Manager Food & Beverage Planning

Job description / Role

Manager Food & Beverage Planning - Qatar Airways - Doha

The Manager Food and Beverage Development shall be responsible ensure that all Menu plans and Food and Beverages elements are as per Qatar Airways set processes maintaining high quality and standards, in order to support the exemplary image of all Qatar Airways air crafts and lounges. The position holder shall be responsible to manage processes and delivery of Qatar Airways food and beverage quality and standards programme to all network-wide stations in order to provide consistency and quality to all Qatar Airways customers. The Manager Food and Beverage Development shall monitor international best practice in terms of food perpetration, current international trends and supplier’s for catering considering sector specific requirements.

Strategic
* The role will develop and improve Menu items and all creative/innovative dining ingenuities based on customer feedback and interaction, performing in-depth market research to update on current trends and initiatives.
* Develop new sourcing opportunities by researching suppliers in the market in order to improve product consistency and attempt to reduce cost.
* Responsible for the development, maintenance, update and communication of menu planning structure, timelines and detailed requirements for all routes and meal services ensuring consistency of Qatar Airways Food and Beverage services network-wide.
* Ensure compliance and delivery timescales are met by maintaining stipulated budgets and confirm that Food and Beverage products are constantly developed in order to keep pace with the constantly evolving trends within aviation.
* Build and deliver robust Food and Beverage Plans and maximize product development including delivery of Fine Dining Services in order to assist in the improvement of product quality and consistency.

Operational
* Manages the utilization of Senior Development Chefs and Nominated Product Specialists in order to ensure compliance with requirements of standards, style and budget. Drives the need for continuous improvement and recommendation of quality enhancements for Qatar Airways Food and Beverage suggestions.
* Interpret Qatar Airways vision and style of fine dining standards into actionable plans, document all procedures and processes in order to ensure delivery of a coherent and comprehensible style, characteristic, profile and language across the fleet and ensure consistent on-time delivery as per approved guidelines.
* Track product delivery/quality and performance of all Lounges within the Qatar Airways network worldwide and compare/benchmark them against competitor airlines with regards to food and beverage delivery.
* Provide detailed reports to stakeholder departments such as Lounges, etc; including executive summaries for senior management in order to assess and build a robust delivery system of improved consistency of Qatar Airways Food and beverage areas.
* Lead the culinary input team including assistance with selection of outstation catering suppliers and supplier recommendations in delivering robust Food and Beverage services based on through analysis and catering capability including commercial justification in order to support clear recommendations enabling good business decisions.
* Responsible to actively monitor and manage cost impacts and delivering appropriate brand association opportunities to enhance customer satisfaction whilst mitigating cost.
* Ensures co-ordination with Delivery and Commercial teams at all times in order to guarantee consistency.
* Responsible to collectively coordinate tasks with key suppliers especially Qatar Aircraft Catering Company (QACC) to determine effective food delivery by introducing a systematic food supplier plan which leverages tactical and strategic supplier relationships to deliver tangible customer benefit and decreased cost.
* Ensures close coordination with Delivery and Commercial teams in order to build a strong network of available resources and encourage communication between respective teams such as Crew and colleagues, by receiving feedback and suggestions in order to improve services.
* Responsible to ensure that Standard and Procedures the Product Delivery Department and suppliers are made aware of any changes to any instances related to processes or services in a timely manner.
* Ensure that all stakeholder needs are effectively managed by following a systematic process flow, clear communication and all issues are discussed in an open environment prior to confirmation of services.
* Responsible for collating competitor analysis and hospitality trends, generate quarterly reports to senior management on key changes and any potential development that may affect Qatar Airway’s services

Management & Leadership
* Establish the department or teams objectives and priorities to align with and support business objectives.
* Regularly evaluate the department or teams objectives, plans, procedures and practices, and makes appropriate changes if needed.
* Oversee and supervise employees. Direct daily activities, recruit, train, develop and discipline to ensure a high standard of service delivery.

Development
* Take responsibility for own ongoing personal development and growth of expertise.
* Train and develop other employees, for proper succession planning and risk management.
* Assist in the response to any emergency or a major operational disruption affecting Qatar Airways or its subsidiaries, including support of the Qatar Airways Special Assistance Program.
* Train Qatari staff in the duties above.
* Perform other department duties related to his/her position as directed by the Head of the Department.

Operational Safety
* Responsible to ensure that employees at all levels understand work health and safety requirements and expectations through provision of relevant QR Group induction, information, instruction, training and supervision.
* Responsible for ensuring that all food proposals are correctly risk assessed and controlled from a food safety perspective in association with the Compliance team and suppliers.
* Ensure compliance to all relevant safety, security, quality and environmental management policies, procedures and controls across the operation to assure employee safety, security, legislative compliance and delivery of high quality service with a responsible environmental attitude.
* Ensure that all managers and supervisors understand work health and safety requirements and expectations to the extent that they can pass on relevant information, identify training needs and provide appropriate supervision in their workplace.
* Take a direct and personal interest in reported injuries, incidents, near misses and hazards to ensure that appropriate reporting, investigation and response is being achieved

Environmental Competencies
* Contribute towards Qatar Airways Group Environmental Objectives and targets and the implementation and maintenance of the Environmental Management System.
* Apply environmental knowledge and principles in your role, and incorporate this into business processes and decision making, to drive efficiency and reduce environmental and operational risks.

Requirements

You should hold Bachelor Degree with minimum 8 years of job related experience or Hotel Management/Culinary arts with 10+ years of hands on food related experience given the nature of the role.

Previous experience
* Culinary related experience preferably in airline catering
* Change and business management
* Supplier management.
* Team, process and change management and delivery through others.
* Previous flying experience will be an advantage

Job Skills
* Food/culinary capability
* Ability to plan and organise
* Proficient in MS Office suits
* Ability to delegate work, set clear direction and manage workflow.
* Strong mentoring and coaching skills.
* Ability to train and develop subordinate's skills.
* Ability to foster teamwork among team members.
* Fluent in English for both written and verbal presentation

Experience of budget management and control will be preferred. Airline catering knowledge and understanding from practical exposure will be an added advantage for this role.

About the Company

Qatar Airways is proud to be one of the youngest global airlines to serve all six continents, and thanks to our customers’ response to our offerings, we are also the world’s fastest-growing airline. We connect more than 150 destinations on the map every day, with a fleet of the latest-generation aircraft, and an unrivalled level of service from our home and hub, the Five-star airport, Hamad International Airport in Doha, the State of Qatar.

Travel today involves a mix of short, medium and long-haul segments, with more people travelling than ever before. With the breadth of network coverage today, virtually no destination is unreachable. This is why the commitment to service is paramount; as our guests are travelling farther and more frequently than ever before, the experience on board is an important part of the journey itself.

Since our launch in 1997, Qatar Airways has earned many awards and accolades, becoming one of an elite group of airlines worldwide to have earned a 5-star rating by Skytrax. Voted Airline of the Year by Skytrax in 2011, 2012, 2015 and most recently in 2017, Qatar Airways has won the confidence of the travelling public. We have accomplished these goals by focusing on the details – how we run the business, and how you experience our airline.