What does a director of catering do?
A director of catering spearheads and oversees catering services and programs, from planning to execution. They usually lead the hiring and training procedures, establishing goals and timelines, managing budgets and controlling costs, setting protocols and guidelines, coordinating managers and teams, and negotiating with suppliers, building positive relationships in the process. They may also participate in developing marketing plans, meeting with clients to identify their needs and preferences, monitoring inventories, solving issues and concerns, and supervising catering services to ensure operations run smoothly and efficiently.
Director of catering responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real director of catering resumes:
- Manage and execute every aspect of the planning process, creating BEOs and managing banquet staff.
- Prepare and manage BEOs to client specifications including auto-visual requirements.
- Revamp BEO writing process with training.
- Direct the catering, conference service and banquet departments for two five star, five diamond resorts and two country clubs.
- Monitor daily activities to ensure quality food and cleanliness standards.
- Foster a positive work/customer atmosphere by ensuring facility cleanliness and compliance with health department regulations.
- Control payroll and other operational expenses to consistently come in under budget while delivering high quality services.
- Project manager pertaining to SMERF accounts.
- Oversee catering sales specializing in wedding, corporate, golf outings, fundraisers and SMERF segments.
- Organize and coordinate a team to serve a large volume of buffets in multiple rooms for high profile clientele.
- Facilitate all logistics for in-house and public community events such as luncheons, weddings, formal seat dinners and buffets.
- Train staff on micros programming and report generating programs
Director of catering skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Directors Of Catering are proficient in Booking, Customer Service, and Culinary. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Detail oriented, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Directors Of Catering that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Booking, 10%
Directed campus catering operations including booking and scheduling all events.
- Customer Service, 10%
Recognized for consistently meeting all deadlines and budgets, continuously providing superior customer service, and surpassing client expectations.
- Culinary, 10%
Researched trade magazines and websites for culinary trends and implemented many into production.
- Event Planning, 8%
Served as a sole contact with all clients, directing their catering and event planning needs while guaranteeing complete client satisfaction.
- Food Preparation, 6%
Directed proper food and safety sanitation, proper food preparation procedures.
- Menu Planning, 5%
Manage, train, motivate all staff, and work closely with customer and chef on menu planning and presentations.
Most directors of catering use their skills in "booking," "customer service," and "culinary" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential director of catering responsibilities here:
Business skills. One of the key soft skills for a director of catering to have is business skills. You can see how this relates to what directors of catering do because "food service managers must understand all aspects of the restaurant business, including how to budget for supplies, comply with regulations, and manage workers." Additionally, a director of catering resume shows how directors of catering use business skills: "catered daily food orders to local businesses planned large corporate/personal events in charge of staffing events menu planning"
Physical stamina. This is an important skill for directors of catering to perform their duties. For an example of how director of catering responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "managers often work long shifts and sometimes spend entire evenings actively helping to serve customers." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a director of catering: "oversee accurate records keeping, physical inventory, processing of time card and payroll. ".
Customer-service skills. For certain director of catering responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "customer-service skills." The day-to-day duties of a director of catering rely on this skill, as "food service managers must be courteous and attentive when dealing with patrons." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what directors of catering do: "transmit all information to appropriate departments to ensure guest and client expectations are met and exceeded. "
Leadership skills. A commonly-found skill in director of catering job descriptions, "leadership skills" is essential to what directors of catering do. Director of catering responsibilities rely on this skill because "managers must establish good relationships with staff to maintain a productive work environment." You can also see how director of catering duties rely on leadership skills in this resume example: "ensured sales and operational leadership by booking, selling, detailing and overseeing daily event. "
Organizational skills. Another skill commonly found on director of catering job descriptions is "organizational skills." It can come up quite often in director of catering duties, since "managers have many different responsibilities, including scheduling and overseeing staff, budgeting, and maintaining financial records." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day director of catering responsibilities: "practiced superior customer service, attention to detail and maintained a high level of organizational skills. "
The three companies that hire the most director of caterings are:
- Compass Group USA51 directors of catering jobs
- Aramark21 directors of catering jobs
- Eat'n Park12 directors of catering jobs
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Compare different directors of catering
Director of catering vs. Swing manager
A swing manager is a person who supervises people and manages restaurants during designated times. Swing managers oversee personnel and the equipment and products to achieve high-quality standards. They are responsible for the sales growth, profit optimization, staff optimization, and total customer satisfaction. The skills they need include motivation, communication, mentoring, delegation, decision-making, and interpersonal skills. Problem-solving, strategic thinking, management skills, and commercial awareness are also necessary.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, director of catering responsibilities require skills like "booking," "culinary," "event planning," and "menu planning." Meanwhile a typical swing manager has skills in areas such as "cleanliness," "inventory management," "cash handling," and "leadership." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that swing managers earn slightly differ from directors of catering. In particular, swing managers are 3.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a director of catering. Additionally, they're 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of catering vs. Food service supervisor
A Food Service Supervisor oversees employees engaged in serving food. They establish quality standards for foods and keep facilities clean in accordance with state and local regulations.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, director of catering responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "booking," "event planning," "client relations," and "wine." Meanwhile, a food service supervisor has duties that require skills in areas such as "good judgment," "safety practices," "food production," and "food handling." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Food service supervisors earn a lower average salary than directors of catering. But food service supervisors earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $32,395. Additionally, directors of catering earn the highest salaries in the hospitality with average pay of $60,555 annually.In general, food service supervisors achieve similar levels of education than directors of catering. They're 1.5% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of catering vs. Food and beverage manager
A food and beverage manager is an individual responsible for ensuring that quality food and drinks are being served at a restaurant or hotel. Food and beverage managers are required to be excellent with customers and should have great management skills to meet the organization's labor and financial goals. They create food and drink menus and guarantee customers that they comply with their food and safety regulations. They are also required to negotiate with suppliers to arrange the delivery of food and beverage products.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a director of catering is likely to be skilled in "booking," "client relations," "service techniques," and "guest rooms," while a typical food and beverage manager is skilled in "pos," "guest service," "payroll," and "excellent time management."
Food and beverage managers earn the highest salary when working in the government industry, where they receive an average salary of $56,929. Comparatively, directors of catering have the highest earning potential in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $60,555.food and beverage managers typically earn similar educational levels compared to directors of catering. Specifically, they're 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of catering vs. Sales and event manager
A sales and event manager is responsible for overseeing event planning and preparations intended for marketing and sales purposes. Sales and event managers handle the contracts with suppliers and third-party vendors for equipment and materials to be used during the event. They also finalize the guests' list, as well as managing digital promotional content and announcements for public awareness. A sales and event manager works with the public relations team for press releases and media communications, attracting potential clients, and identifying opportunities to increase revenues.
Types of director of catering
Updated January 8, 2025
