Asia Guide Development Leader
About the opportunity
As the Asia Guide Development Leader, you'll be responsible for relaunching Discova's Guide Academy. This isn't your average training programme – we're building a community of passionate travel ambassadors, not just tour guides. Our Guide Academy will be a platform for continuous learning and professional development, empowering our guides to deliver exceptional experiences that leave both passengers and business partners raving.
In this leadership role, you will collaborate closely with in-destination Operation Leaders and key stakeholders. Together, you'll ensure the seamless integration and consistent rollout of Guide Academy projects and initiatives across all our Asian destinations. You will also play a crucial role in identifying and leveraging innovative tech solutions for our Guide Management System. By embracing technology, we'll boost overall efficiency, guide quality, and scalability, ensuring Discova stays ahead of the curve.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop best practices for guide recruitment, onboarding, training, and career development.
- Establish a scalable Discova Guide Academy that aligns with the company values, meets regulations, and cultivates passionate local guides.
- Set standards for guide excellence and performance to exceed partner expectations.
- Promote sustainable travel practices and ensure compliance with health & safety protocols.
- Foster a culture of guide excellence that attracts and retains talent, while embedding Discova's brand values.
- Collaborate with Operation Leaders to implement Guide Excellence strategies consistently.
- Maintain an engaged guide community through learning, development, and communication initiatives.
- Partner with internal teams (Peopleworks, Marketing, etc.) to ensure guides receive the support they need.
- Provide a guide training dashboard to monitor progress and support decision-making.
- Establish platforms for sharing best practices and continuous improvement.
- Create a learning platform for guide development and skill enhancement.
- Identify and support technological solutions for a Guide Management System that integrates with the Destination Management System to improve quality, efficiency, and scalability.
- Proactively identify business and compliance risks in operational markets.
About You
The Essentials
- A degree in tourism and hospitality, coupled with at least 4 years of industry experience.
- Proven ability to foster a team environment dedicated to exceeding guest expectations.
- Strong written and spoken English communication skills.
- Experience in people management and developing personal development plans,
The attributes
- Customer-focused with a commitment to delivering exceptional service.
- Results-oriented and self-motivated to achieve goals.
- Passionate about people and operations.
- Excellent problem-solving skills.
- Strong collaboration and negotiation skills to secure desired outcomes.
- Ability to build positive working relationships across cultures.
- Thrives in a fast-paced environment, with the ability to manage pressure and priorities.
- Highly organised with strong planning and project management skills.
- Flexible working hours to accommodate global time zones and travel.
- Willingness to travel for business when required.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office applications and travel technology.
About Us
As a leading global destination management company, operating in numerous destinations across Asia and the Americas, being a part of the Discova team means being in your element.
Discova holds responsible travel at its core, working responsibly with customers, host communities and local business partners to offer the best value, highly rated experiences with customer satisfaction as a hallmark of their service. As a company, we provide thrilling global career advancement opportunities, a wonderful and supportive team culture, distinctive leave benefits, and social events that stand out in the industry.
Discova’s people are homegrown - 95% are locals, blending localised know-how with an understanding of what makes a Discova trip to their home country special.
To be part of the Discova family is to be in your element, and being in your element means: being the best you can be in any situation; doing what you love whatever your role is; and being valued for who you are and what you do; continuing to grow as the world changes; joining a family that creates a world of possibilities.
To learn more about Discova click: https://www.discova.com/
Work Perks!
What’s in it for you: We are renowned internationally for having amazing perks and an even better culture. We understand that our people are our most valuable asset. It is the passion and dedication of our teams that keep the company on top of the industry ladder. It’s also why we offer some great employee benefits and perks outside of the norm.
Have fun: At the heart of everything we do at Discova is a desire to have fun. Reward & Recognition: Celebrate the success of yourself and others at our regular Buzz Nights and the annual Global Gathering - You'll have to experience it to believe it!
Use your smarts: Our people use their quick thinking, expertise, and tenacity to always figure things out.
Love for travel: We were founded by people who wanted to travel and want others to do the same. That passion is something you can’t miss in our people or service.
Personal connections: We are a big business founded on personal relationships. “We work globally, live locally” is one of our credos that really makes a difference in our world of travel possibilities.
A career, not a job: We offer genuine opportunities for people to grow and evolve. We back our people all the way, no matter what the results are. We are strongly committed to supporting every single employee in their professional and personal development.
Giving Back: As one of the very few, we are proud to provide corporate social responsibility programmes across all our departments supporting nominated charities through workplace giving, promoting volunteering, and supporting fundraising initiatives through our employee giving and office environmental Programmes. All our employees even can enjoy 1 volunteer day per calendar year.
We thank all candidates for their interest; however, only those selected to continue in the process will be contacted.
Exclusivity Notice: At this moment, we are not engaging with external recruitment agencies for this specified position. Any applications received through a recruitment agency will be considered under the sole ownership of Discova. Should the situation change, we will communicate any updates accordingly.
