Director of Catering and Conference Services

The Hilton Albany is seeking a Director of Catering and Conference Services to join our team! Located in the heart of Downtown Albany, the Hilton Albany hotel offers over 37,000 sq. ft. of flexible function space for corporate meetings, conferences and social events. Our hotel's 31 meeting rooms, including one of the largest ballrooms in the Capital District, providing a variety of sizes and configurations for any function. Paired with modern amenities, our Downtown Albany hotel is the smart choice for successful events.

This position is responsible for targeting and coordinating catering sales efforts. The job involves the initiation and development of quality leads to ensure the growth of catering sales. The Director of Catering and Conference Services is responsible for planning and managing overall catering functions of the sales department and the total catering operations, ensuring client satisfaction and meeting the sales goals.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Completes BEO’s for all banquet meeting groups.
• Up-sells whenever possible through suggestive selling to the group leader.
• Provides banquet menu information and package information to the guest.
• Assist the banquet and catering staff as required to meet our guest needs.
• Responsible for meeting established revenues.
• Qualifies every catering sale before committing any available space.
• Attends all special familiarization tours and special outings as requested by the Director of Sales.
• Develops new leads through effective file tracing and solicitation letters.
• Responsible Food and Beverage forecast of events booked. Maintaining forecast accuracy as the event materializes
• Proactively identifies operational challenges with group and works with the hotel staff and customer to solve these challenges and/or develop alternative solutions.
• Prepares Activity solicitation plan weekly and records actual solicitation activity for review and discussion with the Director of Sales.
• Required to participate in the Catering Department/Sales office coverage weekdays and weekends as assigned.
• Performs all other assigned duties to assist in efficient departmental operation.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Previous experience in catering sales required.
• Experience with OnQ, MeetingBroker, Sales Pro and Delphi preferred.
• Associates degree preferred.

We are an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination/harassment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Salary: $85K - $90K annually