Experience Delivery Lead

Job Overview

The Experience Delivery Lead is responsible for managing the comprehensive delivery schedule for all new KOFISI locations, overseeing the project from initial concept approval through to operational handover. This role coordinates various product workstreams including Uniform, OS&E, Music & Scent, Art, F&B, Signage, Internal Communications, and Marketing, ensuring alignment with a unified timeline. It also involves setting and safeguarding budget allocations in partnership with the Programme Director, enforcing discipline over schedule and spend on all departments involved.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage the master delivery program and critical path for each new location ensuring timely execution from concept to operation.
• Develop and continuously update a swimlane view mapping each product department along a shared timeline with clear dependencies, lead times, and buffer periods visible.
• Maintain and communicate critical path milestones at 12, 6, and 3 weeks intervals to identify and mitigate risks while adjustments are still feasible and cost-effective.
• Plan and coordinate procurement and delivery of long-lead items, such as fabrics, art commissions, kitchen equipment, scent, and OS&E, to arrive before opening dates.
• Lead governance processes including weekly swimlane reviews, monthly program assessments, and maintain a live dashboard providing a singular source of truth across all workstreams.
• Collaborate in budget setting for each swimlane and continuously monitor committed, spent, and forecasted expenses to manage variances proactively.
• Challenge cost overruns and scope changes without compromising the intended experience quality, building evidence-based cost models for future openings.
• Coordinate across product departments and other parallel programs including environment design, operations, finance, and sales to ensure integrated execution without failures on departmental boundaries.
• Chair weekly coordination meetings to ensure decision capture, conflict resolution, timely closure of actions, and early escalation of issues.
• Maintain alignment on opening dates with sales and marketing teams, safeguarding or transparently revising timelines as required.
• Act as the experience guardian ensuring design intent is translated accurately into build and procurement requirements, protecting the overall quality and user experience in every trade-off.
• Lead the transition phase from project build completion to operational readiness, coordinating recruitment, training, and activation of service systems to meet the opening date.
• Run snagging and acceptance processes per swimlane with documented definitions of completion, maintaining and improving the Opening Playbook for efficiencies in future locations.
• Conduct post-occupancy reviews to gather insights for continuous improvement and innovation.
• Mentor coordinators within product departments and foster a culture of transparency, accountability, and calm under pressure within the program team.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Background in fields such as Design and Build, Architectural Practice, Film/Set/Event Production, Luxury Retail or Hotel Development, Hospitality, Co-working Rollout, or Creative Agency Experience Production with tangible outcomes managing complex multi-stream projects without direct team control.
• Strong expertise in managing multiple concurrent workstreams with visibility on dependencies and maintaining critical paths consistently across projects.
• Proven budget ownership experience with the ability to develop cost models, identify variances, and effectively engage with finance teams.
• Competency in scheduling software, programme dashboards, cost trackers, and advanced spreadsheet use for budget management.
• Keen appreciation of design quality and the ability to protect experiential intent through to project delivery.
• Cultural adaptability to work effectively across diverse geographic regions and disciplines including Nairobi and the GCC.
• Academic credentials in Architecture, Interior Design, Project/Programme Management, Quantity Surveying or related fields; professionally certified project/programme management credentials such as PMP, PRINCE2, MSP, CAPM, or Agile are advantageous but not mandatory. Equivalent practical experience in creative or production project management is highly regarded.