The award-winning Drake Devonshire + Drake Motor Inn, situated in Wellington, Prince Edward County, provides a unique opportunity for an experienced Director of Food and Beverage looking for a rewarding, fulltime hospitality career. The Drake is an ever-expanding cultural hub that brings communities together around one-of-a kind experiences that blend food + drink, art + music, meetings + weddings and unforgettable hotel stays, all delivered by some of the best people you’ll ever meet. We bridge the art of the moment and intentional hospitality to ignite curiosity within the modern traveler. In this hands-on, multi-disciplinary role, you will oversee all aspects of restaurant management for the Drake Devonshire. In accordance with our overall mission statement, you will seek to create an exceptional, memorable, world-class establishment and dining experience by maximizing exceptional guest satisfaction, financial performance, operational effectiveness, and staff development within established quality standards for the Drake. This role will report into the General Manager.

Location Specific Reports: F+B Leadership Team and all Front of House Staff Groups

Business Development + Community Relations

▪ Attract guests by developing and implementing year-round marketing, programming, public and community relations programs; evaluating program results; identifying and tracking changing demands on F+B operations

▪ Utilize corporate marketing resources to develop and implement ongoing campaigns, both location and company specific

▪ Act as key point of contact for site specific corporate partnerships, major Special Events, work with Events + Hotel team and Corporate office to maintain and strengthen long standing partnerships and cultivate new ones

▪ Act as the “face” of the restaurant, maintaining active engagement in community events, establishing rapport with neighbors, businesses, and local community groups.

Operations Management/Safety/Compliance

▪ Provide a consistent presence on the floor particularly on peak business periods to lead, coach and develop a strong operating team and service culture

▪ Maximize systems such as SevenRooms to optimize seating in peak periods and ensure scheduling and coverage of phonelines to capture incoming inquiries in real time

▪ Optimize Silverware as a tool for analysis and reporting, ensuring that all strategic decision making around menu development for both food & beverage is done based on data

▪ Oversee exceptional safety and sanitation practices of employees and guests, assisting in the maintenance of proper food/liquor handling, storage, service, emergency, and security procedures

▪ Ensure maintenance of equipment, facility, and grounds using a Preventative Maintenance Plan based on Drake Hotel Property standards

▪ Assist with month end Inventories, as required

▪ Ensure timely effective roll out of all food and beverage (cocktail, beverage and wine) programs and menus, working with all stakeholders to ensure marketability and profitability. Update all ‘lookbooks’ and recipe specs in conjunction with Chef and Corp. Bar Manager

▪ Develop ongoing sales education and average cheque optimization tools with staff.

Budget, Labour + Expense Management

▪ Develop accurate long and short-range financial objectives for the restaurant, reviewing and adjusting cost and labour targets to reflect the seasonal business needs throughout the year

▪ Report weekly to General Manager to share top level sales, labour and expense results, identifying trends, challenges and issues. Implement corrective action with input from senior report

▪ Control purchases and inventory by meeting with Chef, department leaders and purchaser; and where applicable, negotiating prices and contracts; developing preferred supplier lists; reviewing and evaluating usage reports; analyzing variances; taking corrective actions

▪ Maintain close oversight of labour and beverage costing, ensuring efficiency and reducing waste

▪ Review reports, prepare summaries, propose areas for improvement with action plans

▪ Prepare materials for Month End, Quarterly and Annual Reviews.

Guest Satisfaction + Quality Control

▪ Improve guest satisfaction by monitoring, evaluating, and auditing food, beverage, and service offerings; initiating improvements; building relationships with preferred patrons and ensuring Hotel guests are made to feel extra-special

▪ Maintain safe, secure, and healthy facility environment by establishing, following, and enforcing sanitation standards and procedures, complying with health and legal regulations

▪ Create a culture of Manager empowerment and issue resolution, making sure that clients are given real-time solutions to concerns or complaints

▪ Oversee product and service quality standards by conducting ongoing evaluations, reviewing Key Performance Indicators, Secret Shopper and Guest Satisfaction Survey scores, TripAdvisor rankings and investigating complaints. Initiate corrective action.

Leadership / Staff Development

▪ Act as the overall leader for the restaurant, actively managing and developing a team of skilled F+B Managers, developing Supervisors and ensuring cross training opportunities

▪ Cultivate a positive and engaged work environment, with a focus on accountability, training, mentoring and continuous feedback to all FOH staff groups

▪ Demonstrate progressive approach to management, seeking ways to motivate staff, retain key talent and attract high caliber hospitality staff to ensure service excellence

▪ Implement and support corporate led training initiatives and develop, along with management team, training programs specific to your location and business

▪ Work closely with Corporate HR to create a staffing plan, recruitment drive, on boarding and training initiatives in a timely and proactive manner and reacting to seasonal volume fluctuations ▪ Develop creative staff recruiting methodologies, off-season, to ensure summer peak hiring needs are met and assist with seasonal housing strategies.

Professional Development

▪ Maintain professional and technical knowledge by tracking emerging trends in the restaurant + hotel industry; attending educational workshops; reviewing professional publications; establishing personal networks; benchmarking state-of-the-art practices; liaising with peer groups within the Company and participating in professional associations and societies.

Qualifications

• 5 + years of progressive leadership experience in a fine or upscale casual dining environment

• Strong preference given to candidates with a minimum ISG, WSET or comparable Level 1 wine training program

• Deep knowledge of current culinary trends

• Operations management experience in a high-volume establishment with significant experience in reservation systems, event, and large party bookings

• Experienced trainer and mentor to large staff teams

• Demonstrated patience, tact and diplomacy while leading a diverse team of industry professionals

• Ability to multi-task, remain cool and keep up in a very fast-paced, high volume environment

• Excellent interpersonal and communication experience, both verbal & written

• Excellent organizational skills, with timely delivery of all required administrative work

• Experience with Silverware, Microsoft Office, TripleSeat, SevenRooms, and Opera a strong asset • Flexibility to work evenings, weekends and holidays

• Smart Serve certified

What We Offer:

We pride ourselves in providing strong leadership + development opportunities for passionate hospitality professionals looking to build rewarding, long-term careers. The Drake offers a competitive compensation, bonus and benefits package, relocation allowance contribution, employee discounts, training + development support and many other unique perks.

The Drake Hotel is an equal opportunity employer: We are committed and actively working towards fostering a positive, supportive, and creative environment at Drake Hotel Properties that promotes equity, inclusiveness and diversity. We welcome job applications from candidates of all backgrounds including, but not limited to, Indigenous, Black, and racialized persons; refugee, newcomer and immigrant persons; two-spirit, LGBTQ+ and gender non-binary persons, and persons with disabilities. Please advise us of any accommodations needed to ensure you can access and complete the submissions process.