Job Description

Welcome to Conrad Nashville. We offer luxurious accommodations and exceptional service in the ever-evolving Nashville hospitality industry. Join our dynamic team, learn and grow in a culture of collaboration. Our priority is your well-being, which is why we offer competitive compensation packages, healthcare insurance, 401k plans, and team member discounts. Living and working in Nashville provides access to diverse cultural attractions, entertainment venues and culinary experiences. At Conrad Nashville, you can make a positive impact and be part of a world-class hospitality brand. Join us and discover all that we have to offer.

Job Summary

The Director of Catering and Conference Services functions as the leader of the hotel’s catering sales and Conference services department., The position provides day to day leadership to catering sales associates and conference services associates to achieve hotel sales objectives, booking goals, property revenues as well as achieving clients’ goals for successful meetings and events. Is responsible for contracting and closing local catering and social business and associated room blocks with a focus on Galas, Weddings, Social & Corporate Social Events as well as servicing corporate meetings and events. Ensure that the property implements a seamless turnover from sales to operations and back to sales while consistently delivering high level of service. Works with the Chef, Culinary Team to produce creative menus & packages to drive sales. Focus on maintaining the hotel as the social center in the community with high-end weddings, charity galas and prestigious corporate events. Emphasis on maintaining involvement in the community with a presence at events held in and outside of the hotel, appearances on television and radio and involvement in community outreach events. Position reports directly to the Director of Sales & Marketing.

Job Duties

• Prepare Banquets and Catering forecast on daily, weekly, monthly basis.
• Prepare Banquets and Catering annual revenue budget.
• Ensure Managers maintain a strong client relation and ensure that group specifications are communicated and executed for a successful meeting experience for the meeting/event planner and attendees.
• Understand and reinforces the Conrad brand standards.
• Ensure Banquets Team is working to ensure timely and accurate room sets and ensures services staff is prepared and organized and delivers high standards of service.
• Provides leadership and direction to the events team, through encouragement, feedback, and organization to reach goals and provide a high-quality work environment.
• Actively follows up with guests negative and positive comments from surveys, e-mails and/or other communication to ensure totals satisfaction with the Conrad Nashville.
• Acts as liaison between hotel and hotel’s AV company to ensure hotel standards are adhered to and AV revenue goals are achieved.
• Work with engineering team on maintenance requests, projects and preventive maintenance to ensure high quality event spaces.
• Attends various internal meetings included but not limited to: Daily Stand-Up meetings to discuss upcoming site inspections (as needed), BEO meeting, Resume meeting (as needed), Internal Marketing Meetings to discuss new ideas and promotions, Catering & Sales Meetings, Operations Meetings (as needed), etc.
• Design menus and packages that are trend setting to help drive revenue.
• Actively researches luxury banquet equipment and ROI items to ensure the highest level of facilities to drive our revenue and market share on events.
• Understand the overall market – competitors ‘strengthens and weaknesses, economic trends, supply and demand etc. and know how to sell against them.
• Attends community & social events, customer/vendor events and trade shows to maintain, build or develop key relationships with customers and vendors.
• Ability to work extended workdays and workweeks including weekends to accommodate a client or prospect’s needs.
• Participate as a team player with all departments. Provide constructive feedback to all departments and willingly accept constructive feedback from all departments.
• Be a leader and a role model to all employees.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree preferred
• Minimum 5 years hotel Catering Sales and/or Conference Services experience in a luxury setting is preferred

Specific Job Knowledge, skills & Abilities

• Must be able to speak, read, write and understand the primary languages(s) used in the workplace.
• Must be able to read and write to facilitate the communication process.
• Requires good communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Knowledge of types of room set-ups, capacities, relations to type of events, etc.
• Financial acumen with the ability to forecast and write annual financial budgets.
• Most tasks are preformed in a team environment with the employee acting as a team leader. This is minimal direct supervision.
• Extensive knowledge of food and beverage products, proper preparation and presentation of food and beverage items.
• Extensive knowledge of meeting room capacities, banquet set-up, audio-visual and any other pertinent details as they relate to functions room set-up.
• Ability to act independently with minimal or no supervision.
• Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously.
• Knowledge of hotel and competitive market.
• Must possess basic computational ability.
• Must possess computer skills, including, but not limited to, accounting programs, Microsoft Word, Excel and Delphi.
• Excellent inter-personal and sales-related skills.
• Exceptional organizational, supervisory skills.
• Exceptional food and beverage knowledge and pricing.

Physical Requirements

• Most work tasks are performed indoors. Temperature is moderate and controlled by hotel environmental systems.
• Must be able to sit at a desk for up to 5 hours per day. Walking and standing are required the rest of the working day. This includes traveling to and from meetings. Length of time of these tasks may wary from day to day and task to task.
• Must be able to exert well-paced ability to maneuver between functions occurring simultaneously.
• Must be able to exert well-paced ability to reach other departments of the hotel on a timely basis.
• Must be able to lift up to 15lbs. occasionally.
• Requires grasping, writing, standing, walking, repetitive motions, listening and hearing ability and visual acuity.
• Talking and gearing occur continuously in the process of communicating with guests, supervisors and other employees.
• Vision occurs continuously with the most common visual function being those of near vision and depth perception.
• All associates must maintain a professional, neat, clean and well-groomed appearance. Specific Conrad Nashville standards are to be met.

Benefits:

• Position is eligible for the Northwood Investors incentive plan 
• 401k after 90 days, fully vested, company match to 4%
• Medical (3 plan choices)
• Dental (2 Plan choices)
• Vision
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Paid Time Off 
• Hilton Honors Team Member Discounts
• Northwood Hospitality Discounts 

EEO and ADA Statements

Conrad Nashville is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We support and encourage diversity in the workplace.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.