Dining Experience Manager

The Luxury Dining Experience Manager will support the Churchill Downs® Racetrack Luxury Sales & Services Department in leading and executing both customer experience and customer service strategies for luxury dining ticketholders and guests.  This position will oversee race day luxury dining operations as well as developing and implementing programs, initiatives and activities designed to increase customer satisfaction and to drive customer engagement and retention.  

Essential Duties 
Includes, but is not limited to, the following: 

·         Lead overall efforts to serve and engage luxury dining ticketholders and their guests

·         Oversee onsite preparation and race day services for luxury dining guests, meeting and exceeding guest satisfaction

·         Collaborate with Senior Manager of Luxury Experience & Concierge and Luxury Dining Sales & Services Manager to administer and optimize a complete, holistic view of the luxury dining customer journey, encompassing customer interactions from initial awareness to post purchase engagement and beyond

·         Collaborate with Sales & Ticketing Strategy team, department staff, and key service stakeholders to establish detailed, actionable event operating procedures to deliver exceptional and consistent luxury dining events and luxury dining guest services 

·         Serve as liaison between internal and external stakeholders, vendors and partners to ensure all services are cohesive and all logistics and event day execution are well coordinated and on track

·         Oversee all vendors outsourced

·         Develop strategies and various programs and initiatives to stimulate luxury dining engagement as a means of customer retention

·         Act as primary point of contact for all luxury dining operations on event race days, including but not limited to site visits to assess dining venue readiness, daily customer reports, pre- and post-shift collaboration with service partners, event day management, etc.

·         Collaborate with Luxury Dining Sales & Services Manager and utilize CRM details to identify unique client hospitality needs and to create exceptional customer service race day experiences

·         Support Luxury Dining Sales & Services Manager in designing and executing key touchpoints and communication campaigns to inform guests of all relevant aspects of their event race day

·         Identify opportunities to collect and analyze data related to luxury dining ticketholder trends, attendance, touchpoints, renewals, etc. to improve luxury dining services and experiences

·         Organize production of, and manage fulfillment of, customer deliverables to ensure luxury dining ticketholders are prepared to attend live race days

·         Provide service training, as applicable, to staff and team members

·         Troubleshoot issues as they arise and determine appropriate resolution

·         Conduct luxury dining ticketholder surveys and develop other means to process luxury dining guest feedback ensuring service needs and expectations are met 

·         Develop and adhere to a departmental luxury dining expense budget; monitor and take action as necessary to help assure expenses are planned and approved

·         Represent Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby during event preparation, site surveys, client events and race events; providing excellent customer service at all times

·         Conduct post-event analyses to evaluate performance and document learnings

·         Benchmark similar luxury concepts to adopt and optimize policies at Churchill Downs to continuously improve services and member satisfaction

·         Present during operating hours and events to manage service staff training, day-of luxury dining operations and race day experiences

 

·         Seasonal Concierges

·         Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) from four-year college or university

·         2-4 years of professional experience in hospitality or a related field

·         Alternatively, equivalent combination of education and experience

·         Demonstrated passion for hospitality and/or the racing & entertainment industry

·         Collaborative, team player attitude

·         Exceptional attention to detail

·         Excellent oral and written communication skills

·         Strong interpersonal skills with a commitment to a high level of customer service

·         Creative problem solver and strong judgement skills

·         Strong presentation development and delivery skills

·         Strong analytical and data interpretation skills

·         Strong time management, organizational, and decision-making skills

·         Ability to collaborate with a cross functional team

·         Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously

·         Proficient in Microsoft Office & Excel

·         Ability to learn new software, specific to ticketing and CRM systems

Working Conditions
Weekend and evening work required during live racing meets.  Working conditions are normal for an office environment. Must be able to maneuver around the racetrack and withstand hot/cold conditions.  
Churchill Downs encourages diversity in the workforce. 
 EOE