Hospitality Excellence Manager
Restaurant Associates
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
Restaurant Associates in Seattle, WA seeks a Hospitality Excellence Manager to elevate guest experiences and drive hospitality innovations. Lead activations, merchandising, and team coaching to ensure a memorable program aligned with brand image.
Collaborate with site leaders and regional teams to launch our Experience Team and deliver exceptional service across food, beverage, and events. Monday–Friday schedule with competitive salary and benefits.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in food, beverage or hotel industry with guest experience focus.
- Proven track record developing strategies to improve guest experience.
- Strong understanding of hospitality standards and best practices.
- Ability to work independently and bring in key stakeholders as needed.
- Relentless passion for food and beverage and customer service.
- Organized and future-oriented planning while staying agile.
- Problem-solve with objective thinking and concrete plans.
- Strong communication and collaboration; clear program vision.
- Emotional intelligence and empathy within the team.
- Motivation to drive engagement and hospitality excellence.
Responsibilities
- Implement regional strategies to deliver best-in-class food, service, and hospitality experiences.
- Conduct weekly observational walkthroughs to ensure service standards are met; discuss with GM.
- Own the food program pop-up and experiential events calendar and programming.
- Manage relationships with site-level stakeholders and support their objectives.
- Lead content creation of the daily hospitality experience with GM and onsite team.
- Program manage the CARE hospitality initiative across locations.
- Oversee merchandising and visual experience of spaces to create inviting guest flows.
Skills
Job description
Restaurant Associates
Position: Hospitality Excellence Manager
Salary: $95,000 - $105,000 / year
Location: Seattle, WA
Schedule: Monday-Friday
Become part of Restaurant Associates, the industry’s leading provider of dining and event catering for some of the nation's most prestigious museums, performing arts centers and corporations!
Voted Glassdoor's Employee Choice Awards - Best Places to Work,
This is R/A !
The Hospitality Excellence Manager role is responsible for cultivating a guest‑centric culture that brings creativity, convenience, enjoyment, and a sense of community to our food program. As the Hospitality Excellence Manager, you'll be at the forefront of driving the local transformation of our food and beverage operations through engaging activations, enhanced merchandising, and best‑in‑class hospitality. The Hospitality Excellence Manager will collaborate with and support a team of food service managers and hourly associates, guiding them toward excellence in hospitality, culinary innovation, digital engagement, and design. This role will report to the District Manager and work closely with the Regional Experience Director to spearhead the development and launch of our inaugural Experience Team, ensuring that every guest interaction, from the moment a guest enters to the time they leave, is positive, memorable, and aligned with the Food Program, Compass, and RA's brand image.
- Implement regional strategies and identify new opportunities to deliver best‑in‑class food, service, and hospitality experiences, such as:
- Conduct weekly (or as needed) observational walkthroughs to ensure service standards in all food and beverage service areas are being met. Discuss findings with the GM, and follow‑up actions led by the Hospitality Manager (HM).
- Own the food program pop‑up and experiential events calendar and programming to deliver \"wow factor\" experiences.
- Manage the relationship with key stakeholder groups at the site level (e.g. Employee Resource Groups, Sustainability sub‑committees, etc.) and support their objectives through unique food experiences.
- Be responsible for implementing client‑led, regional, or corporate initiatives throughout the year.
- Own the content creation of the daily \"hospitality\" experience for our employees, in collaboration with the GM and onsite management team.
- Monitor and evaluate hospitality performance at the site, while maintaining regional alignment; program manage the company's internal \"CARE\" hospitality program for your locations, creating messaging, novel engagements, and intentional ways to enhance our internal hospitality.
- Manage the merchandising and visual experience of physical spaces to deliver an inviting and appealing user experience, including:
- Sensory experiences (music, scent, lighting, where appropriate)
- Signage and wayfinding
- Merchandising and visual enhancements
- Develop seasonal and cultural celebration visual styling toolkits for your location
- Collaborate with site leadership and operations teams to reconfigure and revamp our spaces, ensuring that flow, accessibility, convenience, and fun are all considered.
- Relationships & Project Support:
- Work in partnership with key client groups to understand their needs and develop experiences that meet those needs.
- Partner with site managers, cafe managers, and marketing to drive strategic initiatives.
- Foster a culture of innovation by presenting industry trends, new concept ideas, and best practices in food and beverage on a quarterly basis to site and regional leadership.
- Lead regular training programs onsite to ensure teams are consistently delivering exceptional customer interactions, handling feedback effectively, and exceeding guest expectations.
- Support the Digital Experience and marketing team with deploying new technologies into the operation.
- Create quarterly storytelling reporting on accomplishments and results to share with internal and client leadership.
- Foster a positive and respectful work environment and work with teams to drive empowerment and pride in delivering exceptional food experiences.
- 5+ years of experience in the food, beverage, or hotel industry, with a focus on guest experiences.
- Proven track record of success in developing and implementing strategies to improve the guest experience.
- Strong understanding of hospitality standards and best practices.
- Ability to work independently without operating in silos. Exhibit strong ability to bring in key stakeholders as needed.
- Relentless passion for food and beverage and a commitment to providing exceptional customer service.
- Organized and enjoys future planning while remaining agile and adjusting plans as our environment changes.
- Ability to problem‑solve and tackle problems with objectivity and a “can‑do” attitude. Ability to think strategically and provide concrete plans and solutions.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills: capability to clearly convey program vision, expectations, and feedback. Encourage active listening to foster a space where new ideas are welcomed.
- Emotional Intelligence: drive self‑awareness of the team's behaviors and the impact it has on the surrounding community. Model empathy and authenticity amongst the team.
- Motivation and inspiration: understand what motivates the team and how to encourage them to drive their engagement and hospitality.
Restaurant Associates is a member of Compass Group USA
Compass Group is an equal opportunity employer. At Compass, we are committed to treating all Applicants and Associates fairly based on their abilities, achievements, and experience without regard to race, national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other classification protected by law.
Qualified candidates must be able to perform the essential functions of this position satisfactorily with or without a reasonable accommodation. Disclaimer: this job post is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all essential responsibilities, skills, tasks, or requirements associated with this position. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the position posted, the Company reserves the right to modify or change the essential functions of the job based on business necessity. We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with a criminal history (including relevant driving history), in a manner consistent with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the New York Fair Chance Act.
Certain positions may require Florida Level 2 background screening. Details: https://info.flclearinghouse.com/
- Medical
- Dental
- Vision
- Life Insurance/ AD
- Disability Insurance
- Retirement Plan
- Paid Time Off
- Holiday Time Off (varies by site/state)
- Associate Shopping Program
- Health and Wellness Programs
- Discount Marketplace
- Identity Theft Protection
- Pet Insurance
- Commuter Benefits
- Employee Assistance Program
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
- Paid Parental Leave
- Personal Leave
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Restaurant Associates maintains a drug‑free workplace.
Associates may also be eligible for paid and/or unpaid time off benefits in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. For positions in Washington State, Maryland, or to be performed Remotely, click here or copy/paste the link below for paid time off benefits information.
https://www.compass‑usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023_WageTransparency_RA.pdf
Restaurant Associates
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