Catering Director

The job moves on a rhythm shaped by event calendars — wedding season, holiday parties, corporate events — with most of the year's revenue concentrated in a handful of months. Your weeks split between selling future events (consultations, tastings, contract negotiation) and executing the events already on the books (BEO reviews, kitchen coordination, day-of leadership). The seasonality drives the operating model.

A common surprise is how much of the job is sales and how much is operations — both at full intensity, often the same day. Many find that the P&L pressure is constant: food costs, labor, banquet event minimums, and the gap between what you sold and what gets executed. Staff retention and kitchen-front-of-house coordination tend to be permanent challenges, particularly in venues that scale to 200+ guest events.

People who enjoy hospitality and can hold the operational pressure of a P&L role with seasonal volatility tend to thrive. The role often suits those who came up through banquets or sales and find energy in the variety of events, the immediate feedback of a great evening, and the small business feel even inside larger hotels. The cost is the hours during peak season and the always-on nature of selling against a calendar.