Summary
This role is a full-time position in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. It is suited to people wanting to live and work in the Mountains. If you have experience managing rural teams, and getting stuff done without the benefit of urban conveniences, you might be an ideal fit.
Background
Started in 2016, The Himalayan Writing Retreat is a favoured destination for writers, poets and other creators looking for learning, inspiration or solitude. The retreat is a residential facility located in Satkhol Village in the Indian Himalayas. Some people come here to learn, while others seek a distraction-free space to write. The retreat is consistently rated 5-star and was also covered by Conde Nast Traveller magazine and many others.
The Himalayan Writing Retreat offers domestic programs (3-5 days) and International events (usually 10 days long). The domestic courses include poetry, creative writing, non-fiction writing, scriptwriting, translation etc.
Our Domestic faculty members include Annie Zaidi, Arundhathi Subramaniam, Gurcharan Das, Jerry Pinto, Ranjit Hoskote, Shekhar Kapur and Varun Grover amongst others. Our International Faculty members include Annie Nezhukumatathil, Erika Krouse, Kathleen Rooney, Tiffany Quay Tyson and others from the USA, Jacqui Lofthouse from the UK, and Kelly Rigby from Australia.
Our Charitable initiative the First Draft Club (FDC) supports the NGO-run Chirag School. We raise approximately 25% of the school’s annual budget through the First Draft Club and other fund-raising activities like this one. We run the Himalayan Emerging Writers Residency and also the HWR Khozem Merchant non-fiction fellowship. Our Book Club with 550+ members is also free.
Expectations
This is a full-time job. It comes with benefits of room and board in the Himalayas, association with a great niche brand and four weeks of paid leave, but it isn’t easy. Please do not come into this with romantic notions. Living here on your own with no company for weeks on end can be difficult and taxing. The cold weather and infrastructure issues can make life hard. This is not a short-term fun gig. This is a long-term commitment, and we will invest in the selected candidate. It will take you a few months just to learn the ropes and imbibe the local culture.
The Manager will be required to stay onsite at the Retreat and manage the entire customer experience for participants & guests from before arrival till after their departure. This means many things including:
- Personnel Management- Staff training, recruitment, ensuring the team members stay motivated, managing their leaves, duty rosters etc. The onsite team of six reports to the Manager.
- Facilities Management – Building, water, electrical, plumbing, garden, waste management, internet etc.
- Kitchen Management- Managing menus, ensuring food safety and hygiene, food & beverage purchasing, etc.
- Housekeeping Management – Ensuring the rooms and common spaces are maintained according to the expected standards. Inspections before guest arrivals, tweaking SOPs , Laundry management etc.
- Guest Service Management – special requests, meals on time, being available on the official phone, playing host etc.
- Compliances – Staying in compliance with the government regulations for things like Fire safety, FSSAI, Tourism Department registrations etc. is part of this job.
- Contingencies – Think of things that may come up and provide for them.
All the above are means to an end. The goal is to ensure a great experience for guests. This is the most important. The guest experience can be broken into the following phases:
- Pre-arrival & Arrival: The Manager needs to co-ordinate the arrival of all guests — On whatsapp Groups, check in forms and IDs, welcoming guests, guest registration etc.
- The Stay itself: Manager needs to ensure guests have a delightful experience. Guests need to be well-taken care of with on-time meals, cleanliness and a great level of service etc.
- Post check-out: After a guest checks-out, the Manager needs to ensure that a guest leaves a positive review of the retreat, and ideally posts / tags us on social media. Please see our current ratings on Google.
- Bookings and Sales: While the HWR mainly sells workshops, there is the occasional query from people who want to simply stay. The manager is expected to respond to such queries and make the bookings were appropriate.
The Manager has to handle all the above. The Himalayan Writing Retreat currently has a 5-star rating on Google and Facebook. We expect the Manager to maintain that.
In addition, the Manager will also:
- Shoot video testimonials
Video testimonials of our participants and guests go a long way in putting the word of our events out. The Manager will be responsible to shoot such testimonials.
- Manage the Himalayan Writing Retreat events
On occasion we dont non-residential events such as fuund-raising concerts etc. The Manager will manage all such events of the Himalayan Writing Retreat, and ensure that service standards and schedules are maintained during such events.
- Manage & control cost
The Manager will be in-charge of procurement of material, inventory of items, and so on.
Ideal candidate profile
Our team takes pride in its work, and anyone we hire will need to be thoroughly professional. You need to be fixated on customer service. We don’t accept “Chalega”. The Manager will need to ensure that everything gets even better than the high standards already set.
Good communication is essential as the Manager will be representing a writing retreat. This will be in English across platforms such as email, WhatsApp calls and DMs.
Prior experience in dealing with and managing a non-educated, rural crew would be a definite plus. So will experience in Hospitality. Prior experience in customer service in any industry is a huge plus. The Manager will get free access to all courses and get to hang out with writing royalty, so if you’re interested in reading and writing, that is a massive perk.
Minimum Qualification: Graduate.
Experience: Prior experience in managing a team is important. Minimum 5 years work-experience is a must. Fresh Graduates, please do not apply.
Gender: All genders can apply. We’re LGBTQIA+ friendly.
Work conditions and money
The Manager will be living on-site. The manager gets a room with an attached bath, and all meals.
The Manager will be entitled to 4 weeks of paid leave every year, but these will be on mutual convenience. As is typical of the Hospitality Industry, you may land up working on weekends, and through summer vacations and take time off during other periods.
Key members of our on-site team of six which will report into the Manager has been with us for long and is well-trained, so many things work smoothly. The workload can vary and during slow periods may be less than 30 hours a week, but the manager needs to be available as needed.
THWR will offer a remuneration of INR 35,000 – 45,000 per month depending upon experience, profile & fit.
The position reports to the co-founders: Chetan Mahajan & Vandita Dubey.
To apply
This is a full-time role and it means a commitment to move and live in Satkhol. Please don’t apply if you aren’t 100% certain about this. There are no malls or multiplexes for miles around. No Amazon or Pizza delivery either. If you’re interested, please email your resume to Deb@himalayanwritingretreat.com at the earliest. We’ll close the position the moment we find a suitable candidate.