This is an amazing opportunity to be a rockstar Director of Catering at the historic Hamilton Hotel. This legendary hotel has fully renovated meeting spaces and thrives to be the best in the market with direct input from numerous top event planners in DC and beyond. The space consists of over 18,000 sf. – a grand event hall, plenty of breakout rooms, a fully equipped on-site kitchen, state of the art WIFI/technology capabilities. If you are a true seller with a thick rolodex, who wants to be rewarded for your capabilities, have your entrepreneurial spirit fostered and work with an amazing team on launching a new venue, this is it!

Job Description

The Director of Catering, (DOC) is responsible for establishing the complete strategy of selling full-service events within the Hotel’s meeting spaces. The DOC is accountable for identifying new accounts, re-soliciting existing accounts, developing customer relationships through outside sales to maximize revenues while achieving annual business goals. Central to the success of this role will be the ability to develop client relationships, working closely with local hotel partners, regional event planners, and the Director of Banquets; to establish the venue as a beloved Washington DC event destination. This position requires an extremely well-rounded sales professional with masterful knowledge of varying sales platforms as relates to all aspects of on-premise catering sales and event production. This role will require someone with an in-depth knowledge of the interplay between events sales, on-premise event management and hotel operations.

Key Responsibilities

· Develop and execute the sales strategy for banquet and catering while maintaining accountability to meet or exceed budget goals

· Identify short-term and long-term sales opportunities team to achieve goals

· Field inquiry phone calls for all types of events including, corporate, philanthropic, benefit, social, internal catering, etc.

· Pro-actively research, prospect and solicit new business, with a focus on hotel collaboration for cross sell opportunities

· Act as lead on all communications between venue and the client, being a unified point of contact for all stakeholders and conduit for information and initiatives

· Develop a thorough understanding of the client’s business, industry, and keep abreast of external issues and events that could impact client objectives

· Identify opportunities to add value, deepen client relationships and extend services to maximize profitability across all hotel/venue businesses

· Maintain collaborative, fruitful relationships with existing and future venue partners and key vendors including external sales partners, restaurant peers/guests, internal catering clients within the building

· Participate in the annual budgeting process and monthly forecasting with the Director of Sales

· Collaborate internally to effectively manage internal and external communications relating to the full life-cycle of sales, production, execution and all financial components tied to each event

· Cooperate with marketing team on strategic initiatives that will produce measurable financial results including creation and maintenance of sales kits and all client facing collateral

· Maintain all systems for capturing sales related information, including client facing documents, proposals, contracts, BEOs, floorplans, inventory of upcharge items, post event surveys, and other systems as needed

· Responsible for accurate and timely forecasting of contracted, pipeline activity and updating/communicating budget revisions to internal/external stakeholders

· Drive profitability based on deep understanding of the financials on allocated accounts

· Establish ongoing SOP’s related to B&C sales process, staffing, production, and execution

· Seek opportunities to maximize efficiency with all processes related to event sales, internal catering, events and PDR

· Lead, develop, monitor and continuously improve the operational standards of excellence that provide clients with an experience that aligns with embodying our Company Values

· Develop confident, proud and elite sales and staffing teams through leading by example, assessing and addressing training needs, and implementing plans for team learning and advancement

· Possess a masterful understanding of individual and company financial progress, and the impact on the results

· Oversee preparation of all proposals, contracts, BEOS, invoices, and client-facing materials

· Establish all sales related communications (i.e. phone/email messaging etiquette) and “client facing language”

Administrative Responsibilities

· Attend and participate in all scheduled meetings and training sessions

· Establish regular coordination meetings with outside sales Teams

· Support and help guide complex event logistics and planning when needed for marquee events with Director of Banquets

· Maintain up to date information regarding all potential and current bookings

· Work on specialty projects such as shopping competition and preparing revenue reports.

Qualifications

· Experience in an Independent Hotel

· Capable of building, maintaining and teaching skills to develop strong client relationships

· Masterful understanding of on-premise event sales, planning, logistics, and execution

· Ability to represent brand in a positive way in all types of client interactions

· Ability to fluently discuss finances, budgets, cuisine and beverage options with clients

· Excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills

· Strong computer skills/Microsoft Office, Delphi, Opera, and other systems as needed

Desired Skills

· Significant client lists/contacts in the DC Market with whom you have existing relationships.

· Commitment to embodying our Values of: Integrity- Doing the right things always- using sound judgement- even when no one is looking

Excellence- Doing what needs to be done, as well as it can possibly be done Hospitality- Doing all that can be done for others- and more than in expected- in thoughtful ways that let people know you are on their side

Entrepreneurial Spirit- Seeing opportunities others haven’t-and creating opportunities others wish they’d thought of first