Head of Food Development

Carnival; Southampton; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Carnival UK seeks a Senior Food and Dining Product Development Manager (Head of Food Development) to drive food strategy and product lifecycle management for their P&O Cruises fleet. This role focuses on enhancing guest satisfaction and commercial performance through innovative dining concepts, requiring strong financial skills and experience in high-volume operations.

Benefits

Annual bonus

Employee Discounted Cruising

Extensive learning and development opportunities

Minimum 25 days leave

Pension and private medical insurance

Qualifications

• Proven track record in dining product development.
• Experience managing revenue and cost budgets.
• Broad exposure to diverse food and dining environments.

Responsibilities

• Define food and dining product strategies and standards.
• Conduct lifecycle analysis for Food and Dining products.
• Maximize food and dining sales through strategic planning.

Skills

Financial acumen

Commercial awareness

Leadership

Team collaboration

Change management

Job description

Carnival UK is in search of a Senior Food and Dining Product Development Manager (advertised as Head of Food Development) who will be responsible for food and dining new product strategy, development, and product lifecycle management, whilst also leading the design and concept creation for refits and newbuilds across our P&O Cruises fleet.

Role Overview

The P&O Cruises Guest Experience team is at the heart of our fleet operation. As the first point of contact for our shipboard leadership team, we help them navigate between ship and shore as a source of advice and support. We plan to meet the changing needs of our guests, inspiring and leading our crew to SHINE as they deliver our guest service programme. When things aren’t quite right, we do what it takes to recover brilliantly.

As Food and Dining Product Development Senior Manager (advertised as Head of Food Development), you’ll play a pivotal role in defining our Food and Dining product strategies and standards for our P&O Cruises fleet, liaising closely with our Cunard brand team to share learnings and best practices. You will design activities and plans to maximize onboard revenue and guest satisfaction while managing costs within budgets.

At P&O Cruises, food is fundamental to our brand proposition. We are seeking a Senior Manager Food/Head of Food Development to drive our dining concept delivery. If you have proven experience in driving food concept strategies and menu development lifecycle change management, we’d love to hear from you. Our guests enjoy a broad range of food options, from included offers like our main dining room and buffet to specialty dining concepts. Food quality and choice are crucial, and this role is key in designing the future food offer, identifying guest and commercial opportunities, and working with culinary and operational teams to bring innovations to life.

Accountabilities include:

• Deliver strategic commercial goals and forecast performance across all food lines through design and execution of strategies.
• Conduct full lifecycle analysis for all Food and Dining products, influencing support functions to identify improvements in commercial reporting for sales optimization.
• Collaborate with analytical support functions to highlight opportunities and design activities to maximize food and dining sales, supporting development, implementation, and review of all food and dining products and concepts.
• Design and optimize Food and Dining propositions (e.g., pricing, serviceware, technology, service procedures, range) to drive onboard revenue and guest satisfaction.

This role is positioned within our internal structure from CUK15 (entry level) to CUK1 (Brand President). It is classified as CUK06, offered as a full-time position, on a permanent basis, with hybrid work options including up to two days from home.

Requirements: Your Expertise and Leadership

To thrive as a Food and Dining Product Development Senior Manager, you should have:

• Strong financial and commercial acumen, with experience managing revenue and cost budgets.
• Broad exposure or knowledge of diverse food and dining environments, including multi-site and high-volume operations.
• Experience liaising with and influencing multidisciplinary stakeholders in complex environments.
• A proven track record in dining product development.

About You: A Catalyst for Change

We value diversity and are interested in candidates who:

• Provide leadership and direction, taking responsibility for actions and fostering positive culture and behaviors.
• Work collaboratively, engaging others with accountability and team spirit.
• Drive change and improvements, cascading these through teams and cross-departmentally.

Why Join Us?

Working with us is about creating unforgettable holiday happiness for our guests and a fulfilling career for you. Our benefits include:

• Annual bonus
• Employee Discounted Cruising and Friends and Family offers
• A welcoming environment with support for settling in
• Regular events, entertainment, and charity fundraisers
• Extensive learning and development opportunities
• Minimum 25 days leave, bank holidays, holiday trading scheme
• Employee-led networks and wellbeing programs
• Recognition schemes, pension, private medical and dental insurance, and more

Ready to Lead?

If guiding a F&B Product Development team excites you, we’re eager to hear from you. Apply now and make a difference in our shared success.

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#Job Functions: Business Development; Product Management; Project Management