Director of Food And Beverage

Sky Bridge Luxury & Associates is partnering with a distinctive independent boutique hotel in Alabama to identify an Executive Assistant Manager – Director of Food & Beverage
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Rooted in history, culture, and community, this purpose-driven property offers more than a traditional hotel stay. Its independent structure allows leaders to create meaningful guest experiences, local partnerships, and original programming.

Food and beverage is central to the hotel’s identity. The incoming executive will develop approachable, commercially successful experiences celebrating the culinary traditions and cultural influences of the American South.

This opportunity is ideal for a creative hospitality leader who views food and beverage as a vehicle for storytelling, connection, and community engagement.

As a senior member of the Executive Committee, the EAM–Director of Food & Beverage will lead the strategic, financial, and operational direction of the division.

Oversight includes restaurants, culinary, banquets, catering, special events, in-room dining, stewarding, and related programming.

The successful candidate will combine creativity and cultural awareness with financial discipline, elevating the guest experience, developing leaders, strengthening operations, and creating revenue-generating programming.

This executive will also serve as a trusted partner to the General Manager and provide hotel-wide leadership when required.

The ideal candidate is a polished yet approachable hospitality executive who combines creativity, commercial intelligence, cultural awareness, and strong operational instincts.

This leader will understand how to create experiences informed by a property’s history and purpose while keeping the atmosphere warm, welcoming, and engaging. They will bring a proven ability to develop authentic food and beverage activations that celebrate culture, encourage connection, engage the community, and generate sustainable revenue.

The successful candidate should be entrepreneurial enough to recognize new opportunities and disciplined enough to transform those ideas into well-executed, financially responsible programs.

Cultural fluency, emotional intelligence, curiosity, and an ability to engage respectfully with a broad range of guests, employees, and partners will be essential.

This individual should be equally comfortable reviewing a P&L, coaching a department head, supporting a major event, developing a community partnership, engaging with guests, or stepping directly into the operation during a busy service.

• Seven to ten years of progressive food and beverage leadership experience within an upscale, luxury, lifestyle, or high-quality independent hotel.
• Previous experience as a Director of Food & Beverage, Executive Chef, Hotel Manager, Executive Assistant Manager, or comparable senior leader.
• Strong knowledge of restaurants, culinary operations, banquets, catering, bars, stewarding, and special events.
• Independent, boutique, lifestyle, culturally significant, or purpose-driven hotel experience is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated success developing creative programming, culinary events, local partnerships, and revenue-generating experiences.
• Strong financial acumen with responsibility for budgets, forecasts, labor, cost controls, purchasing, and P&L performance.
• Proven ability to recruit, inspire, develop, and retain diverse hospitality teams.
• Strong cultural awareness and the ability to engage thoughtfully with guests, employees, community leaders, and partner organizations.
  
  Excellent communication, organization, problem-solving, and guest-recovery skills.
• Working knowledge of POS systems, financial reporting tools, inventory platforms, and hotel systems.
• Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management, Culinary Arts, Business Administration, or a related discipline preferred.
• Flexibility to work evenings, weekends, holidays, and major property events as business requires.

• Purpose-driven and culturally thoughtful
• Creative and entrepreneurial
• Financially disciplined
• Highly visible and operationally engaged
• Community-minded and relationship-oriented
• Collaborative and emotionally intelligent
• Comfortable working within an independent environment
• Passionate about developing people and memorable experiences

This position offers the opportunity to shape the complete food and beverage identity of a meaningful independent hotel. The incoming leader will have the autonomy to create original concepts, cultivate community relationships, and help define how guests experience the property through thoughtful, relevant, and commercially successful hospitality.