Position Description for Director of Catering

Position Description for Director of Catering

Michigan Shores Club

Overview

The Director of Catering is responsible for the overall operation of the catering facility. This involves professionally accepting and responding to inquiry calls in a timely manner; presenting the Club to prospective party hosts (Club members and non-members) by way of a tour of the facility and thorough explanation of the staff’s capabilities; negotiating event pricing that is acceptable to the host while ensuring that the Club receives maximum sales revenue and profitability; creating proposals and contractual agreements toadequately inform party hosts of exact pricing and arrangements while protecting the Club from unexpected cancelations or legal claims;scheduling events (with special emphasis on weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, fundraising galas and special Club parties) to ensure that the Club maximizes its limited space while eliminating conflicts with other events that occur during the same period of time; coordinating all details related to the event including: room set-up, menu planning, third party vendor arrangements, etc.; scheduling and overseeing the activities of the catering manager and banquet manager to successfully execute all events to the satisfaction of the party host. The Director of Catering works extensively with chairpersons for the Club’s Social, Marketing and Food and Beverage Committees to plan events for the annual Club calendar and organize and plan wine dinners, holiday events, special meetings, etc. for the membership.

Required Skills

The Director of Catering will possess a comprehensive knowledge of food and beverage, menu creation and planning, wedding and high profile event planning, negotiating, revenue forecasting and the ability to manage support staff and work productively with fellow supervisors. Minimum three years catering sales experience in a high volume Club or hotel catering operation is required. Four-year college degree preferred. Excellent verbal and written communication skills are critical in order to communicate effectively and professionally with party hosts, Club members and fellow staff members. Similarly, a complete knowledge of and comfort with personal computers is critical to the success of the Director of Cateringasa large percentage of daily communication occurs via electronic means. Most importantly, the ideal candidate for this position must maintain a positive attitude at all times and focus one’s complete efforts on a full-time basis to serving the needs of the membership and all other individuals who host events at the Club.

Work Schedule

Like all top-level Club managers, the Director of Catering is expected to work a five day (primarily Tuesday-Saturday) 50-hour per week schedule. Due to the large number of evening and weekend events occurring at the Club, most Friday and Saturdays feature work days of approximately 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Room Configuration and Menu Planning Responsibilities

The Director of Catering is responsible for the appearance of the banquet venue before and during the event. Room diagrams that fit the event planner’s needs for seating, audio/visual requirements and entertainment needs must be created. Working with the event planner and the Executive Chef, the Director of Catering will produce a menu that can be prepared and served successfully for the number of attendees planned. Menu pricing should be created so as to fit the budget of the event planner while maximizing revenue and profitability for the Club. The Chef should be present at the menu planning/tasting meeting if necessary to ensure that the event planner feels comfortable with how the food will be presented and served.

Scheduling Responsibilities

The Director of Catering is responsible for the daily operations of the catering facility. This means that the individual in the position is responsible for hiring, training and discharging all supervisory support staff, banquet servers, bartenders and coat check attendants. Providing a schedule of catered events to the contract valet parking service is required on a monthly basis. It is critical that the Director of Catering has enough full and part-time staff available to adequately cover the scheduling needs of the largest possible event that can be accommodated at the Club. Furthermore, the Director of Catering must understand the strengths and weaknesses of all support personnel to best schedule staffing for different events.

Ancillary Event Planning Responsibilities

In the course of planning events, the Director of Catering is responsible for assisting party hosts find other service providers such as disc jockeys, limousine companies, photographers, videographers and wedding coordinators. The Director of Catering should develop a list of other professionals in these fields and provide them as referrals to clients. The list should either be offered to event planners or these services should be booked directly by the Director of Catering.

Customer ServiceExpectations

The Director of Catering should be available to members/clients throughout the planning process and during the introductory portion of the event to ensure that the room has been set according to specifications and the event host has been appropriately introduced to the Banquet Manager. During high profile events, the Director of Catering will be expected to remain present for the entire dinner service or longer if necessary to ensure that the event is executed successfully. Ultimately, the success or failure of all catered events rests solely with the Director of Catering.

Compensation

The Club will compensate the Director of Catering with a generous base salary and commission based on a set percentage of sales. Paid vacation, a 401K plan with Club match, participation in the annual Holiday bonus, and excellent medical and dental benefits will be included as part of the compensation package.