Director of Catering & Business Development

Apollo Bagels; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 168,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

Job summary

Apollo Bagels in New York City is seeking a Director of Catering & Business Development to own our catering business end-to-end, from finding customers to building scalable systems. You will lead the strategy, sales, and operations to convert catering into a major revenue channel within 24 months.

The ideal candidate has significant catering sales and operations experience in NYC, a proven track record with large corporate accounts, and the ability to implement scalable processes and SOPs.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in catering, hospitality sales, or business development.
• Experience running catering operations, not just selling.
• Proven track record of generating meaningful catering revenue.
• Strong understanding of corporate billing and invoicing.

Responsibilities

• Build and execute a strategy to grow catering revenue.
• Identify, pursue, and close large corporate, office, events, and institutional accounts.
• Build relationships with office managers, executive assistants, and event planners.
• Grow existing accounts through repeat business and larger programs.
• Develop an outbound sales pipeline with reporting on leads and performance.
• Own catering revenue targets and partner with leadership on profitability.
• Build and manage the full catering workflow from inquiry to delivery and follow-up.
• Create SOPs for lead tracking, order management, and communication.
• Implement pricing, packages, and programs for customer segments.

Skills

Catering sales

Strategic partnerships

Account management

Operations leadership

Pricing strategy

Team building

NYC network

Tools

CRM software

Billing/invoicing systems

Job description

Compensation:

$140,000 base salary + 20% annual target bonus

On-Target Earnings (OTE):

$168,000, with additional upside above target

About the Role:

We're looking for a Director of Catering & Business Development to own our catering business from end to end, from finding and closing new customers to building the systems, team, and operational infrastructure needed to execute at a high level. Our goal is to grow catering into a major revenue channel over the next 24 months.

The right person brings significant catering sales and operations experience in New York City, a proven track record of managing and growing large corporate accounts, and the ability to build processes and systems that scale with the business.

What You'll Do:

Sales & Business Development

• Build and execute a strategy to significantly grow catering revenue
• Identify, pursue, and personally close large corporate, office, events, and institutional accounts
• Build relationships with office managers, executive assistants, workplace teams, event planners, and other key decision-makers
• Grow existing accounts through repeat business and larger programs
• Develop an outbound sales pipeline with clear reporting on leads and account performance
• Own catering revenue targets and partner with leadership on profitability

Catering Operations

• Build and manage the full catering workflow, from inquiry to ordering, production, packing, delivery, billing, and follow-up
• Establish SOPs and systems for lead tracking, order management, customer communication, and account management
• Choose the right technology and ordering channels to manage catering as it scales
• Set up corporate billing, invoicing, payment terms, and accounts receivable, including purchase order and vendor onboarding requirements
• Create systems for order confirmation, production planning, and quality control, with clear communication between Catering, Operations, Production, Finance, and our stores
• Develop pricing, packages, and programs for different customer segments, with reporting on sales, retention, average order size, profitability, and pipeline
• Partner with Operations to execute large orders consistently and fix bottlenecks as volume grows
• Own the customer experience from first inquiry through post-order follow-up
• Build, train, and lead a small catering team (1-2 people to start)
• Set clear roles, responsibilities, and accountability
• Build the structure to support the department as it grows
• Work cross-functionally with store operations, production, finance, and marketing

What You'll Bring:

• 5+ years in catering, hospitality sales, or business development
• Proven track record of generating meaningful catering revenue
• Experience running catering operations, not just selling
• Strong understanding of corporate billing, invoicing, and catering economics
• Experience building systems and SOPs for a growing business
• A builder mindset: hands-on, independent, and fast-moving
• Existing NYC network or book of business highly preferred
• Performance Bonus: Meaningful upside tied to catering growth