The Audio Visual (AV) Manager leads and directs the hotel's audio-visual operations, engineering standards, and event production services across all banquet halls, meeting facilities, restaurants, and public areas. This role is responsible for strategic planning, resource optimization, team leadership, vendor governance, and seamless execution of high-profile corporate events, VIP banquets, and luxury guest experiences in alignment with Kempinski brand standards.
Strategic AV Leadership & Operations
- Direct and oversee the planning, setup, live execution, and post-event turnaround for all audio visual, lighting, projection, staging, and conference broadcast systems.
- Establish standard operating procedures (SOPs), service level agreements (SLAs), and quality checklists for event staging, meeting room turns, and daily in-house AV operations.
- Serve as the senior escalation authority for high-stakes technical troubleshooting and complex signal distribution challenges during VIP functions, international conferences, and luxury social galas.
- Conduct routine preventive maintenance audits, system health checks, and lifecycle testing across all fixed and mobile AV installations throughout the property.
Team Leadership & Capability Building
- Recruit, train, schedule, mentor, and evaluate AV supervisors, technicians, and contracted rigging/AV crews.
- Drive continuous technical training and cross-skilling programs in digital audio consoles, Dante/AES67 networks, digital video switching/streaming, automated lighting control, and digital signage.
- Maintain seamless synergy with the core IT team, ensuring integrated support for guest connectivity, meeting room network drops, IPTV, and unified communications.
- Commercial Acumen & Event Sales Collaboration
- Partner closely with the Conference & Events Sales, Banqueting, and Food & Beverage teams to translate client visions into technically sound, commercially viable AV production packages.
- Participate in pre-event client briefings, technical site inspections, and menu/concept tastings with VIP organizers, wedding planners, and corporate decision-makers.
- Upsell advanced lighting, sound design, live webcasting, and hybrid meeting solutions to maximize non-room banquet revenue.
Asset Governance & Procurement
- Maintain overall stewardship of capital equipment inventory, lifecycle tracking, asset tagging, and secure storage systems.
- Prepare, forecast, and manage the AV operational budget (OPEX) and capital expenditure proposals (CAPEX) in alignment with the Director of IT.
- Oversee third-party AV sub-contractors, equipment dry-hires, vendor service contracts, and warranty negotiations, ensuring optimal value and delivery standards.
- Administration, Safety & Compliance
- Ensure all rigging, cabling, power distribution, and stage configurations comply strictly with local Qatari civil defense, safety regulations, and Kempinski occupational health and safety standards.
- Track AV revenue performance, client satisfaction indices, incident logs, and equipment downtime metrics to drive operational continuous improvement.
Technology & Innovation
- Evaluate emerging trends in luxury hospitality AV—such as LED wall processing, immersive spatial audio, virtual/hybrid event platforms, and touchless meeting controls—and develop business cases for property upgrades.
SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree in Audio Visual Technology, Sound Engineering, Information Technology, Media Production, or an equivalent qualification.
- Minimum of 5–7 years of progressive AV production experience, including at least 2–3 years in a managerial or supervisory capacity within a 5-star luxury hotel, convention center, or large-scale event production.
- Solid command of IP networking concepts related to AV-over-IP (AVoIP), multicast routing, VLANs, and streaming protocols.
- Proven leadership capability with a commercial mindset, strong negotiation skills, and high emotional intelligence.
- Flexibility to manage demanding event schedules, including evenings, weekends, and national holidays.