Catering Operations Manager

Job Summary: At Wolfgang Puck Catering, every event tells a story. As our Catering Operations Manager, you'll help bring those stories to life by guiding teams, supporting clients, and ensuring smooth, high‑quality execution for both on‑ and off‑premise events. This role is a great fit for a hospitality professional who enjoys leading people, coordinating details, and creating memorable experiences in a fast‑moving environment. You'll collaborate with talented culinary partners, creative sales leaders, and trusted vendors to deliver the exceptional service Wolfgang Puck is known for.

Key Responsibilities: Partner with clients to understand their event vision, priorities, and expectations and ensure the operational plan aligns with their goals and budget. Collaborate closely with WPC chefs and culinary leaders to ensure client needs are met and food is presented according to WPC standards. Build comprehensive front-of-house and back-of-house rental orders, including china, glassware, flatware, serving pieces, bars, kitchen equipment. Build kitchens from scratch for off-premise events, including planning equipment, workstations, utilities, refrigeration, cooking equipment, and scullery needs. Build strong relationships with rental companies and other vendors, coordinating logistics, deliveries, pickups, and onsite execution. Execute events ranging from 300 to 5,000 guests, maintaining WPC standards throughout planning, setup, service, and breakdown. Develop event staffing plans and schedules that align team strengths and experience with the specific needs of each event. Serve as the communication hub between Sales, Culinary, Staffing, Captains, Vendors, and Clients, ensuring all teams have the information needed to execute successfully. Manage event timelines, production schedules, load-ins, load-outs, staffing, rentals, and onsite logistics. Anticipate operational challenges and develop solutions before and during events. Support financial processes, including budgeting, labor planning, contract tracking, cost management, and post-event reviews. What We're Looking For3–5 years of leadership experience in catering, luxury hospitality, fine dining, event operations, or a related environment. Strong background in off-premise catering and large-scale events. Demonstrated ability to successfully execute events ranging from 300 to 5,000 guests. Experience leading teams in high-volume, high-touch hospitality environments. Strong understanding of event operations, including staffing, rentals, timelines, logistics, setup, service, and breakdown. Experience building temporary kitchens and production spaces from scratch. Strong knowledge of catering equipment, service equipment, and event production needs. Ability to develop effective labor plans and staffing schedules. Comfortable managing multiple events, timelines, vendors, and client expectations simultaneously. Strong communication, organization, and relationship-building skills. Confidence collaborating with culinary leaders, sales teams, vendors, and clients. Ability to work with budgets, labor planning, and basic financial reporting. Strong attention to detail with the ability to see both the big picture and the small details that impact event execution. A passion for creating meaningful client experiences and contributing to the growth and success of the organization.