Audio Visual Manager

About the role

The Audio Visual (AV) Manager leads and directs the hotel's audio-visual operations, engineering standards and event production services across banquet halls, meeting facilities, restaurants and public areas. The role covers strategic planning, resource optimisation, team leadership, vendor governance and the delivery of high-profile corporate events, VIP banquets and luxury guest experiences in line with Kempinski brand standards.

Key responsibilities

• Oversee planning, setup, live execution and post-event turnaround of AV, lighting, projection, staging and conference broadcast systems, and set SOPs, SLAs and quality checklists.
• Act as senior escalation authority for technical troubleshooting on VIP functions, international conferences and galas.
• Run preventive maintenance audits and system health checks on fixed and mobile AV installations.
• Recruit, train, schedule, mentor and evaluate AV supervisors, technicians and contracted crews; run training in digital audio consoles, Dante/AES67, digital video switching, lighting control and digital signage.
• Work with the Conference & Events Sales, Banqueting and F&B teams to turn client visions into viable AV packages, and upsell lighting, sound design, live webcasting and hybrid meeting solutions.
• Manage capital equipment inventory, asset tagging and storage, and prepare and manage the AV OPEX and CAPEX budgets with the Director of IT.
• Oversee third-party sub-contractors, equipment dry-hires, vendor service contracts and warranty negotiations.
• Ensure rigging, cabling, power distribution and stage setups meet Qatari civil defence, safety and Kempinski occupational health and safety standards.
• Track revenue, client satisfaction, incident logs and downtime to drive continuous improvement.
• Evaluate emerging trends such as LED wall processing, immersive spatial audio and hybrid event platforms, and build business cases for upgrades.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Audio Visual Technology, Sound Engineering, Information Technology, Media Production or an equivalent qualification.
• 5-7 years of progressive AV production experience, including at least 2-3 years in a managerial or supervisory role in a 5-star luxury hotel, convention centre or large-scale event production.
• Proven leadership, commercial mindset, negotiation skills and emotional intelligence.
• Flexibility to work evenings, weekends and national holidays.

Required skills

• Solid command of IP networking concepts: AV-over-IP, multicast routing, VLANs and streaming protocols.
• Digital audio consoles, Dante/AES67 networks, digital video switching and streaming.