Sales & Marketing Leadership Recruitment in Hospitality | Director-Level Search Globally
The hotels that win in their markets have exceptional sales and marketing leaders. Finding them requires a recruiter who understands the discipline from the inside.
In luxury hospitality, sales and marketing leadership is one of the most complex and commercially critical functions to hire well. A great Director of Sales and Marketing doesn't just manage a team and attend trade shows. They build revenue strategies across multiple segments, lead brand positioning decisions, manage agency relationships, drive digital marketing performance and negotiate contracts that shape a hotel's commercial trajectory for years. Getting this appointment right matters enormously. Getting it wrong is immediately visible on the performance report.
Madison Mayfair specialises in placing Sales and Marketing leaders into luxury hotels, resort groups, private members' clubs, hotel management companies and global hotel brands. We recruit across the full sales and marketing function, from property-level Director of Sales through to VP of Sales and Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer, working on a retained basis with a 97% search completion rate.
The Sales and Marketing Roles We Recruit
We conduct specialist retained executive search across every level and discipline within hospitality sales and marketing leadership, including Director of Sales and Marketing, Director of Sales, Director of Marketing and Communications, Director of PR and Communications, VP of Sales and Marketing, Area Director of Sales and Marketing, Cluster Director of Sales, Regional Director of Sales, Chief Marketing Officer, Director of Brand, Director of Digital Marketing, Director of Partnerships and Director of Events and Groups.
We recruit for individual property sales and marketing appointments, cluster and area roles, and group-level corporate sales and marketing leadership across hotel brands, management companies, ownership groups and asset managers globally.
What Makes an Exceptional Hotel Sales and Marketing Leader
The best sales and marketing leaders in luxury hospitality combine genuine commercial instinct with brand intelligence, digital fluency and the relationship skills to open and maintain the accounts that drive significant revenue. They understand the dynamics of corporate, leisure, group and MICE business. They know how to position a property in a competitive market and how to protect the rate in a downturn. They lead high-performing teams while remaining hands-on enough to influence the decisions that matter.
These individuals are rarely available. They are performing well, valued by their current employer, and not looking at job boards. Reaching them requires a recruiter with personal relationships across the sales and marketing community in luxury hospitality globally, the credibility to open a confidential conversation and the ability to present an opportunity in a way that is genuinely compelling to someone who is not actively considering a move.
Property-Level and Corporate Sales and Marketing Search
We understand that the skills required of a Director of Sales and Marketing at a single luxury hotel are distinct from those required at group or corporate level. A high-performing property-level DOSM who excels at account management and team leadership is not automatically the right candidate for a VP Sales and Marketing role responsible for brand strategy, digital transformation and commercial architecture across a portfolio.
We assess every candidate against the specific scope and complexity of the role, ensuring the right profile is targeted and the right conversation is opened from the outset.
The Modern Sales and Marketing Landscape in Luxury Hospitality
The role of sales and marketing in luxury hospitality has evolved significantly. Digital marketing, social media strategy, influencer partnerships, OTA positioning, direct booking campaigns, and brand content have all become integral to the sales and marketing leader's remit, alongside the traditional disciplines of account management, corporate sales, conference and events, and leisure travel.
The best candidates in this space can navigate all of these dimensions. Identifying them accurately requires recruiters with current, deep knowledge of the discipline, which is exactly what Madison Mayfair brings to every search.
Building Sales and Marketing Teams
Beyond individual appointments, Madison Mayfair works with hotel ownership groups, asset managers and management companies to build entire sales and marketing teams during openings, repositionings and portfolio expansions. Whether you need a single critical hire or a full team build, we bring the same retained search rigour and sector expertise to every assignment.
Where We Work
Madison Mayfair recruits sales and marketing leaders globally, with particular depth across the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and the Americas. We have successfully placed sales and marketing leadership into roles across multiple markets and time zones, supporting luxury hotel groups, independent operators, asset managers and global hospitality brands wherever they need specialist help.
Part of the Hospitality People Group
Madison Mayfair is part of the Hospitality People Group, operating in specialist hospitality recruitment since 1996. For board-level and C-suite appointments, our sister brand HPG Search provides additional executive search capability. For finance leadership within hospitality, FM Recruitment offers specialist depth. Together, the group covers every senior hospitality appointment from Head of Department to Chief Executive.
Ready to find your next Sales and Marketing leader?
Submit a vacancy or contact the Madison Mayfair team for a confidential conversation about your sales and marketing leadership requirements.
5 FAQS
Q1: What is the difference between a Director of Sales, a Director of Marketing and a Director of Sales and Marketing in a hotel?
In luxury hospitality, these roles are sometimes combined and sometimes separate, depending on the size and structure of the property or group. A Director of Sales focuses primarily on account management, corporate and group business development and the direct sales activities that drive occupancy and rate. A Director of Marketing focuses on brand positioning, digital marketing, PR, communications and guest acquisition strategy. A Director of Sales and Marketing combines both disciplines and leads the full commercial go-to-market function at the property level. In larger hotel groups, these roles are often separated at the senior level, with distinct leaders for each discipline reporting into a VP Commercial or Chief Commercial Officer. Madison Mayfair recruits across all three structures and tailors every search to the specific scope of the role.
Q2: How do you find passive Director of Sales and Marketing candidates in luxury hospitality?
The best sales and marketing leaders in luxury hospitality are almost never actively on the market. They are delivering strong results, managing high-performing teams and not browsing job boards. We reach them through proactive, confidential outreach built on personal relationships developed over nearly three decades in the sector. Our network of more than 20,000 senior hospitality professionals gives us direct access to the full depth of the sales and marketing talent pool globally, including candidates who would never respond to an advertised vacancy but who will take a call from a recruiter they know and trust.
Q3: Do you recruit hotel sales and marketing leaders outside the UK?
Yes. Madison Mayfair recruits sales and marketing leadership globally, with active placement experience across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and the Americas. Sales and marketing is one of the most internationally mobile disciplines in luxury hospitality, and our candidate network reflects that breadth. We regularly conduct cross-border searches for hotel ownership groups, management companies and global brands, placing sales and marketing leaders into roles across multiple markets simultaneously.
Q4: What experience and skills should a luxury hotel Director of Sales and Marketing have?
An exceptional Director of Sales and Marketing in luxury hospitality should have a strong track record across multiple revenue-generating segments, typically including corporate transient, leisure, group, MICE and long-stay business. They should demonstrate commercial acumen, brand awareness, digital marketing fluency and the leadership capability to build and motivate a high-performing sales team. Experience with CRM systems, digital marketing platforms and OTA strategy is increasingly important. Beyond technical skills, the best candidates bring relationship depth in key feeder markets, the confidence to engage ownership and asset management stakeholders and a genuine passion for the brand they represent. Madison Mayfair assesses all of these dimensions as part of our TALENT methodology before presenting any candidate to a client.
Q5: How do you assess cultural fit for a sales and marketing leadership role in a luxury hotel?
Cultural fit in sales and marketing leadership is particularly important in luxury hospitality because the DOSM or VP Sales is one of the most externally visible members of the leadership team. They represent the property to key accounts, media and partners, and their personal brand directly reflects the hotel's positioning. Our assessment process examines not just a candidate's commercial track record and technical skills, but also their communication style, brand sensibility, values alignment, and genuine motivation to join your specific property or group. We conduct structured competency interviews, soft reference checks, and, where appropriate, behavioural assessments before presenting anyone to a client, ensuring every shortlisted candidate is both qualified for the role and genuinely aligned with your culture and guest-experience philosophy.