Director of Food & Beverage

Director of Food & Beverage

The Director of Food & Beverage provides strategic and operational leadership for the resort’s extensive Food & Beverage operation, overseeing restaurants, bars and lounges, in-room dining, banquets, catering, and meetings and events. The role leads a diverse team and is accountable for delivering exceptional luxury dining experiences while driving more than $60 million in annual revenue, strengthening profitability, and ensuring consistent execution of The Ritz-Carlton service standards, AAA requirements, and Forbes Travel Guide expectations.

The ideal candidate must have experience in the following:

•    Minimum of 3 years’ experience as an Assistant Director of Food and Beverage or Director of Outlets/Restaurants in a luxury F & B operation
•    Degree in hospitality management or equivalent hospitality training
•    Experience in managing a large and diverse workforce
•    Providing strategic leadership across all Food & Beverage operations. 
•    Driving revenue growth, profitability, forecasting, labor productivity, and cost management. 
•    Leading, developing, and engaging a large and diverse team of Ladies and Gentlemen. 
•    Ensuring exceptional guest experiences and consistent luxury service delivery. 
•    Partnering closely with Culinary leadership on product quality, innovation, menu creation, and operational execution. 
•    Maintaining rigorous AAA, Forbes Travel Guide, brand, quality, and audit standards. 
•    Developing and executing strategies that strengthen guest engagement and deliver a strong return on investment to ownership.
•    Charismatic Team Leader. Open, flexible, energetic, focused
•    Organized, structured and process orientated, financial acumen required
 

Functions as the strategic business leader of the property’s food and beverage/culinary operation, including Restaurants/Bars, Room Service and Banquets/Catering, where applicable. Position oversees the development and implementation of departmental strategies and ensures implementation of the brand service strategy and brand initiatives. The position ensures the food and beverage/culinary operation meets the brand’s target customer needs, ensures employee satisfaction, and focuses on growing revenues and maximizing the financial performance of the department. Develops and implements property-wide strategies that deliver products and services to meet or exceed the needs and expectations of the brand’s target customer and property employees and provides a return on investment.

Skills and Knowledge

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

• Management of Financial Resources - Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

• Applied Business Knowledge - Understanding market dynamics, enterprise level objectives and important aspects of the company’s business to accurately diagnose strengths and weaknesses, anticipate opportunities and risks, identify issues, and develop strategies and plans. Aligning individual and team actions with strategies and plans to drive business results.

• Management of Material Resources - Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES

Developing and Maintaining Food and Beverage/Culinary Goals

• Sets expectations and holds food and beverage leadership team accountable for demonstrating desired service behaviors.

• Reviews financial reports and statements to determine how Food and Beverage is performing against budget.

• Makes recommendations for CAPEX funding of food and beverage equipment and renovations in accordance with brand business strategy.

• Works with food and beverage leadership team to determine areas of concern and develops strategies to improve the department’s financial performance.

• Establishes challenging, realistic and obtainable goals to guide operation and performance.

• Strives to improve service performance.

Developing and Maintaining Budgets

• Develops and manages Food and Beverage budget.

• Monitors the department’s actual and projected sales to ensure revenue goals are met or exceeded and opportunities are identified and addressed.

• Ensures cash control and liquor control policies are in place in food & beverage areas and followed by all related employees.

• Focuses on maintaining profit margins without compromising guest or employee satisfaction.

Leading Food and Beverage/Culinary Team

• Utilizes interpersonal and communication skills to lead, influence, and encourage others; advocates sound financial/business decision making; demonstrates honesty/integrity; leads by example.

• Encourages and builds mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.

• Achieves and exceeds goals including performance goals, budget goals, team goals, etc.

• Serves as a role model to demonstrate appropriate behaviors.

• Develops means to improve profit, including estimating cost and benefit, exploring new business opportunities, etc.

• Identifies opportunities to increase profits and create value by challenging existing processes, encouraging innovation and driving necessary change.

• Ensures that regular, on-going communication occurs in all areas of food and beverage (e.g., pre-meal briefings, staff meetings, culinary team).

• Establishes and maintains open, collaborative relationships with direct reports and entire food & beverage team. Ensures direct reports do the same for their team.

• Develops a food and beverage operating strategy that is aligned with the brand’s business strategy and leads its execution.

• Identifies the developmental needs of others and coaches, mentors, or otherwise helps others to improve their knowledge or skills.

• Stays aware of market trends and introduces new food and beverage products to meet or exceed customer expectations, generate increased revenue and ensure a competitive position in the market.

Ensuring Exceptional Customer Service

• Provides services that are above and beyond for customer satisfaction and retention.

• Improves service by communicating and assisting individuals to understand guest needs, providing guidance, feedback, and individual coaching when needed.

• Reviews findings from comment cards and guest satisfaction results with F& B team and ensures appropriate corrective action is taken.

• Reviews comment cards, guest satisfaction results and other data to identify areas of improvement.

• Empowers employees to provide excellent guest service.

• Estimates cost and benefit ratio, maintaining balance between profit and service satisfaction.

• Shares plans to take corrective action based on comment cards and guest satisfaction results with property leadership.

Managing and Conducting Human Resource Activities

• Provides guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.

• Coaches and supports food & beverage leadership team to effectively manage wages, food & beverage cost and controllable expenses (e.g., restaurant supplies, uniforms, etc.).

• Hires food & beverage leadership team members who demonstrate strong functional expertise, creativity and entrepreneurial leadership to meet the business needs of the operation.

• Sets goals and expectations for direct reports using the performance review process and holds staff accountable for successful performance.

• Ensures that expectations and objectives are clearly communicated to subordinates; subordinates are also open to raise questions and/or concerns.

• Brings issues to the attention of Human Resources as necessary.

• Ensures employees are treated fairly and equitably.

• Coaches team by providing specific feedback to improve performance.

Additional Responsibilities

• Informs and/or update the executives, the peers and the subordinates on relevant information in a timely manner.

• Provides information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

• Analyzes information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

• Estimate food, liquor, wine, and other beverage consumption in order to anticipate amounts to be purchased or requisitioned.

• Order and purchase equipment and supplies.