Catering & Convention Sales Lead

HEI Hotels & Resorts; United States; Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits package

401(k) with company match

Travel opportunities

Employee discounts

Job summary

HEI Hotels & Resorts is seeking a Catering Sales and Convention Services professional to manage client relationships and drive revenue across the U.S. You will handle solicitation, contracting, planning, detailing, execution, and post-event follow-up for meetings and events, with ~70% on-property presence and ~30% remote work from a home office.

Responsibilities include prospecting accounts, creating proposals and contracts, coordinating with culinary and operations teams, and applying yield

Qualifications

• Prior hospitality experience with catering sales, convention services, conference services, or event detailing is required.
• Minimum of 1+ year of related hotel catering sales or convention services experience preferred.
• Ability to travel on an ad hoc basis, spend multiple consecutive days on property, and work remotely when assigned.

Responsibilities

• Provide temporary, project-based, or vacancy coverage to assigned hotels, quickly learning each property’s brand standards, market, systems, and operating procedures.
• Prospect, solicit, and manage new, existing, and past catering and group accounts to achieve or exceed revenue goals through telephone and email outreach, outside sales calls, site inspections, networking, and written communication.
• Respond to inbound leads quickly and efficiently; evaluate, negotiate, and close business within established response standards and hotel profitability guidelines.
• Sell all applicable facets of the hotel, including food and beverage, meeting room rental, guest rooms, audio/visual, and other revenue-generating services.
• Manage assigned business from turnover or booking through event completion, serving as the primary client contact and maintaining timely, proactive communication throughout the planning process.
• Prepare and maintain accurate proposals, contracts, banquet event orders, group resumes, diagrams, billing instructions, booking reports, and sales and event system documentation.
• Coordinate and lead pre-convention and pre-event meetings, communicate changes promptly, and provide clear direction to hotel departments to support seamless execution.
• Monitor group room blocks, pickup, food and beverage commitments, event space, concessions, cut-off dates, and key contractual requirements; communicate risks and opportunities to the appropriate leaders.
• Partner closely with culinary, banquet, front office, revenue, sales, and accounting teams to develop menus, creative setups, specialty functions, timelines, and operating plans that meet client expectations and hotel objectives.
• Oversee the execution of assigned catering and convention events, troubleshoot service or operational concerns, coordinate outside vendors, and determine appropriate solutions in a timely manner.
• Apply revenue and yield management principles, historical performance, pace, forecasting, productivity metrics, and competitive information to maximize revenue and profitability.
• Optimize room rental, food and beverage, audio/visual, and ancillary revenue while identifying upsell opportunities throughout the planning process.
• Build long-term client relationships, support repeat business and rebooking efforts, and complete appropriate post-event follow-up, including review of planner feedback and satisfaction results.
• Conduct professional hotel site inspections, client presentations, planning meetings, and event reviews.
• Participate in daily business review, forecast, pre-convention, training, sales, and operational meetings as required by the assigned hotel.
• Maintain knowledge of market trends, competitors, key accounts, hotel features, and community demand generators; participate in trade shows, sales blitzes, industry organizations, and community events as appropriate.
• Maintain accurate account, booking, and event records in applicable hotel sales and event management systems, and ensure a thorough handoff of open business, files, status, and outstanding action items at the conclusion of each assignment.
• Comply with attendance requirements, brand and hotel standards, confidentiality expectations, and applicable policies and procedures.
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

Skills

Catering sales

Convention services

Event planning

Negotiation

MS Word

Excel

Client service

Tools

Delphi FDC

Delphi

Ci/TY

Job description

HEI Hotels & Resorts is seeking a Catering Sales and Convention Services professional to manage client relationships and drive revenue across the U.S. You will handle solicitation, contracting, planning, detailing, execution, and post-event follow-up for meetings and events, with ~70% on-property presence and ~30% remote work from a home office.

Responsibilities include prospecting accounts, creating proposals and contracts, coordinating with culinary and operations teams, and applying yield