Catering and Events Manager

**Catering and Events Manager**

The Fat Sparrow Catering & Events Manager is a highly motivated individual with experience and a passion for hospitality, specializing in catering and events. They are responsible for providing strategic leadership and direction to their division. They will ensure maximization of profitability while maintaining and delivering the highest standard of service to all guests, with the ultimate goal of building loyal relationships who engage others to support the Fat Sparrow brand.

Fat Sparrow is an independently owned and operated hospitality group of restaurants and food shops located in Waterloo Region that includes: Fat Sparrow Catering and Events, Jacob’s Grill, Taco Farm, the Stone Crock Bakery, The Butcher and Market, The Charcuterie Bar, Fat Sparrow Foods and the Fat Sparrow Marketplace Online Shop.

**Why work for us?**
- Independently owned and operated local Waterloo Region company
- Competitive base salary and incentive bonus plan
- Discounts at all of our restaurants, shops and events
- **Medical/Dental Group Health Benefits**
- Passionate and focused hospitality leaders and mentors
- Strong focus on personal and career development and growth
- We create real, honest and local food
- We run our own bakery and butcher shop that supplies our restaurants, events and shops with fresh baked goods and custom cut meats and products unique to our hospitality group

**Duties and Responsibilities**:

- Knowledge of the Fat Sparrow catering and restaurants menu in all its variations
- Extensive knowledge of food (including various dietary needs), wine and spirits
- Organize, execute and promote our special Fat Sparrow virtual and in person events
- Ability to provide custom food and beverage menus to serve the individual customer likes and dietary needs in partnership with our executive culinary chef
- Develop seasonal catering menus: wedding, corporate, social and in-house group menus in collaboration with culinary team
- Negotiate prices and prepare highly detailed catering and events estimates and quotes in a timely manner in order to secure contracts while ensuring the catering is sustainable to the business
- Organize and arrange any necessary delivery or courier for required orders and events
- Assist with packing catering and our online market orders with all necessary products that go with each order or event, such as but not limited to: beverages, cutlery, napkins, menu hard copies, labels, rentals etc
- Arrange offsite and in house visits with customers, wedding food tastings and all logistics on the day of the visits and tasting
- Execute the graphics and overall presentation of all menus and labels, including personalized menus unique to each order or event
- Provide invoices and payment process for all catering and events customers
- Produce detailed sales reports to our administrative team
- Develops monthly and yearly catering and events forecast
- Manage and control labour, food and beverage costs
- Post catering and event follow up with each major catering contract
- Secure well-grounded working relationships with vendors in the catering industry such as venues, rental companies, photographers, decorators and other restaurants for collaborative contracts
- Oversee all scheduling and planning of each venue (in-house or offsite), equipment rentals, food/beverage and service preparations, staff scheduling and on site training
- Provide in person leadership for all major catering and events, such as wedding and corporate booking with any contract of 40 plus guests.
- Maintain an effective written and verbal communication system in meetings with the culinary team and general restaurant managers to ensure each event is executed to the highest standard
- Review upcoming catering and events on a weekly and sometimes daily basis to ensure an efficient execution and all details are covered for each day
- Stay on target for financial expectations for each event
- Directly hires, trains, and supervises all catering service staff and contribute to the mentorship of service and culinary staff
- Contribute to a positive work environment and always lead by example, encourage and oversee the growth of your own team
- Follow sanitation and safety procedures including food presentation and food temperatures, with appropriate equipment
- Maintain cleanliness and organization throughout our catering kitchen, prep areas and offices and offsite venues
- Research catering trends to stay current while implementing competitive catering and events initiatives
- Oversee all virtual events through our e-commerce team
- Reports to the Fat Sparrow Group Customer Experience Executive Manager

**Requirements**:

- Minimum 2+ years’ experience in catering, event planning and hospitality
- Food safety training certification
- Smart serve certification
- Excellent guest service skills
- Ability to work in a fast paced environment
- Team-oriented, adaptable, dependable, and strong work ethic