Dir, Catering

Elior Group; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 80,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical (FT Employees)

Vision

401k

Sick Time

Holiday Pay (9 paid holidays)

Tuition Reimbursement (FT Employees)

Job summary

The Director of Catering at Constellation, under Elior North America, leads the off-premises catering division in Philadelphia, ensuring high-quality events and profitability.

Heavy emphasis on building client relationships, developing sales strategies, and mentoring a high-performance team while coordinating with operations to deliver brand standards across venues.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of leadership in high-volume catering or F&B operations.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred or relevant experience in high-volume catering.
• Exceptional interpersonal, organizational and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Direct Sales and Sales Management.
• Lead a sales team by setting annual goals and KPIs.
• Develop client relationships to initiate sales opportunities and drive revenue.
• Monitor event profitability and ensure alignment with budget and brand standards.
• Hire, train and mentor team members and manage A/R accountability.

Skills

Leadership experience

Interpersonal skills

MS Office proficiency

Education

Bachelor's degree preferred

Tools

MS Office suite

Catering software experience

Job description

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Job Reference Number: 43620
Employment Type:Full-Time,Onsite
Segment: Dining & Events
Brand: Constellation
Location: Philadelphia, PA

The Role at a glance:

Director of Catering is responsible for the successful development and growth of the off-premises division. Their primary responsibilities include overseeing the entire event planning process, from initial inquiry through execution. In addition to leading their team, the DOC is expected to actively network, build relationships, and consistently identify new client opportunities to drive revenue growth. The DOC plays a key role in ensuring the success of events managed by their team, maintaining a strong focus on profitability and client satisfaction. They are also tasked with cultivating and sustaining venue and external client relationships while fostering excellent collaboration with the operations team. A core responsibility of the DOC is to uphold the client's vision and brand standards at all off-premise venues and events, ensuring a seamless and high-quality experience that aligns with organizational goals. The DOC fosters a collaborative environment on all levels.

What you'll be doing:

Essential Job Functions

Direct Sales and Sales Management

Work independently towards client outreach to develop new client relationships to initiate sales opportunities

Consistently network and prospect to gain market share, while promoting the brand and its offerings to both new and existing catering clients

Work with auxiliary teams as needed for: menus revamps, promotional events, photos shoots, trainings, client gifting

Lead a successful sales team by working to set annual sales goals, developing their yearly sales plan, and set KPI’s for themselves and their team

Consistently Mentoring, training and developing the sales team to grow topline revenue, all while maintaining profitability

Maintain positive client relationships and liaison as necessary to ensure a consistently positive interaction

Field incoming inquiries, assign leads as necessary and hold high value events to ensure conversion – keeping an equitable distribution of leads

Attend events and ensure client satisfaction as needed

Utilize catering software to create and price client proposals, including managing revisions, while also providing support to sales managers with pricing and proposal development as needed. Proposals are comprised of four major areas: menu, beverage, staff and equipment rental

Ensure compliance with all Elior mandated company wide trainings and courses

Run weekly sales meetings at the unit level

Follow up with clients and sales managers to ensure that annual events are secured on the calendar each year – pushing for multiyear contracts

Hire, train and mentor team members in their org chart – performance reviews, disciplinary activities – etc

Participate, conduct client meetings, visits and tastings

Work to set and ensure that budgeted sales goals are met or exceeded

Responsible for maintaining A/R accountability at the unit

Set individual team members revenue goals and assist in directing their outreach to meet and achieve goals

Monitor event profitability to ensure that events are sold and executed according to company standards and budget

Create a P&L as necessary to ensures the successful execution of each event in all cost areas

Submit weekly pace reports to the company

Ensure that all event deposits, payments, and invoicing reflect the company policies and procedures

Monitor staffing levels on each event to ensure proper service standards are achieved and profitability maintained according to budget

Marketing

This will be a collaborative approach with Marketing to ensure the successful development of the brand

Develop and maintain an active and aggressive advertising campaign to ensure the successful integration of the brand in the market

Creating brand collateral with the Marketing department as need arises

Monitor and track the results of the advertising campaigns to ensure that the expense has a significant impact on sales and brand awareness

Establish signature marketing events to bring awareness of our offerings to the event planning industry

Regularly networking to increase notoriety and buzz surrounding events at venue

Establish market comp analysis annually to ensure the competitive offerings and pricing for the area

Technical Knowledge

The DOC must possess a working knowledge of the systems used within the company. The DOC must be proficient in the following

Opening & closing procedures

Producing accurate monthly reporting

Food and beverage knowledge

Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite- inclusive of Word, Power Point, Excel, and Outlook

What we're looking for:

5+ years of leadership experience overseeing high-volume food and beverage/catering operations either within a hotel, cultural institution, or premier catering company

Bachelor’s degree preferred, or relevant experience in high volume catering

Must have experience in corporate business environment with an entrepreneurial spirit

Exceptional interpersonal, organizational and communication skills

The ability to direct multiple levels of catering within a very dynamic environment

hardworking nature, hands-on approach, and a passion for the business

Ability to communicate effectively with co-workers, management, vendors, and clients

Able to work a flexible schedule to accommodate business levels

Advanced knowledge of current technology and MS Office suite, with catering software experience

Compensation Range

Base: $80,000 - $85,000

Plus commission and bonus

• Medical (FT Employees)
• Vision
• Voluntary UNUM offering for Accident, Critical Illness and Hospital Indemnity
• Discount Program
• Commuter Benefits (Parking and Transit)
• EAP
• 401k
• Sick Time
• Holiday Pay (9 paid holidays)
• Tuition Reimbursement (FT Employees)Paid Time Off

About Constellation:

From retail spaces to office buildings, Constellation provides high-quality business dining and catering experiences all over the United States. Constellation takes pride in building every meal around its goal of fostering connections through food and hospitality.

About Elior North America:

Elior North America is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. We are committed to diversity and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and abilities. We take pride in supporting the development of our employees and their skills at all levels and in fostering an environment of growth.

At Elior North America, we are committed to offering growth and advancement opportunities for all of our employees. The valuable skills and experience you’ve gained with Elior will propel you further in your career, whether with our corporate office or one of our brand segments.

Disclaimer: This job description can be revised by management as needed.