Senior Catering Crew Manager

Oceanic Services; Manila; On-site; PHP 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Oceanic Services in Manila is seeking an experienced crewing specialist to manage the catering crew pool, screen candidates based on culinary competency, vessel experience, and client requirements, and ensure readiness for deployment.

You will forecast demand, plan rotations, coordinate training, and integrate ShipSure data to drive performance, retention, and continuous improvement across the end-to-end crew lifecycle. Strong leadership and reporting skills are essential for success.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in catering, hospitality, or food operations, preferably ship catering.
• Experience in crewing, marine HR, or workforce planning.
• Knowledge of food cost control, menu planning, and victualing management.
• Experience assessing crew performance and identifying development needs.
• Strong planning, coordination and decision-making skills.
• Understanding of end-to-end crew lifecycle (assessment, training, deployment).

Responsibilities

• Own catering crew pool management and recruitment alignment by maintaining full visibility of candidate pipeline and screening based on culinary competency, vessel experience, and client requirements.
• Forecast demand, review rotation plans, and assign crew based on performance history and client compatibility for optimal fit.
• Drive structured crew development by assessing appraisals, feedback, and debrief inputs, identifying training needs and promotion readiness, and defining clear career pathways.
• Own training planning and integration of Oceanic into crewing processes by identifying candidates for training programs and embedding training into deployment decisions.
• Monitor pool strength and performance outcomes by tracking key indicators and driving continuous improvement in planning, development, and catering standards.

Skills

Crew planning & scheduling

Workforce forecasting

Crew performance assessment

Training coordination

Communication & reporting

Tools

ShipSure

Job description

• Own catering crew pool management and recruitment alignment by maintaining full visibility of candidate pipeline and active catering crew pool, screening and shortlisting candidates based on culinary competency, vessel experience, and client requirements, and ensuring readiness for planning and deployment.
• Take responsibility for and conduct workforce planning and crew-to-vessel matching by forecasting demand and, reviewing rotation plans, and assigning crew based on performance history, and customer compatibility to ensure optimal fit and continuity.
• Drive structured crew development and progression by assessing appraisals, feedback, and debrief inputs, identifying training needs and promotion readiness, and defining clear career pathways (e.g., Messman → Cook → Chief Cook).
• Own training planning and integration of Oceanic - in the crewing processes by identifying candidates for training programs, aligning training schedules and capacity with Oceanic, ensuring all training needs and outcomes are recorded in ShipSure, and embedding training into actual deployment decisions.
• Monitor pool strength and performance outcomes by tracking key indicators (e.g., bench strength, retention, victualing budget performance, crew feedback), evaluating post-training impact, and driving continuous improvement in planning, development, and catering standards, thereby driving continued and consistent quality levels.

• Strong experience in catering, hospitality, or food operations (preferably with ship catering background)
• Experience in crewing, marine HR, or workforce planning
• Practical knowledge of food cost control, menu planning, and victualing management
• Experience in assessing crew performance and identifying development needs
• Strong planning, coordination, and decision-making skills
• Understanding of end-to-end crew lifecycle (assessment, training, deployment)

• Previous shipboard leadership experience (e.g., Chief Cook, Chief Steward)
• Experience working with training providers or competency frameworks
• Exposure to process improvement / operational excellence initiatives
• Familiarity with systems such as ShipSure or similar crew management platforms
• Good communication, reporting, and data interpretation skills