Cleaning Team Lead (Remote)

About the role

Smart Suites manages a portfolio of over 100 rooms for short-term vacation rentals across Queensland, Australia, and is looking for a Cleaning Team Lead to lead its cleaning operations. Working remotely as part of the Facilities Management Department, the role provides operational leadership, quality assurance, coaching, workforce coordination and performance management for the cleaning function, working closely with on-site cleaners, field inspectors, logistics and operations.

Key responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day cleaning operations, ensure properties are guest-ready before arrival, monitor capacity and workload, and coordinate urgent cleans, turnovers, deep cleans and recovery cleans
• Maintain cleaning standards, conduct remote quality audits, track cleanliness KPIs and defect rates, and work with the Field Quality & Standards Inspector
• Coach and mentor cleaning supervisors and contractors, run one-on-one reviews, and develop performance improvement plans
• Build onboarding and refresher training, training materials and demonstrations, and hold virtual training sessions
• Develop and maintain cleaning SOPs, digital checklists and standardized workflows
• Investigate guest complaints about cleanliness, determine root causes and coordinate resolution with Operations and Guest Experience
• Monitor KPIs such as guest cleanliness ratings, re-clean requests, audit scores and contractor performance, and present recommendations to the Facilities Manager
• Champion AI and digital tools, evaluate new technologies and ensure accurate data entry

Required profile

• 3-5+ years leading cleaning, housekeeping, facilities or accommodation operations
• Supervision of multiple cleaners or cleaning teams
• Strong understanding of hospitality housekeeping standards and experience implementing SOPs and quality systems
• Demonstrated leadership, coaching and communication skills, and excellent written and spoken English
• Good to have: Australian hospitality experience, knowledge of Australian accommodation cleaning standards, cleaning management software, Power BI, Lean or continuous improvement experience, and facilities management experience

Required skills

• Microsoft 365, Teams, Excel and Forms
• AI-enabled operational environments