Chief People Officer
B.R. Guest Restaurants

The Project
B.R. Guest Restaurants, a New York-based full service restaurant chain is headed by Steve Hanson and Starwood Capital Group, a privately held global investment management firm headed by Barry Sternlicht. The company retained HVS Executive Search to conduct a search for a Chief People Officer.

The HVS Assignment
HVS was asked to identify a senior HR professsional who possessed both the leadership skills and human resources expertise specifically within the chain restaurant and hotel industries.

The Results
After an extensive search and screening process HVS Executive Search identified and secured A.J Kamra for the assignment. A.J’s combination of property-based experience coupled with his legal background guide his leadership of the Human Resources discipline. Most recently, he was Corporate Director of Human Resources for The Dow Hotel Company and prior to that, Corporate Director of Human Resources for Fox Restaurant Concepts. He was a multi-property Director of Human Resources for W Hotels in New York City during the launch of the brand in the late 1990s. A.J. started his career in the hospitality industry and human resources with HEI Hotels. He holds a J.D. from New York Law School and a B.A. in Political Science from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.