Description
As the Hospitality Director – Conference and Events , you will oversee the planning and execution of meetings, conferences, and events, guide barista bar operations and oversee corporate grab & go efforts, ensuring exceptional service and industry leading guest experiences. Reporting to the General Manager, you will leverage your deep experience in team leadership, event planning, guest and associate engagement, food service and hospitality, and conference services to lead a dedicated team of culinary and service professionals. Your proficiency in planning and executing strategic business plans, leading process improvement efforts, understanding financial analysis and KPI reporting, will serve you well in this role. Additionally, your expertise with Microsoft Office, 365, Teams and event planning software will further augment your detailed understanding of occupational health and safety guidelines, FoodSafe practices and allergen programs. Your skillset is rounded out by exposure to menu engineering, food production methodologies, recipe costing, QSR and grab & go operations. If you are the right Unicorn, come join us in creating exceptional experiences for our guests, leading a collaborative team and ensuring a fun and energized environment, in a predominantly Monday to Friday workplace. Key Responsibilities: Operations: Lead overall operations for all F&B services for the Conference Centre, Barista Operations and Micro-Market Grab & Go. Lead and inspire a team of hospitality & culinary managers, their direct reports and hourly team members across both front, and heart of house departments. Guide and coordinate the efforts of the Culinary, Front of House and Bookings teams, ensuring effective and efficient Conference Centre operations. Actively monitor all aspects of food preparation, menu planning, recipe costing, menu engineering, and inventory management, including allergen programs. Oversee floor operations, service quality, and lead the operations team for seamless event execution. Lead regular operations and planning meetings with the leadership team, associates, and key partners. Diligently monitor function and event bookings and event planning efforts, assessing process accuracy, effectiveness, and seamless delivery, incorporating process learnings into ongoing service refinement efforts. Ensure operational and reporting compliance with Client Master Service Agreements, Contracts, SLAs, and SOWs, delivering timely performance reporting as required. Guest Experience: Cultivate strong Client relationships, levering effective communication and reporting protocols, timely and detailed response efforts, in addition to alignment with Client priorities and internal corporate culture. Align onboarding and orientation efforts around established core values and service culture, ensuring outstanding guest experience is driven by empowered and accountable leaders and associates. Actively monitor daily operations and feedback channels, identifying proactive measures for service improvement, including responding to and mitigating service failures and engagement opportunities, incorporating feedback learnings into process improvements. Proactively seek out and explore best in class product and service standards from comparable industries, organizations, and aligned media, driving innovation and elevating experiences within the facility Guide and Inspire your Culinary and Service leaders to exceed Client expectations, bring new and exciting concepts and tastes to the forefront, and consistently deliver best in class service. People Leadership: Lead, Inspire and Mentor senior level managers reporting directly to you, providing support, guidance and sound leadership practice, ensuring they have the resources and support to lead and inspire their teams. Drive the ongoing effort of standardization, establishing detailed expectations of performance in line with core values, providing the expertise and education necessary to build accountability in your leaders. Guide recruitment, hiring, scheduling, and general administrative duties for the team. Be the Engagement Superhero when it comes to celebrating, recognizing, acknowledging and engaging your team. Oversee and facilitate principled performance management protocols, ensuring adequate documentation, detailed review sessions, and responsive improvement plans to drive associate success. Coach and mentor associates, assist in facilitating career development opportunities, provide timely feedback and lead performance review efforts. Administration: Drive financial success by diligently monitoring sales, volumes, operating costs, labour hours, transactions, and service feedback. Conduct regular workplace and food safety inspections in addition to mandated Occupational Health & Safety training for all associates. Develop a comprehensive understanding of facility specific contract requirements, standards of work (SOW), and Service Level Agreements (SLA), ensuring KPI performance measures are met, including timely and effective reporting of milestone goals. Undertake weekly financial forecasting including revenues, operating costs, labour, and transaction volumes, ensure month end reporting is accurate with variance to plan commentary drafted. Act as lead for large projects and group efforts, guiding planning efforts, project coordination and execution. Transact and direct biweekly payroll efforts, detailed reporting, administrative responsibilities as required, ensure detailed tracking of training requirements and mandatory certifications are maintained. Qualifications: Minimum four years of related senior level leadership, within food service, retail, banquet, event planning, and / or conference services experience required. ProServe, Food Safe, and / or Basic First Aid training is required. Proven ability to drive financial performance in a complex food service or conference facility. Verifiable leadership skills, acting as a confident guide, mentor and motivator. Detail-oriented with exceptional problem solving, crisis management and project leadership abilities. Outstanding client and guest relationship skills. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Proficiency in Microsoft Office & 365 (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams). Exposure to CRM or Event Planning Software platforms such as Delphi, EMS, Infor, or CVENT.
