Front Office Manager careers guide & job profile
It’s your job to make sure hotel guests have a GREAT experience during their stay.
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Front office management careers: What’s involved
Getting into front office management careers
No pressure, but as front office manager your department is the first and last impression that a guest has of the hotel, so it’s your job to ensure it’s a good one. Top of the list of responsibilities is to make sure your receptionists on the front desk are well-trained, friendly and offer a warm welcome and speedy, efficient check-in and check-out service for guests.
Working hours
As a front office manager, you would typically work a scheduled front desk shift and need to be available to work any shift needed. Weekly working hours vary greatly across the industry, ranging being between 35 to 47.5 hours.
How Much Money Can You Earn As A Front Office Manager?
These LMI Job Trends give you a sneak peek of how much you could earn starting out for this career, and how much your salary could grow with experience.
Salary guide for front office manager jobs
On average, front office managers earn between £20,000-£29,000 depending on the location and style of the hotel. However, some luxury boutique hotels offer salaries up to £50,000.
Many employers offer perks such as complementary night stays, bonuses, and private medical insurance.
These figures are intended as a guide only.
Skills you need to become a front office manager
Useful skills to put in your CV for front office management jobs:
- Diplomacy and communication skills to handle any complaints and emergencies in a level-headed manner
- Ability to work independently
- Good telephone skills
- The ability to multitask and manage your time
- No fear of decision-making
- Sense of ownership and pride in your performance and its impact on the company’s success
- Critical thinker with problem-solving skills
- Team player
- Customer-centric (putting the customer first)
How do you get these skills?
Vocational qualifications and work experience will help you build these skills over time.
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What Qualifications & Training Do You Need For Front Office Manager Careers?
School, College And Training
Source: contributions from Krishnan Doyle and the hospitality specialists at COREcruitment
When considering which qualifications are needed for a front office manager role, a hospitality-related degree or diploma will always stand you in good stead.
Alternatively, you could look for training programmes for receptionists as that would ease your entry into this position.
Separately, having valid and relevant Health & Safety training is desirable.
Career Development
Once you are an experienced front office manager you may start to think about taking your career to the next stage. With the knowledge you would have gained, you could progress to deputy manager and general manager.
What Work Experience Do You Need For Front Office Manager Jobs?
Valuable experience for this role includes…
- work experience in office management as a front desk supervisor, assistant front office manager, or similar position in the hospitality industry
- a high level of commercial awareness and sales capabilities, with previous
experience of managing a department and profit and loss account
- strong knowledge of the general hotel industry practices and policies
- excellent knowledge of MS Office (especially Excel and Word)
- knowledge of office machines (e.g. fax, printer etc.)
What Does A Front Office Manager Do?
Example front office management daily job responsibilities
- Manage the Front of House department and ensuring operational excellence for all areas of the hotel or venue
- Lead, motivate and coach the front office team to ensure hotel standards are delivered to create a memorable customer experience
- Duty management shifts
- Deal with guest enquiries and resolve customer complaints
- Comply with all health and safety legislation
- Work closely with the housekeeping and maintenance teams to improve guest service
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