Catering & Front of House (FOH) Manager

Role : Catering & Front of House (FOH) Manager

Reports To : Director of Events, Catering, and Visitor Experience

FSLA Status : Salaried, Exempt, Full Time (40 hours)

Role Status : On-site in New Canaan, CT 5 days per week with the ability to work weekends and evenings

About Grace Farms

Grace Farms is a center for culture and collaboration in New Canaan, Connecticut. We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building, situated on 80 acres of natural landscapes.

Our humanitarian work to end modern slavery and foster more grace and peace in our local and global communities includes leading the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain.

The Role :

The Catering & FOH Manager strategically oversees, with a keen eye for detail, the daily operations of the FOH of the Grace Farms Commons as well as the internal catering service.

This manager is ultimately responsible for ensuring that : 1) the culinary and beverage offerings are presented, sold and served in a most welcoming, safe, efficient and clean environment by staff who are exceptional at providing superior customer service and that;

2) all internal based catering for events, tours, space grants and other programs occurring on site align with the needs and requests for each event in the most exemplary and timely manner each and every time.

Responsibilities :

• Prepares, mentors and utilizes FOH Supervisor to execute daily functions in café operations & catering. Works closely with the FOH Supervisor to provide ongoing training, performance assessment, hiring, coaching and deployment of FOH team (Café Associates) for optimal efficiencies and coverage.
• Leads by example, working FOH shifts with the team serving internal and external customers throughout each week as well as events and other internal catering occasions.
• Oversees the food and beverage (F&B) aspects of all events. Manage and execute F&B services, including coordinating both internal and external catering.

Work closely with the events team to ensure seamless service and exceptional guest experiences. Oversees and executes event setups, ensuring proper food and beverage is set up and displayed in the most appealing and logical way.

Serves as the point of contact for communications with internal colleagues regarding catering needs, work order preparation and execution.

Works closely with the Director of Events, Catering & Visitor Experiences, the Chef de Cuisine and the COO on operational needs, changes and improvements to the FOH.

Prepares the FOH staff with operational, catering and visitor experience information and training so that they can execute their functions with excellence and have the ability to speak confidently with guests about all of the Foundations' offerings.

Instills a contagious and palpable positive, welcoming, energy that creates a world class experience for all visitors and staff who visit the Commons at Grace Farms.

• Seeks and implements efficiencies in café operations considering staffing models, ergonomics, customer communications vehicles and product placement.
• Ensures quality control on all FOH aspects including specials displays, tea tastings, menu placement, overall FOH cleanliness and operations.
• Performs all administrative duties associated with FOH Café & Catering operations including, but not limited to : scheduling, timecards, inventory, ordering, work orders, FOH staff communications / training and coaching.
• Oversees café POS system. Ensures its proper functionality, analyzes reports and recommends changes / enhancements based on data trends.
• Adjusts cafe services for specific events, such as setting up catering stations, organizing pre-event and post-event refreshment services, and accommodating special requests from event organizers.
• Coordinates with the Events Team to plan and order additional supplies for events, such as alcohol, wares, & décor. Coordinates with external vendors to secure items needed for events, such as rentals, and food.
• With the Chef de Cuisine, ensures compliance with health and safety regulations during both regular operation and events with an emphasis on cleanliness, food safety and staff / visitor well-being.
• Promotes sustainable practices in the FOH operations such as sourcing local and ethical products, in line with Grace Farms' values.
• Other duties as needed or as assigned.

Required Skills & Abilities

• Must enjoy and have a passion for the food & beverage and hospitality industries.
• Proven ability to lead, manage, coach, mentor and inspire a team effectively.
• Excellent communications and interpersonal skills are a must with ability to extend kindness, patience, with every interaction.
• Proven ability to work comfortably and effectively with computers, POS systems and other visitor facing technologies.
• Must be an experienced team player who is highly organized, adaptable and flexible to meet time, priority and workload demands as well as shifting schedules and unexpected circumstances that come with working with the general public and managing employees.
• Must be able to maintain a calm exterior presence during periods of high volume, high stress, or unusual events.
• Must possess the highest level of integrity defined as being incredibly ethical, professional, responsible, truthful, authentic honest and fair.
• Must be able to work weekends and evenings as needed

Education & Experience

Must have a minimum of 2 years prior supervisory experience as catering, café, coffee shop, small business restaurant manager or similar industry role, with supervisory oversight of a team.

Preferably with progressive-growth experience in both FOH and BOH industry related roles.

High School diploma or equivalent is required. Some college greatly preferred.

Physical requirements

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear, reach, stoop, kneel, navigate the site to various locations, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer, telephone, and keyboard.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer work.
• The employee occasionally required to climb, stoop, kneel or crouch.
• The employee must occasionally lift, push and / or move up to 50 pounds.

Grace Farms offers a competitive benefit package that includes a choice of medical plans, a dental and vision plan, 100% employer-paid basic life insurance and short-term disability and a 403(b)-retirement benefit with an organization match.

We encourage our staff to take time-off to rest and recharge and provide PTO, sick, and personal days as well as 11 paid holidays.

All staff are welcome to explore the beautiful 80-acres of our preserved land and may take part in any of the numerous public events on-site.

Grace Farms is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.