Director of Catering - Nashville, United States - Conrad Nashville

Description

Job Summary: Provide the vision, leadership, and strategy to inspire your team to deliver exceptional service and drive financial success. You have a strong food and beverage management background and an obvious passion for hospitality. Your passion for hospitality service is contagious, and you are a natural coach who masterfully builds effective teams and inspires individuals to do their best.

Enable innovation and drive results. You execute successful food and beverage marketing programs and artfully leverage revenue management within tight margins, driving profit to the bottom line with solid financial controls. Coordinate with the chef on menus and work with sales to create enticements that capture both in-house guests and the local market share, achieving or beating sales goals.

Essential Functions: To effectively manage the Banquet food & beverage operations of the hotel in order that customer expectations are exceeded and that the department meets its financial and legal obligations as laid down in budgets and statutes. To work within the values of Conrad Nashville & Chartwell Hospitality. Work together (People), provide top-quality service (Quality), be customer-focused (Customer), and work productively without wasting resources (Profit).

This work will be undertaken in conjunction with the hotel leadership team, Director of Food & Beverage, Executive Chef, and all direct reports and will entail monitoring the performance of the food and beverage outlets and ensuring that standards of food production, presentation, and service are maintained as laid down in standards of performance manuals.

Play an active part in the management team of the hotel, through operational management, contribution at key meetings and training and development.

• Achieving monthly top-line revenue goals.
• Proactively selling the hotel through face-to-face appointments with customers, tele-prospecting, etc.
• Participates in sales blitzes and utilizes available business tools to prospect for new business.
• Evaluate potential business opportunities for the hotel and present findings as necessary to the GM, Corporate Director of Sales, and Revenue Manager.
• Gains contacts and business intelligence and shows community spirit through involvement in appropriate organizations.
• Maintains awareness of the catering sales practices of the hotel's competitive set and is a "product expert" when selling against them.
• Ensures that he/she adheres to all sales administrative processes that are in place, including preparation and submission of reports or internal communications, and meets deadlines.
• Builds strong relationships and loyalty with top-producing clients and maintains professional integrity.

People, Quality, Profit, and Customer:

People:

In conjunction with Human Resources, new staff for the department should be recruited, selected, and inducted, with regard to current employment legislation and recognized working practices.

Build an efficient team and ensure continued improvement in staff morale and motivation through consultation, target setting, and reviews. Describes, designs, and delegates responsibility and authority for the operation of the various sub-departments under his supervision.

Deliver training to the catering and events team, ensuring that the training is documented and recorded. In

conjunction with the HR department to ensure that a training plan is produced for all department personnel.

Team members are to be trained in cost efficiency, food hygiene, health and safety, customer care, and new company policies as prescribed from time to time.

Carry out employee communication meetings once per month in line with the prescribed timetable and hold one-to-one employee reviews (direct reports) on a regular basis or in line with company policy,

Ensure that team members are consulted to assist in problem-solving and identification of improvements and are sufficiently empowered to work with minimal supervision.

Develop, train, and monitor the managers within the department to ensure succession planning.

Undergo training as directed by your manager and the demands of the business.

Quality:

Maintain a quality control program that ensures consistency in production, preparation, and service. Ensuring that quality is continually evaluated and enhanced.

Assist in creating menus and beverage lists for the banquet and catering department based on customer demand and company margins. Stay aware of new food trends, systems and practices, and equipment in F&B operations.

Develop and enhance Conrad Nashville's banquet and catering food and beverage reputation through product improvement, effective PR, promotion devising, and participation in promotional activities. In conjunction with Sales and Marketing, devise and organize food promotions as appropriate.

Profit:

Meet the hotel's banquet and catering cost of sales targets as set out in the budget by implementing and maintaining prudent and established controls in collaboration with the Director of Food and beverage, the Executive Chef, and the Director of Finance.

Collaborate with the Director of Food & Beverage to ensure manpower and material resources are effectively used, monitored, and controlled, balancing both budgetary requirements and customer needs through a proactive management approach.

Customer:

Create and implement programming and individual menu items for the banquet and catering department based on current food and beverage trends and regional tastes (in conjunction with a third-party consultant). Invent menu selections for special banquet themes and parties in accordance with client budgetary guides and expectations. Confer with the Director of Food and Beverage and Executive Chef regarding new selections and changes.

Undertake regular Hotel competitor shopping to monitor competitor business levels, quality of products and services, and food trends.

Positively deal with and learn from customer complaints and comments.

Skills:

• Graduation from a well-known hotel school or demonstration of previous successful management of a quality hotel and restaurant operation.
• Excellent verbal, comprehension, listening, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent reputation for presenting an interesting, well-prepared menu.
• Catering managerial experience.
• Ability to deal with a diverse staff and to operate efficiently despite stressful time pressure.
• Interpersonal and time management skills. Adaptability
• Have a stable work history.
• Be well-organized and have strong client follow-up.
• Be competitive, self-motivated, and a self-starter.
• Have fully functional computer skills including experience with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Health, Safety & Hygiene:

Be fully conversant with current Health, Safety & Hygiene legislation affecting food and beverage preparation, production and service areas and ensure that the laid down requirements are met.

Ensure that all employees are periodically trained in all matters relating to food hygiene and safety and their legal responsibilities with regard to beverage service.

Other:

To carry out all other duties legally and reasonably requested of you by your manager that fall within the scope and purpose of this position.

Contribution is made to setting departmental objectives in relation to the business strategy.

Contribution is made to management discussions to solve problems, identify improvements and make decisions.

Oral and written communication is carried out in a manner and at a level and pace likely to promote understanding, effective performance, and harmonious working relationships.

This list is not exhaustive, and your job may require standards not listed above.

Education:

BA/BS Degree

Minimum Experience Requirements:

A minimum of 5 years of Director of Catering and Events experience in the luxury segment is required. An intimate working knowledge of food and beverage standards and management execution with an entrepreneurial spirit to create and mentor superior catering and event talent is essential. In addition, a history with annual revenue and expense budgets is preferred.

Physical Requirements:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; stand; bend; walk; use hands or finger; or feel objects, tools or controls; lift boxes (up to 50 pounds); talk and hear. Vision abilities required by this job include close vision to a computer screen.

** This job description reflects management's assignment of essential functions and does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned.