Senior Director, Food & Beverage Operations – Japan, Korea and Micronesia
The Senior Director, Food and Beverage Operations – JKM, as part of the regional JKM leadership team, is responsible for developing strategic priorities and driving the commercial success of Hilton’s trading hotels across Japan, Korea and Micronesia. This role focuses on delivering strong financial results through hands-on operational support, regular hotel engagement, and the execution of high-impact F&B initiatives. In addition, the role contributes to planning and readiness for future hotel openings, ensuring alignment with brand standards and business objectives.
You will oversee the development and implementation of regional F&B operation's strategies and ensure implementation of the brand service strategy, operational excellence and regional initiatives. You will ensure that the hotel's F&B service and culinary operations meet the brand's target customer needs, focusing on growing revenues and maximizing the financial performance of food and beverage across the region.
HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT
Your role is important, and below are some of the fundamental job duties that make your work unique.
• Champion commercial excellence across trading hotels, identifying opportunities to grow F&B revenue and improve profitability through data-driven strategies and operational best practices.
• Conduct regular hotel visits to assess performance, provide on-the-ground support, and coach teams toward achieving business goals.
• Take the lead in defining strategic priorities and projects for Japan, Korea and Micronesia, ensuring key stakeholder alignment.
• Being fully acquainted with the brand identities, operating standards, and food and beverage (F&B) concepts of each Hilton brand and ensuring these are being followed to drive operational excellence and financial performance of each hotel.
• Analyze portfolio performance and implement targeted actions to optimize results, including pricing strategies, menu engineering and cost control.
• Guide and support the planning and execution of material hotel F&B capex projects
• Create Playbooks and best practice guides for F&B marketing and social media strategies for hotels, collaborating with Marketing and Communications teams.
• Develop and ensure implementation of guidelines for standard operating procedures to deliver great guest stay and dining experiences and business results.
• Set standards for ensuring operational support provided to operating hotels to maintain and increase service standards, top line, profitability, and quality improvement with a clear focus on business performance against all metrics.
• Assist new opening hotel teams with hotel operating equipment selection, critical recruitment, and implementing F&B policies and service procedures, to ensure optimal F&B performance in all aspects from the onset.
• Instil a culture of team engagement, service quality, creativity, and result focus.
• Develop and support training and development initiatives, partnering with Talent & Leadership Development and HR, that will lead to better retention rates and a stronger talent pipeline
• Establish and maintain strong working relationships with various internal stakeholders, owners, third-party consultants, and hotel-level leadership to facilitate the achievement of objectives.
• Attend meetings and calls, as required by the role of JKM regional and the APAC F&B leadership team.
• Assist and represent the Vice President, F&B - APAC, in F&B development and operational aspects and projects as required.
• Collaborate with and support Architecture, Design & Construction (AD&C) and the Opening team on future hotel openings, providing e.g. input on kitchen design, operational heart of house requirements, and manning structures, and supporting owner meetings where required.
• Collaborate with F&B Brands on F&B concept decisions for future JKM pipeline projects.
• Guide and collaborate with Hilton Supply Management to ensure a consistent, reliable supply chain at the required quality and align on cost mitigation and savings initiatives.
• Support Development and F&B Brand teams’ presentations and pitches to existing and potential new owners for new projects.
WHY YOU’LL BE A GREAT FIT
An inspirational, creative, strategic leader with strong communication, presentation, and planning skills. Sound knowledge of F&B operations, including the kitchen and heart-of-house workflow design, paired with the ability to drive strong performance, is essential.
You have these minimum qualifications:
• At least 3 years of leadership experience with a proven track record on the international, multi-cultural level. Ideally, in a senior corporate hospitality or hotel-level role (e.g., regional F&B development/operations director or consultant, director of hotel operations, executive chef).
• Strong analytical skills and creativity to understand, articulate, and execute strategies.
• A passion for people, customer service, and quality with the ability to translate that passion into an engaged, high-performing F&B team and excellent guest experiences across the region.
• Sound business judgment and creative decision-maker, able to influence others to ensure optimal outcomes.
• Financial management skills, e.g., ability to analyze P&L statements, develop an operating budget forecast and capital expenditure planning across the region.
• Good knowledge of F&B trends, marketing, and social media strategies.
• Experience in food/beverage products, design and concepts, catering, and restaurant management.
• Have a sound knowledge of International and local cuisines with culinary experience in multi-complex F&B outlets and catering.
• Understand kitchen and restaurant production, service logic, and planning.
• Have a strong interest/exposure in F&B customer service and procedures from restaurants to bars and catering.
• An individual who combines a confident, self-starting, high-performance orientation with a track record that reflects a "can-do" attitude.
• Good interpersonal skills to influence, motivate, and energize.
• Outstanding presentation skills
• Strong and fluent verbal and written communication skills in English.
WHAT IT IS LIKE WORKING FOR HILTON
Hilton, the #1 World’s Best Workplace, is a leading global hospitality company with a diverse portfolio of world-class brands. Dedicated to filling the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality, we have welcomed more than 3 billion guests in our more than 100-year history. Hilton is proud to have an award-winning workplace culture, and we are consistently named among one of the World’s Best Workplaces. Check out the Hilton Careers blog and Instagram to learn more about what it’s like to be on Team Hilton!