Director of People and Culture

About Four Seasons:

Four Seasons is powered by our people. We are a collective of individuals who crave to become better, to push ourselves to new heights and to treat each other as we wish to be treated in return. Our team members around the world create amazing experiences for our guests, residents, and partners through a commitment to luxury with genuine heart. We know that the best way to enable our people to deliver these exceptional guest experiences is through a world-class employee experience and company culture.         
At Four Seasons, we believe in recognizing a familiar face, welcoming a new one and treating everyone we meet the way we would want to be treated ourselves. Whether you work with us, stay with us, live with us or discover with us, we believe our purpose is to create impressions that will stay with you for a lifetime. It comes from our belief that life is richer when we truly connect to the people and the world around us.

About the location:

An urban retreat steeped in historic beauty. Stroll the city’s biggest private garden – a tranquil haven of statues, fountains and centuries-old trees – or retire to your suite where frescoes line the walls amid original architectural features. Our historic Hotel, with its Michelin-starred Italian restaurant and a locally inspired Spa where you can spend afternoons in pure indulgence, is just steps away from the cultural heart of Florence.

The Role of Director of People & Culture – Four Seasons Hotel Firenze

At Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, nestled in the heart of Florence and set within two majestic Renaissance palaces surrounded by the historic Giardino della Gherardesca, our reputation for refined hospitality, artistic richness, and employee care has been built over many years. As we continue to elevate guest experience and operations alike, we seek an exceptional Director of People & Culture to lead our People & Culture and Learning agenda and reinforce our status as a benchmark employer in the region.

You will report directly to the General Manager, with a dotted line to the Regional Director of People & Culture, EMEA.

You will drive strategies that enrich our team culture, attract and retain top talent, and ensure that our workplace is one where every colleague thrives. You will act as both a strategic partner to operations and a champion for employee engagement, learning & development, and wellbeing, ensuring that Firenze remains not only a destination of choice for guests, but also for people building a hospitality career.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the Cultural Advocate of the Golden Rule: uphold Four Seasons’ values in all programs and employee interactions.
• Strategise and oversee talent management: recruitment, selection, onboarding, retention, and succession planning to ensure a strong pipeline of internal talent.
• Partner with department heads to support operational decisions, forecast people needs, align HR strategy with business goals, and enable performance excellence.
• Lead compensation and benefits strategy benchmarking against both local Italian/hospitality standards and Four Seasons global expectations; balance cost, fairness, and the employee experience.
• Develop and maintain learning & development programmes: from onboarding to leadership development, skills training, performance improvement, with metrics to evaluate effectiveness.
• Monitor and influence the employee experience: engagement, satisfaction, reward & recognition, wellbeing, employee relations, and compliance with Italian labour law and Four Seasons standards.
• Drive corporate People & Culture initiatives locally – diversity, inclusion, wellbeing, community engagement – ensuring alignment with hotel and regional goals.

Our Ideal Director of People and Culture candidate will have :

• Deep passion for people, culture, and learning; you are a trusted business partner with strong strategic thinking and operational sensibility.
• Extensive experience in luxury hospitality or related sectors, ideally with multi‐disciplinary exposure (HR, talent, learning).
• Excellent leadership and communication skills; ability to influence at all levels.
• Fluency in Italian and English; fluency in additional languages is a plus.
• Legal eligibility to work in Italy.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts can offer what many hospitality professionals dream of; the opportunity to build a life-long career with global potential and a real sense of pride in work well done.  We look for talent who share the Golden Rule – people who, by nature, believe in treating others as we would have them treat us.  As Four Seasons works towards phenomenal growth in the next decade, our most valuable partners continue to be our talent, with whom we have a strong relationship based on the Golden Rule. This relationship is made tangible by the awards received year after year by Four Seasons on a corporate level, as well as by our hotels, resorts and residences around the world, making us an undisputed “employer of choice.”