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Food & Beverage Manager, Inflight Services

Ref 78071
Location Crawley, West Sussex Further Information
Contract Type Permanent
Salary Range £50,000+
Job Type Inflight Services
Job Details

Salary: up to £55,966 dependant on experience
Contract Type: Permanent, full time
Working Hours: Mon-Fri, 0900-1730hrs

Location:
Crawley, West Sussex

Closing date for applications:
Monday, 2nd January 2012
**Applicants who have applied for this role in the last 6 months need not re-apply**

Role Purpose

Accountable for setting the global food and beverage vision and improving the airline’s food and drink offer delivering improved customer satisfaction. Includes the responsibility for ensuring that the food and beverage offer is financially, operationally and commercially achievable within existing and future parameters and quality standards.
Responsibilities

Development
Leads IFS input to the development of the VAA food Vision –into a strategic plan (Food Improvement Plan) to develop and deliver a cohesive and understandable food style, food characteristic, menu profile, menu print language, communication strategy and ensuring any supplier or person involved in the food offer understands and delivers to cost and quality parameters
Contract Management / Monitoring
Manage all food and beverage relationships including setting and reporting financial, quality and other, performance targets for the performance of any Supplier involved in the food and beverage offer to improve the satisfaction of our passenger and crew. This includes the review of supplier prospects and the liaison with internal and supplier departments / organisations to deliver. This will involve practical demonstration to suppliers from time to time.

People Management

To manage the people aspect and delivery of the team’s performance, development and accountabilities in order to develop high performance and capability and employee engagement in line with company people strategy and brand values
Commercial Awareness
To be accountable for keeping abreast of new developments related to all aspects of food and drink production (and the related service) across the broadest sectors of the catering and food retail industry (i.e. wherever people eat and drink). This should include but not be entirely focused on competitor airlines. Uses this knowledge to drive the Food vision and also to develop robust improvement actions plans such as on sustainability.

Category Maintenance
Selection process that can leverage on tactical v strategic supplier relationships to deliver a tangible benefit to Inflight Services an d decreased cost per pax.
To determine and deliver a food category and commodity plan, to improve the quality and cost of the food and beverage offering and to introduce a food supplier selection process that can leverage on tactical v strategic supplier relationships to deliver a tangible benefit to Inflight Services and decreased cost per pax

Requirements

City and Guilds 706 1&2 /or NVQ equivalent
Food Hygiene (level 3) and Global Food knowledge
Extensive experience in a modern 5* hotel kitchen or equivalent or AA rated restaurant or Contract catering, fine dining, corporate events and private dining room experience would be a distinct advantage
Track record of success at managing and delivering significant change through third party service contracts
Significant and varied supplier management experience with clear understanding of the impact of culture
Understanding of In-flight product supply chains and processes especially equipment and catering supply
Knowledge of catering supply community and key players
Project / programme management experience
Track record of success in negotiation in cross-cultural environments
Experience of supplier relationship management best practice and an understanding of the need for multiple approaches including, importantly, consistency
Effective netowrkng skills to influence and manage stakeholders and business expectations
Strong interpersonal, influencing and presentation skills
Commercially astute
Excellent time management, planning and organisation skills
Self-starter and sees things to completion
Significant gravitas to represent VAA well in supplier meetings
Comfortable working with complex data - assimilates data quickly and uses it to build decisions
Excellent cross functional and team working skills
Demonstrates a broad experience of working with other cultures
Ability to travel internationally.The VAA IFS operation is 24/7 - role holder may be required to work antisocial hours to meet the needs of the operation including weekends if required along wth International travel at short notice from time to time.