National Restaurant Awards Director

Wine Enthusiast; Town of Mount Pleasant (NY); Hybrid; USD 125,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Full Medical, Dental and Vision

401(K) Match

FSA

Flexible Work Environment

Onsite Gym

Employee Discount

Wine Tasting Class participation

Flexible Schedule

Dynamic and Collaborative work culture

Job summary

Wine Enthusiast Media seeks a Director of Restaurant Awards to lead a national restaurant recognition program. You will drive recruitment, manage submissions, deliver client services, and oversee the program from recruitment through winner recognition.

You will collaborate with marketing, editorial, product, sales, and events teams to scale the annual program, maintaining independence of editorial and judging processes.

Qualifications

• 6–10+ years of experience in hospitality, restaurant industry relations, awards programs, client services, business development, or program management.
• Strong knowledge of the restaurant and hospitality industry with existing relationships preferred.
• Proven ability to drive outreach, recruitment, participation, or customer acquisition.
• Exceptional organizational skills and ability to manage multiple workstreams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with a service-oriented approach.

Responsibilities

• Own restaurant recruitment strategy and execution, driving participation and paid submissions nationwide.
• Build and maintain relationships with restaurant groups, sommeliers, wine directors, hospitality organizations, and industry associations.
• Develop prospect lists and conduct direct outreach to prospective applicants.
• Manage recruitment pipelines, follow-ups, and conversion tracking.
• Identify strategic partnerships and opportunities to expand restaurant participation.
• Achieve annual submission volume and revenue targets.
• Own the entire restaurant submission process, from initial inquiry through completed application and payment.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for participating restaurants, providing responsive, professional client services.
• Manage the Restaurant Awards inbox, answering questions about eligibility, categories, deadlines, pricing, and submissions.
• Track incoming applications, ensure completeness, and resolve submission issues.
• Maintain accurate applicant records and coordinate the preparation of submissions for judging.
• Develop and maintain FAQs, client communications, and operational workflows to ensure a seamless applicant experience.
• Manage ongoing relationships with participating restaurants throughout the awards lifecycle.
• Own the annual Restaurant Awards calendar, including key milestones, deadlines, budgets, and deliverables.
• Serve as the central point of accountability across internal departments and external partners.
• Coordinate judging logistics, winner notifications, recognition materials, and program fulfillment.
• Develop reporting dashboards to track participation, submissions, revenue, and overall performance.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, applicant experience, and program profitability.
• Collaborate with internal marketing teams and external PR partners to develop and execute recruitment campaigns.
• Coordinate paid media, email, social media, owned advertising, and earned media initiatives.
• Provide insights from restaurant outreach and applicant feedback to improve marketing effectiveness.
• Monitor campaign performance and identify opportunities to increase submissions.
• Partner with the product team on the submission platform and restaurant directory.
• Identify and communicate product enhancements that improve usability, conversion, and client experience.
• Support testing, troubleshooting, and ongoing optimization of the submission process.
• Coordinate with editorial leadership on Restaurant Awards content, newsletters, and winner coverage, while preserving editorial and judging independence.
• Collaborate with sales and external partners on recognition products, restaurant marketing opportunities, and related revenue initiatives.
• Coordinate winner outreach, communications, and recognition fulfillment.
• Partner with the events team on launch events, winner celebrations, and other program activations.

Skills

Hospitality industry relations

Awards programs

Business development

Program management

Client services

CRM systems

Communication

Organization

Job description

Wine Enthusiast Media seeks a Director of Restaurant Awards to lead a national restaurant recognition program. You will drive recruitment, manage submissions, deliver client services, and oversee the program from recruitment through winner recognition.

You will collaborate with marketing, editorial, product, sales, and events teams to scale the annual program, maintaining independence of editorial and judging processes.