Pre-opening Project Director

About the role

RMG is a new creative campus in Dbayeh, Lebanon, opening in early 2028. The lease is signed and the project is self-funded by its founder, who works remotely. The Pre-opening Project Director owns the management, coordination and execution of the pre-opening plan, from now until the General Manager takes over. This is not a construction manager role: it covers offer, money, legal, design, build, tech, team, operations, brand, sales and launch.

Key responsibilities

• Own the pre-opening plan across its 14 workstreams, turned into a calendar of deliverables, owners and dates, updated every week.
• Keep the plan, decision log and KPI dashboard in one place, and set up the project dashboard within the first month.
• Coordinate the architect, contractor, owner's PM/QS, tech partners, lawyers, accountants and suppliers so their work fits together.
• Run the weekly project meeting and send a short weekly report to the founder.
• Prepare the decisions the founder needs, with options, costs and a recommendation, and record what was decided.
• Track budget and spend against plan monthly with the accountant, and keep a risk list with a fallback for each risk.
• Manage the key gates: design freeze, suppliers contracted, pre-sales opening, readiness for soft launch.
• Support hiring of the General Manager and the first team, and hand over a clean project with a 2-4 week overlap.

Required profile

• 10+ years of experience, including at least one pre-opening or new-venue project led end to end (hotel opening or real estate development preferred; mixed-use or coworking also considered).
• Experience running projects with real plans, budgets, milestones, risk lists and status reports.
• Experience coordinating architects, contractors and suppliers without being the construction manager.
• Strong network and experience working in Lebanon.
• Fluent in English and Arabic; French is a plus.
• Nice to have: exposure to coworking, members' clubs or creative industries; experience with a tech or software rollout; PMP, PRINCE2 or similar.

Required skills

• Notion, project dashboards and spreadsheets (nice to have)
• Clear written updates and good judgement on what to escalate to a remote founder

What we offer

• Fixed-term, full-time, on-site position in Dbayeh, about 9-12 months, ending when the General Manager starts and the handover is complete.
• Reports to the founder; start as soon as possible.
• Competitive package for a senior role in Lebanon, discussed with shortlisted candidates.

To apply, use the application form asking for a CV, a short description of a pre-opening or development project you led, and seven short written questions.