Completion: Achieved 100% of frontline staff certified on our SOPs within 45 days.
, Compliance Metrics: Monitored property-level use of the new PMS (target > 85% daily login rate by week 4).
, Employee Pulse Surveys: Collected bi-monthly feedback; saw cultural alignment scores rise from 60% pre-integration to 82% by day 90.
, Guest NPS Trends: Tracked guest-experience scores in the shells of integrated units , saw a 15% bump in satisfaction by month three.
2. Budget Variance Thresholds
• Revenue & RevPAR: Any variance of ±5% against forecast triggers a finance-team deep dive; >10% automatically escalates to the CFO/CSO for strategic review.
• Operating Costs: A swing of ±7% on controllable costs (labor, F&B spend, utilities) prompts immediate root-cause analysis.
• CapEx & Major Projects: Movements beyond ±5% of budgeted spend require sign-off from regional finance leadership before release of further funds.
Hope that gives you the level of detail you’re after , happy to share our workshop toolkit or budgeting templates ahead of Wednesday’s call at 2:00 PM HKT. Let me know if you’d like anything else!
Best,
J***ne