Company description

Job description

JOB SUMMARY |  The Catering and Event Sales Coordinator plays a pivotal role in La Cocina’s Catering Program. They support 40+ food entrepreneurs with catering opportunities, delivering hands-on coaching and technical assistance to develop their catering, service and sales skills as they grow their food businesses. At the same time, they are highly skilled in coordinating proposals from start to finish, acting as the point of contact between the La Cocina caterer and the customer, ensuring they have an exceptional and memorable experience. They are detail-oriented, energetic, resourceful, exceptional at multitasking, experienced in sales,  and managing logistics and events onsite. The role is responsible for meeting La Cocina’s revenue goals and genuinely committed to the success of La Cocina-born food entrepreneurs.

 

GENERAL DUTIES 

 

Centering La Cocina Entrepreneurs 

• Be available for office hours 
• Collaborate with the Incubator Program Team to support with curriculum, learning circles and workshops in your area of expertise
• Provide technical assistance (can include: catering sales, service, operations, hospitality, menu development and pricing)
• Provide mentorship (can include: general and moral support, translation, connections/introductions, networking)

Sales & Customer Service

• Achieve and exceed La Cocina’s sales goals in catering, venue and bar sales
• Cultivate customer relationships supporting with targeted outreach and retention strategies 
• Support Sales team in cross-promoting and upselling other La Cocina retail, events, products and services
• Provide the client with exceptional service and the La Cocina caterer with a profitable opportunity

 

Coordination and Execution 

• Coordinate customer catering orders from start to finish, including intake, negotiation, tours, tastings, logistics, billing and customer survey
• Communicate with customers in a professional and friendly manner, responding to customer inquiries and concerns in a timely manner
• Deliver best in class customer service, taking pride in meeting both the customer and La Cocina caterer needs 
• Attend venue site visits, ensuring related catering permits and other venue requirements are arranged
• Manage third party services as necessary, such as rentals, staffing, and permitting  
• Facilitate and oversee onsite logistics, such as timeline, vendor load in/out, service teams, etc.
• Ensure customer billing is accurate and timely, contract is agreed and signed to by all parties and invoice is paid prior to event
• Work closely with the Catering team to maintain smooth catering standard operating procedures and regularly review the catering pipeline and team needs
• Oversee and maintain La Cocina’s Catering calendar for on and off-premise events, effectively communicating with the organization about on-premise venue reservations 
• Collaborate closely with the Incubator Program team to ensure the entrepreneur’s catering readiness and success by reviewing BEOs in advance of events and facilitating onsite support as needed
• Audit customer feedback regularly and communicate with Program Team about caterer performance to support with continued technical assistance as needed
• Supporting organizational and program activities with coordination and service 

 

General Admin, Finances, and Systems Management

• Ensure customer payments are processed, closing out the contract and following up with customer immediately after event
• Effectively use the catering management system and related systems, following standard operating procedures and collaborating on improvements
• Enter technical assistance hours delivered and sales data into Salesforce on time
• Maintain La Cocina, client and entrepreneur information confidential and current across platforms
• Perform other related duties as assigned by Manager 

 

MINIMUM SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS 

• Bilingual in Spanish and English, highly preferred 
• At least 5 years of catering coordination experience
• Proven track record of contributing to business sales growth 
• Ability to effectively manage multiple catering proposals
• Proficient in Triple Seat or other Catering Client Management system, Office, Salesforce and GSuite Services
• Highly detail-oriented and organized in a multi-tasking environment
• Clear and effective communicator
• Proactive and solutions-driven 
• Positive and energetic 
• Patient and flexible 
• Cultural competent, empathetic, and experienced working with diverse and BIPOC communities 
• Ability to speak passionately and articulately about our mission 
• Valid CA Driver’s license required to fulfill job duties

 

OPTIMUM SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS 

• Additional language skills. 
• Skilled to tap into a network and motivated to identify and pursue sales for business growth 
• Deep understanding of catering and food service industry principles
• Skilled in hands-on catering coaching 
• Passionate about food, the food industry and community

 

TIME OFF RESTRICTIONS

• Avoid extended time off during high catering seasons:

• Spring Gala Season: May – June

• Fall Catering Season: September – October 

• Holiday Season: November – December 

 

Physical Demands and Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.

• Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and the ability to adjust focus. 
• Regularly required to talk or hear. 
• Frequently required to use hands or fingers, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls.
• Lift and carry objects.
• Required to stand; walk; sit; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.

Compensation

this position is: salaried, varies DOE, $70,000.00 - $78,000.00

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline