Director, Culinary Operations and Innovation

Journey with us! Combine your career goals and sense of adventure by joining our incredible team of employees at Royal Caribbean Group. We are proud to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, and excellent career development opportunities, each offering unique ways to explore the world.

We are proud to be the vacation-industry leader with global brands — including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises — the most innovative fleet and private destinations, and the best people. Together, we are dedicated to turning the vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations for our guests.

Royal Caribbean Group’s Silversea Cruises brand has an exciting career opportunity for a full time Director, Culinary Operations and Innovation on the Transformation Team reporting to the Vice-President, Head of Transformation.

This position will work onsite in Miami, Florida

Position Summary

In this position, you would be responsible for overseeing the creative development and quality assurance of Silversea culinary operations. This includes directing product conceptualization, strategy, menu engineering, recipe development, item costing, concept testing, specification development/sourcing, implementation of new menus and on-going quality assurance processes and systems.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Oversees the culinary research and development process from product creation through implementation.
• Supports the overall operation through creative development of and launch of new culinary concepts.
• Devises innovative product offerings for a variety of venues including main dining room, buffet restaurants, branded outlets, room service, specialty restaurants and themed/special events.
• Formulates and implements procedural guidelines, policies and standards pertaining to the overall food and beverage operations. Included in this are menu design, product specifications, recipe formulation, systems and procedures documentation, cleanliness and sanitation, and cost control.
• Leads the overall creation of menus, preparation instructions, and individual dish specifications by ingredients and corresponding portion sizes.
• Maintains direct responsibility for food cost containment as well as culinary guest satisfaction ratings.
• Proposes incorporation of new culinary technologies or systems to enhance operations.
• Stays ahead of the curve regarding new trends in the global culinary arena.
• Monitors and develops the fleet special dietary request program.
• Liaises with the digital team to implement the use of artificial intelligence software to enhance revenues and reduce costs.
• Oversees and is responsible for overtime and ILO violations.
• Oversees and is responsible for USPH and related scores.
• Collaborates with Supply Chain Management in identifying, sourcing and implementing required products.
• Develops standards, processes and tools to assist in delivering a consistent culinary product fleetwide.
• Connects with marketing to affect culinary activations worldwide.
• Acts as the F&B liaison for any activations onboard as they relate to new F&B partnerships.
• Guides and supports the onboard and shoreside culinary staff in company standards, processes and systems.
• Monitors guest, partner and internal feedback and takes corrective action as required to ensure highest level of guest satisfaction.
• In partnership with the AVP, Food and Beverage Operations, develops and administers formal quality assurance processes including audits, secret shopper programs, culinary focus groups, consumer tasting, and customer/operator surveys.
• Collaborates with operational leaders in the on-going execution of the company’s culinary operations.
• Ensures the accurate maintenance of the menu and recipe database.
• Provides on-going support in fleetwide efforts to remain above and beyond compliance with all U.S.P.H. standards and procedures.
• Oversees and controls food cost for the Fleet.
• Builds financial models including proformas and operating budgets.
• Works closely with Supply Chain on product sourcing and cost structure.
  
  

Qualifications, Knowledge And Skills

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business or Management required (focus on Hospitality Management preferred) or equivalent 10 years’ experience in Culinary Management in a large hotel/resort environment and or cruise industry.
• Demonstrated success with food and/or beverage project and program ideation thru implementation. These successes should also include the ability to develop measurement metrics and quantify program results.
• Experience in sourcing, analyzing and interpreting relevant data to achieve results.

Outstanding performance and experience in:

• Food and beverage industry and specifically in hotel, lodging and/or cruise companies
• Supplier or Distributor sales
• Food and Beverage program development
• Creative problem/opportunity services and ideation
• High-energy interpersonal skills, comfortable in driving entrepreneurial initiatives within a corporate environment.
• Solid judgment and decision-making skills, weighing the relative costs and benefits of a potential action.
• Ability to use critical thinking, using logic and analysis to identify the strength and weaknesses of different approaches.
• Good process reengineering skills to develop and implement process reengineering practices to improve efficiencies and develop cost saving initiatives.
  
  

We know there's a lot to consider. As you go through the application process, our recruiters will be glad to provide guidance, and more relevant details to answer any additional questions. Thank you again for your interest in Royal Caribbean Group. We'll hope to see you onboard soon!

It is the policy of the Company to ensure equal employment and promotion opportunity to qualified candidates without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, sexuality, gender identity or expression, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Royal Caribbean Group and each of its subsidiaries prohibit and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment.