Chief Operating Officer - Franchise Hotels, PME Americas

Overview

The COO Franchise – PME Americas is a senior executive responsible for the strategic, operational, and commercial leadership of the Accor PME franchise hotel portfolio across the Americas region (North

America, Latin America, the Caribbean, and South America). As a member of the PME Americas Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to the CEO PME Americas.

The COO drives franchise performance excellence, owner engagement, brand standards compliance, and sustainable net unit growth across approximately 173 franchise hotels spanning multiple brands, markets, hotel formats, and economic contexts.

The role connects Accor's strategic priorities with franchise performance, operating in a matrix environment that requires strong influence, credibility, and stakeholder relationship management

Key Accountabilities

1. Franchise Operations & Commercial Performance

• Lead the operational and commercial performance of the PME franchise portfolio across the Americas, ensuring execution of brand strategies and business priorities.
• Drive revenue, profitability, and market share growth in partnership with Revenue Management, Sales, Marketing, Distribution, Loyalty, and Digital teams.
• Monitor market trends and business performance, adapting strategies to maximize results.
• Oversee performance governance through KPI tracking, financial analysis, and regular business reviews.

2. Owner Relations & Franchise Partnership

• Build and maintain strong relationships with franchise owners, management companies, and asset managers across the Americas.
• Lead owner engagement and serve as the senior point of contact for strategic partnership and performance matters.
• Balance owner profitability with brand standards while supporting franchise retention, renewals, and portfolio growth.
• Partner with Development teams to drive new openings, conversions, and expansion opportunities across the region.

3. Brand Standards & Quality Assurance

• Ensure compliance with brand standards, franchise agreements, and quality requirements across the franchise portfolio.
• Partner with the Franchise Center of Excellence to drive quality assurance and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Promote guest satisfaction, digital transformation, and customer experience excellence.
• Support renovation, repositioning, and compliance initiatives in partnership with Brand and Design teams.

4. People Leadership & Organizational Development

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing regional franchise operations team
• Foster a culture of accountability, inclusion, innovation, collaboration, commercial agility, and owner-centricity.
• Partner with HR to strengthen leadership pipelines, talent development, and organizational capability.

5. Risk, Compliance & Governance

• Ensure adherence to regulatory, legal, health, safety, and operational compliance standards across multiple jurisdictions (US, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Caribbean, and others countries).
• Lead crisis management, business continuity planning, and operational risk mitigation.
• Partner with Legal and Compliance teams to maintain franchise agreement standards and operational governance.

6. Strategic Leadership & Transformation

• Support Accor's franchise growth strategy across the Americas
• Drive cross-functional collaboration to improve operational performance, scalability, and owner satisfaction.
• Represent Accor with franchise owners, industry partners, and key external stakeholders while promoting strategic and sustainability initiatives.

Experience:

• Extensive executive leadership experience in hotel operations, franchise management, or multi-unit hospitality organizations.
• Proven track record managing large-scale franchise portfolios across the Americas.
• Strong knowledge of hotel financial performance metrics and business management.
• Experience building relationships with owners and asset managers, and leading business transformation and operational improvement initiatives.

Languages:

• Fluent English required.
• Spanish and/or Portuguese strongly preferred (near-essential given portfolio geography).

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Finance, or related field required; MBA or graduate degree preferred.

Travel:

• Extensive travel throughout North America, Latin America, South America, and the Caribbean required (approximately 40–60%).

Your team and working environment:

At Accor, our Heartist purpose is to create exceptional experiences not only for our guests, but also for our employees. Being a Heartist means understanding that while following processes is important and delivering results is expected, putting your heart into everything you do is essential.

We embrace a hybrid work model, with three days on-site at our Headquarters in Pinheiros and two flexible remote working days. This approach enables our teams to collaborate effectively while promoting a healthy balance between professional and personal life.