Catering and Special Events Director

Job Description

Job Description

Summary

The Catering and Special Events Director oversees all aspects of a catering operation, ensuring events are planned, executed, and managed to meet client expectations and maintain high standards of food and service. This includes managing staff, coordinating with vendors, developing menus, managing budgets, and handling logistics.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Oversee and direct all aspects of operations for the catering and special events department
• Responsible for the entire event lifecycle, from initial planning and proposed development to menu selection, staffing, setup, service, and post-event clean-up, and reconciliation
• Collaborates with the chef to create menus that align with client needs and preferences, manages overall costs, and ensures that quality and presentation standards are met
• Develop and Manage budgets for catering events, tracking expenses, and ensuring profitability
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients as it is crucial to ensuring their needs are met and their events are successful
• Negotiate contracts with vendors, manage inventory, and ensure timely delivery of supplies
• Lead sales and marketing efforts to attract new clients and promote the catering services with measured goals
• Ensure high standards of food quality, service, and presentation are maintained throughout all events
• Ensure all catering operations adhere to health and safety regulations, including food handling and sanitation procedures
• Book events within the booking parameters, ensuring that sales progress seamlessly and accurately by following established process and procedures
• Up-sell products and services, closing the best opportunities for the Hotel based on market conditions and Hotel needs
• Manage the Event Coordinator to ensure events progress seamlessly by following established procedures, collaborating with other employees, and ensuring accuracy
• Confirm final billing accuracy prior to and then process the final bill. Close sales by collecting client deposit and signed contract
• Maintain an understanding of the overall market (e.g., competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, economic trends, supply and demand, etc.)
• Identify operational challenges associated with an event and determine how to best work with the Hotel staff and customer to solve these challenges and/or develop alternative solutions
• Work to develop new or existing policies and procedures as determined by need in order to enhance the productivity of the event process
• Schedule, coordinate and/or conduct site inspections
• Adhere to all standards, policies, and procedures
• Perform other duties, responsibilities, and special projects as assigned

Technology Skills:

• Hotel Management System - Opera Cloud
• Electronic mail and file software - Gmail and Google Drive
• Facilities management software - Triple Seat
• Office suite software - Microsoft Office
• Presentation software - Microsoft PowerPoint
• Spreadsheet and budget software - Microsoft Excel
• Purchasing software - Craftable
• Word processing software - Microsoft Word Skills

Skills:

• Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior
• Customer Service - A strong focus on customer satisfaction and building positive client relationships with a record of demonstrable sales success
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems
• Organization - Maintain a highly organized department through BEOs, File Storage, and event Accounting
• Event Planning and Management - Strong organizational and logistical skills are essential
• Culinary Knowledge - Understanding of food and beverage preparation, menu planning, and presentation
• Financial Management - Budgeting, cost control, and financial analysis skills
• Leadership and Management - Ability to motivate and manage a team, delegate tasks effectively, and resolve conflicts
• Communication and Interpersonal Skills - Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for interacting with clients, staff, and vendors
• Problem-Solving - Ability to quickly identify and resolve issues that may arise during events
• Knowledge of Industry Trends - Staying up-to-date on the latest trends in catering, sales, and hospitality

Abilities:

• Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences
• Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand
• Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing
• Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense
• Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person
• Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand
• Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity)
• Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events)
• Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem
• Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem
• Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations)
• Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways
• Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer)
• Mathematical Reasoning — The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem
• Number Facility — The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Sales / Marketing, Hospitality Management or related field preferred

Experience:

• A minimum of at least 5 years of experience in a similar role, preferable within the luxury, South Florida market

We are an equal opportunity employer and a drug-free as well as harassment free workplace. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.