Director Content

About The Leela

The story of The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts began when its founder Late Capt. CP Krishnan Nair opened The Leela Mumbai in 1986. For over three decades, The Leela has been on a journey to delight guests by providing unparalleled luxury in captivating environs ensconced in the lap of nature, wrapped in the graciousness of Indian hospitality.

Headquartered in Mumbai, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts is owned by a Brookfield Asset Management- sponsored private real estate fund and operates thirteen award-winning properties in major cities and leisure destinations across India. These include the flagship hotel in the capital city of New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Udaipur, Jaipur, Gurugram, East Delhi, Mumbai, Gandhinagar, Kovalam, and Ashtamudi. The brand is also delighted to announce the upcoming opening of its latest property in Hyderabad. The Leela has a strong pipeline of future projects. The brand celebrates each hotel through its unique location, art, culture, and cuisine with thoughtful services, celebratory rituals, and immersive experiences. The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts was voted the World's Best Hotel Brand twice in a row by Travel + Leisure, USA, World's Best Awards Survey, 2020 and 2021. In 2024, the brand has once again featured in the top 3 World's Best Hotel Brands, after the recognition in 2023. An epitome of true Indian luxury hospitality, The Leela is committed to providing guests with unforgettable stays in settings that capture the essence of India. The brand has a marketing alliance with US- based Preferred Hotels & Resorts and is a member of the Global Hotel Alliance.

Why join The Leela

• Award-Winning Brand: Join a brand that has been recognized as one of the World's Best Hotel Brands for two consecutive years.

• Commitment to Excellence: Be part of a team that is dedicated to providing the highest standards of service and hospitality.

• Innovative Environment: Be part of a team that encourages creativity and innovation, ensuring that we stay at the forefront of luxury hospitality.

• Career Growth: Benefit from our strong pipeline of future projects and opportunities for career advancement within The Leela and our global alliances.

• Cultural Experiences: Engage with the rich cultural tapestry of India, bringing unique and authentic experiences to our discerning guests.

Position Overview Reporting to: Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing and Brand

Location: The Leela Corporate Office

Responsibilities:

The Director – Content owns The Leela's content vision and social media leadership across the portfolio, setting the strategic direction for how the brand's iconic palaces, hotels, culinary experiences, wellness offerings, cultural heritage, and guest journeys are told to the world. This is a senior leadership role on the Marketing and Brand team, accountable for content strategy, brand storytelling, team leadership, agency governance, and the commercial impact of content and social media across all fourteen properties and the corporate brand.

The Director partners closely with the SVP – Marketing and Brand, Brand Communications, Digital Marketing, CRM, Revenue Management, hotel marketing leaders, and external creative and media partners to ensure a consistent, aspirational, and commercially effective brand presence across every consumer touchpoint.

Key Responsibilities:

Content Strategy – Enterprise Leadership

• Owns the multi-year content and social media strategy for The Leela, aligned with overall brand positioning and commercial objectives, and presents this vision to the Marketing and Brand leadership team.

• Sets the annual content and social media roadmap across all hotels, restaurants, wellness, weddings, celebrations, and brand campaigns, and holds the team accountable for its execution.

• Defines the brand's platform strategy across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, X, Pinterest, and emerging platforms, and directs investment in new formats and platform innovation.

• Sets enterprise-wide targets for audience growth, engagement, and brand advocacy, and reviews performance against these targets with senior leadership

Luxury Storytelling and Editorial Vision

• Defines The Leela's editorial and visual storytelling framework, ensuring it reflects the brand's luxury positioning and Indian hospitality heritage.

• Sets the strategic narrative across luxury travel, culinary experiences, wellness and spa, weddings and celebrations, destination storytelling, guest experiences, sustainability, employee stories, and brand partnerships.

• Acts as the brand's custodian for tone of voice and visual identity, approving major content and campaign concepts before execution

Creative Content Development

• Manage end-to-end content production including photography, videography, reels, short-form videos, blogs, editorial articles, and campaign assets.

• Lead content shoots in collaboration with hotels, creative agencies, production houses, photographers, and filmmakers.

• Oversee copywriting and creative development to ensure alignment with luxury brand standards. • Maintain a centralized content repository and digital asset library.

Creative and Production Leadership

• Directs end-to-end content production planning — photography, videography, reels, short-form video, blogs, editorial, and campaign assets — across the portfolio.

• Approves major content shoots and campaign concepts developed with hotels, creative agencies, production houses, photographers, and filmmakers.

• Sets creative and copywriting standards across the brand and signs off on flagship campaigns to ensure alignment with luxury brand standards.

• Owns the governance of the centralized content repository and digital asset library.

Influencer and Brand Partnerships Strategy

• Sets the influencer and creator partnership strategy for the brand, including relationships with luxury travel creators, lifestyle influencers, chefs, wellness experts, celebrities, and media personalities.

• Approves marquee influencer and brand-ambassador partnerships and reviews their commercial return with the SVP – Marketing and Brand.

• Ensures every partnership and collaboration is consistent with The Leela's premium brand positioning.

Integrated Campaign Leadership

• Partners at a leadership level with Brand Communications, Digital Marketing, CRM, Revenue Management, and hotel teams to shape integrated campaigns for hotel openings, seasonal moments, festivals, weddings, restaurants and bars, wellness, staycations, and brand partnerships.

• Directs seamless execution of content and social strategy across owned, earned, and paid channels.

• Sets the brand's online reputation and guest-engagement framework, and acts as the senior escalation point for significant guest or reputational issues arising on social channels, working closely with Operations and Guest Experience leadership.

Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Leads, mentors, and develops the content and social media team, including the Senior Manager – Social Media and Content, setting clear goals and building capability across the function.

• Builds the team structure needed to support The Leela's growing property portfolio, including hiring, performance management, and succession planning.

• Fosters a culture of creativity, ownership, and high performance within the content team.

Budget & Agency Governance

• Owns the content and social media budget, prioritising investment across production, campaigns, influencer partnerships, and platform activity.

• Selects, negotiates with, and governs the performance of creative agencies, social media agencies, content creators, photographers, videographers, and freelance talent.

• Ensures disciplined production timelines, cost control, and return on investment across all content and campaign spend.

Analytics, Reporting & Commercial Impact

• Establishes the performance and analytics framework for content and social media and presents outcomes and ROI to the SVP – Marketing and Brand and wider leadership.

• Uses data-led insight to continuously refine content strategy, platform mix, and campaign investment.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in marketing, Mass Communication, Journalism, Digital Media, Advertising, Hospitality Management, English Literature, or a related discipline.

• MBA in Marketing, Digital Marketing, Brand Management, Hospitality Management, or Mass Communication from a reputed institution is preferred.

• Professional certifications in Digital Marketing, Social Media Strategy, Content Marketing, Google Analytics, Meta Blueprint, or Adobe Creative Suite will be an added advantage.

• 12–15 years of progressive experience in social media, Digital Content, Brand Marketing, Content Strategy, or Digital Communications.

• Minimum 5–7 years in a senior leadership role, owning content and social media strategy, teams, and budgets for luxury hospitality, travel, luxury retail, lifestyle, or premium consumer brands.

• Proven track record leading integrated content campaigns, influencer marketing programmes, and multi-platform social media strategy at an enterprise or multi-property level.

• Demonstrated experience building and leading high-performing content teams and managing external agency networks and budgets of scale.

• Strong executive presence, with experience presenting strategy and performance to senior leadership.