Director, Deployment Operation & Command Center (Contractor)

JOB SUMMARY

The Director, Deployment Operation & Command Center is a key member of the Business Transformation Office team, reporting to the Senior Director, Deployment Command Center. This position is responsible for leading the execution, coordination, and operational support of D+TT deployment activities across assigned deployment waves. This role combines ownership of Run of Show execution with leadership of Deployment Support operations to enable successful hotel cutovers, rapid issue resolution, and a controlled transition to business-as-usual operations.

The Director serves as a key leader within the Deployment Command Center, overseeing deployment readiness, live-event orchestration, stakeholder communications, issue management, and post-cutover stabilization. Working across business and technology teams, this position ensures deployment activities are executed consistently, risks are proactively managed, and hotels in Chinese Mainland receive the support required to adopt new systems and processes successfully.

Key Responsibilities

Run of Show Leadership

• Lead the development, maintenance, and execution of deployment Run of Show plans across assigned waves.

• Coordinate cutover activities across hotels, business workstreams, technology teams, support functions, continent teams, and vendors.

• Maintain an integrated view of milestones, dependencies, decision points, risks, and critical-path activities.

• Drive real-time execution during deployment events and ensure teams understand required actions, timing, ownership, and escalation paths.

Command Center Operations

• Lead the command center operating cadence during deployment waves, including readiness reviews, operational calls, issue reviews, shift handovers, and executive updates.

• Monitor deployment progress and provide clear visibility into wave health, hotel status, risks, blockers, and unresolved issues.

• Coordinate across global, continent, market, and hotel-level teams to maintain consistent execution and communication.

• Support 24/7 operational coverage during deployment windows, including clear shift structures, handoffs, and escalation responsibilities.

Cutover Governance

• Monitor execution against approved Run of Show timelines, entry criteria, exit criteria, and readiness requirements.

• Identify execution risks early and activate the appropriate decision-making and escalation pathways.

• Coordinate go-live readiness assessments and support informed cutover decisions.

• Ensure deployment decisions, outcomes, exceptions, and lessons learned are documented and communicated.

Deployment Support Leadership

• Lead support planning and execution for assigned deployment waves, from pre-deployment readiness through stabilization.

• Ensure support models, staffing, tools, procedures, knowledge content, communication channels, and escalation paths are ready before go-live.

• Coordinate business, technology, service desk, vendor, and continent support teams to provide an integrated support experience for hotels.

• Confirm clear ownership and handoffs between deployment support and steady-state support organizations.

Issue Management & Resolution

• Oversee the intake, triage, prioritization, assignment, escalation, and resolution of deployment-related incidents, defects, and operational issues.

• Drive timely escalation of high-impact issues and coordinate cross-functional response teams to minimize hotel disruption.

• Maintain visibility into issue status, aging, business impact, dependencies, workarounds, and resolution plans.

• Analyze issue patterns and recurring themes to inform corrective action and future-wave improvements.

Post-Go-Live Stabilization

• Lead stabilization activities following go-live and monitor hotel adoption, support demand, unresolved issues, and operational performance.

• Establish clear stabilization exit criteria and track progress toward transition to business-as-usual support.

• Coordinate resolution of outstanding issues and confirm that residual risks have documented owners and action plans.

• Report stabilization health, support effectiveness, and transition readiness to deployment leadership and stakeholders.

Stakeholder & Executive Communication

• Serve as a primary operational communication lead during cutover and stabilization periods.

• Provide timely, concise, and audience-appropriate updates to command center leadership, continent teams, hotel stakeholders, and executives.

• Prepare deployment health summaries, risk and issue reports, decision materials, and executive briefings.

• Maintain transparency on readiness, execution status, support performance, and required leadership actions.

Continuous Improvement

• Lead post-wave retrospectives and translate lessons learned into practical improvements for subsequent waves.

• Enhance deployment playbooks, Run of Show templates, support models, command center procedures, and escalation protocols.

• Partner with stakeholders to improve execution agility, hotel experience, operational visibility, and issue-resolution effectiveness.

• Promote consistent standards, disciplined execution, and a continuous-improvement mindset across deployment teams.

Leadership Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop Deployment Support and Run of Show team members.

• Establish clear roles, accountability, performance expectations, and execution standards.

• Foster collaboration across deployment, hotel operations, technology, business, vendor, and support teams.

• Support resource planning, hiring, onboarding, training, scheduling, and readiness of deployment personnel.

• Build a high-performance culture centered on customer experience, operational excellence, accountability, and successful deployment outcomes.

Qualifications

Required Experience

• Eight or more years of relevant experience in technology deployment, program management, command center operations, IT operations, hospitality systems, or large-scale transformation.

• Demonstrated experience leading complex deployments, cutovers, go-live events, or high-pressure operational command centers.

• Experience leading cross-functional teams and coordinating stakeholders in a complex, matrixed environment.

• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities, dependencies, risks, and escalations under demanding timelines.

• Strong facilitation, executive communication, problem-solving, and decision-support capabilities.

Preferred Experience

• Hospitality industry experience and knowledge of hotel operations.

• Experience supporting large-scale property management, reservations, loyalty, finance, commercial, or enterprise technology deployments.

• Experience with deployment support, incident management, service management, stabilization, and operational handover.

• Familiarity with Microsoft 365, ServiceNow, Power BI, Jira, Smartsheet, Monday.com, or comparable deployment tracking and reporting tools.

Core Competencies

• Deployment orchestration and cutover management

• Command center leadership and operational governance

• Incident, risk, dependency, and escalation management

• Executive communication and stakeholder engagement

• Cross-functional leadership and influence

• Planning, prioritization, and disciplined execution

• Adaptability and sound judgment under pressure

• Customer focus and continuous improvement