Resort Operations Manager
Resort Operations Manager
Overview
As our Resort Operations Manager, you'll be the heartbeat of daily operations while helping to birth something unprecedented. You will have the opportunity to work closely for and with our Owner/General Manager, collaboratively creating a magical experience for our guests. This role requires someone who can hold both practical excellence and sacred intention—managing P&L while honoring the water, overseeing staff while building a beloved community.
About This Sacred Work
While on the surface, we are building a beautiful modern hot springs resort, underneath we are creating a Water Temple—a place where humans learn to live in harmony with each other, nature, water, and technology such that all life thrives. Our site is modeling a new way of being on Earth, where every operational decision is guided by the question: “How would love do it?”
California Hot Springs sits on 300 acres of sacred land in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, with pristine chemical-free hot water flowing directly from the earth. We are stewarding this precious resource while building a financially sustainable resort and community that serves as an example of regenerative hospitality.
The Role: More Than Operations
Working in close partnership with our Owner/General Manager, you'll serve as the vital pulse of day-to-day operations while participating in the creation of something entirely new. Together, you'll collaborate to craft extraordinary experiences for our guests. This position calls for someone who can balance operational mastery with spiritual purpose—stewarding financial performance while honoring the sacredness of water, leading teams while nurturing beloved community.
Initially, this is a pre-opening role where you'll help establish all operational systems from the ground up, working alongside us during the final construction phase through our grand opening and beyond. Once we are open, you will be running the resort operations of our 50-key resort and retreat center.
You can start your journey with us as a contractor, with the opportunity to transition into a full-time internal team member.
Core Responsibilities
Pre-Opening Systems Development
- Lead pre-opening planning and operational system setup from construction through launch
- Establish all resort operations including front desk procedures, housekeeping protocols, maintenance systems, and food service operations
- Implement property management systems (PMS), revenue management tools, and operational technology
- Develop staff training programs, standard operating procedures, and service standards
- Coordinate with General Contractor, vendors, and consultants during final build-out phase
Stewardship and Operations
- Oversee all daily resort operations including front desk, housekeeping, and maintenance. Coordinates with F&B management
- Ensure pristine care of our chemical-free water systems and natural pools
- Implement our sustainability practices: zero single-use items, 100% biodegradable products only, carbon-negative operations
- Maintain our "adult invitation" culture where guests are treated as self-reliant adults, not consumers
Community & Guest Experience
- Curate experiences that restore, rejuvenate, and inspire guests toward healing and consciousness
- Foster an environment where like-minded souls on consciousness and personal development paths feel immediately at home
- Coordinate retreats, ceremonies, and transformational programming
- Ensure every guest leaves feeling the possibility of "a more beautiful world that our hearts know is possible"
Financial & Operational Excellence
- Work with Owner/General Manager to manage budgets, P&L, and revenue optimization while keeping rates accessible (~$275-550/night range)
- Oversee staff scheduling, training, and performance with Ikigai principles (work as soul expression)
- Coordinate with other departments and implement systems for smooth operations
- Handle guest relations and escalated issues with warmth and wisdom
Regenerative Practices
- Lead our "how would love do it?" approach to everything from fire prevention to waste management
- Implement and teach sustainable practices to staff and guests
- Coordinate with permaculture, maker village, and community living aspects
- Support our vision of becoming a carbon-negative vacation destination
Who You Are
Essential Qualities
- On the path of personal growth, healing, consciousness, and community living
- Pre-opening and operational resort experience (5 years preferred) with system setup and launch expertise
- Financial acumen with resort P&L, revenue management, and cost control experience
- Leadership skills that inspire rather than manage through control
- Adaptability to work in a living experiment that evolves organically
- Experience working with construction teams, vendors, and pre-opening timelines
The Sacred & Practical Combined
- You understand that this work is seeding the sacred within hospitality
- You can hold both spreadsheets and ceremony, budgets and blessing
- You're excited by regenerative practices and teaching through example
- You want to be part of creating a new model that other communities can learn from
Technical Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in hospitality, business, or related field preferred
- Experience with resort management systems (PMS, revenue management)
- Knowledge of health, safety, and compliance regulations
- Ability to work flexible hours including weekends and handle emergency situations
What We Offer
Beyond Compensation
- Competitive salary commensurate with experience
- Health benefits offered along with paid time off and floating holidays
- Opportunity to live on-site at a hot springs resort
- Professional development in regenerative hospitality practices
- Being part of creating a new model for how humans can live and work together
- Balance matters here. We work hard, but we also protect time to recharge because sustainable success comes from a team that’s energized, not exhausted.
The Deeper Offering
- Work that is a devotional practice and soul expression
- Community living experience with like-minded individuals
- Access to healing waters, pristine nature, and transformational programming
- The chance to help birth something the world has never seen before
Application Process
We're looking for someone whose body says "yes" to this vision, not just their mind. In your application, please share:
- Your resume and relevant hospitality experience
- A letter describing what calls you to this particular work (not just any hotel job)
- Your personal practices around consciousness, healing, or community
- How you would approach the question "How would love manage resort operations?"
We especially welcome applications from:
- People with community living experience
- Those familiar with conscious/transformational festivals or retreats
- Individuals with permaculture, sustainability, or regenerative business background
- Anyone who feels called to be part of seeding a new way of being on Earth
Ready to Join the Temple Building?
This is not a job—it's a calling to help create something the world desperately needs. If you feel the resonance in your bones, if you're ready to be part of the first sprouted seed of a new DNA planted into the earth, we want to hear from you.
"The next Buddha, Maitreya, is not an individual but a community showing the way of love and compassion." - Thich Nhat Hanh