Hotel Chief Engineer

Chief Engineer

Location: Panama City Beach, FL
Property: By the Sea Resorts
Position Type: Full-Time
Reports To: General Manager

By the Sea Resorts is seeking a hands-on, resourceful Chief Engineer to lead the engineering and maintenance operation of our beachfront property through an important period of stabilization, improvement, and renovation.

This is not a traditional Chief Engineer role at a fully stabilized hotel. Our property has deferred maintenance and infrastructure needs that require a leader who is comfortable rolling up their sleeves, prioritizing competing needs, solving problems creatively, and building stronger systems while keeping the hotel operating successfully
.

The property will also be undergoing a renovation, making this an excellent opportunity for an experienced hotel engineer who enjoys transforming properties and wants to have a meaningful impact on the condition, reliability, and long-term performance of a hotel.

The Chief Engineer will oversee day-to-day maintenance while helping property leadership identify capital priorities, manage vendors and contractors, support renovation activities, and establish a disciplined preventative maintenance program.

• Lead the daily engineering and maintenance operation for the hotel, including guestrooms, public areas, back-of-house spaces, grounds, and building systems.
• Personally diagnose and address maintenance issues while effectively directing engineering team members and outside vendors.
• Maintain and troubleshoot HVAC, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, life-safety, pool, kitchen, laundry, and other property systems.
• Respond quickly to guest-impacting maintenance issues and work closely with hotel operations to minimize disruption.
• Conduct regular property inspections and proactively identify deficiencies before they become larger or more expensive problems.
• Develop practical short-term solutions while helping management plan appropriate long-term repairs and replacements.

• Assess the property's existing physical condition and help establish a prioritized repair and maintenance plan.
• Build, implement, and maintain an effective preventative maintenance program for guestrooms, equipment, and major building systems.
• Help reduce recurring maintenance issues, emergency repairs, equipment downtime, and unnecessary outside service calls.
• Maintain organized records for equipment, warranties, inspections, preventative maintenance, repairs, and vendor services.
• Help establish appropriate engineering inventory, tools, parts, and purchasing controls.

• Serve as the property's primary engineering liaison during upcoming renovation and capital improvement projects.
• Work closely with ownership, management, contractors, designers, project managers, and vendors.
• Provide practical operational input regarding building systems, equipment selections, maintainability, and construction sequencing.
• Assist with contractor access, project coordination, inspections, punch lists, commissioning, and project closeout.
• Identify potential infrastructure issues that could impact renovation plans or future operations.
• Help ensure renovation work is completed with consideration for guest experience and ongoing hotel operations.

• Recruit, train, schedule, coach, and develop engineering team members as appropriate for the property.
• Establish clear standards of accountability, productivity, safety, and workmanship.
• Manage engineering expenses thoughtfully while recognizing the difference between short-term cost savings and necessary long-term investment.
• Solicit bids, evaluate vendors, negotiate where appropriate, and monitor contractor performance.
• Assist the General Manager and ownership with developing annual operating and capital budgets.
• Provide clear recommendations regarding repair-versus-replacement decisions and capital priorities.

• Maintain the property in accordance with applicable building, fire, health, environmental, and life-safety requirements.
• Maintain required inspections, permits, testing, and documentation.
• Ensure appropriate procedures are followed for emergency systems and equipment.
• Promote safe working practices among employees, contractors, and vendors.

The ideal candidate is a hotel engineer who sees problems as projects to solve rather than reasons to become discouraged
. You should be equally comfortable troubleshooting equipment, walking a renovation project with a contractor, preparing a capital recommendation for ownership, and responding to an urgent guestroom maintenance issue.

This position is particularly well suited for someone who enjoys taking a property that needs attention and making measurable improvements in its condition, reliability, organization, and appearance
.

• 5+ years of hotel, resort, multifamily, commercial building, or facilities…