The Director of Premium & Sales will be responsible for managing the overall event sales lifecycle of catering events at Air Force Academy to meet and exceed established annual sales revenue goals. In addition to leading the Premium F&B department as it relates to athletics, catering and special events on-site to achieve the best possible guest experience and partner satisfaction. The ideal candidate will be an experienced and driven sales professional in F&B with the ability to collaborate with a range of stakeholders. Furthermore, the ideal candidate will have experience in F&B operations with focuses on people and quality standards, preferably with a strong background in restaurants and/or fine dining.

Detailed Responsibilities

• Functions as the business leader of the locations' catering sales department managing the locations' reactive catering sales efforts in an effort to jointly secure and maximize catering sales revenue
• Ensure smooth transition and communication with location partner teams to execute positive client experience
• Partnering with location leadership to identify opportunities to grow revenue via sales trends, strategic menu development, and creative, new opportunities to expand catering revenue opportunities
• Work closely with the building partner to identify win-win opportunities and areas for collaboration
• Leads and manages the development of strategic sales initiatives
• Ability to analyze sales trends, client's needs, and wants to enhance overall event experience
• Proactively engaging in networking and other lead generation activities
• Maintains successful performance by increasing revenues, controlling expenses and providing a return on investment for the location partner
• Promptly responding to all client correspondence, phone and email, including initial inquiry correspondence, proposal development for qualified leads, and all follow up as necessary to secure business
• Negotiate with clients through the use of creative and attractive menu presentations and event proposals, to achieve both maximum revenue/profit potential and fulfillment of contractual responsibilities while satisfying client needs
• Working closely with the culinary and operations team to develop menus and staffing bids to "WOW" clients and guests while simultaneously maintaining operational feasibility, cost effectiveness, and event appropriateness for venue facilities
• Creating Banquet Event Orders (BEOs) and catering agreements in appropriate system and submitting for client signature in accordance with venue deadlines
• Manage client relationship to set expectations and drive positive event experience
• Handling client billing to ensure accurate and timely payment of deposits and final payments
• Solicits event feedback and compiles opportunities for improvement and event experience
• Functions as onsite leader for the sales department growing and mentoring direct reports, where applicable, and actively fosters a positive work culture for team members
• Attending management meetings and partnering with all management stakeholders to ensure the timely fulfillment of group sales contracts
• Manages event communication to appropriate stakeholders including, but not limited to, event files for use by operations, schedule of events, and final BEOs
• Facilitating weekly BEO meetings with operations and culinary to ensure everyone is aligned on event expectations
• Maintaining CRM system of current and future potential clients
• Completing maintenance and clean-up of processes in the infor/Reserve system
• Inspecting event setups to ensure they match the banquet event order
• Other duties as assigned

• 5+ years in a Catering Sales role
• Experience working on major events is preferred
• High level of computer literacy
• Passion for hospitality, food, and retail
• Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills