Beverage Program Director Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

Corporate Director of Food & Beverage

Location: Chicago Heights, IL

Salary: $120K - $175K + 20% Bonus Potential

Position Overview

We are seeking an accomplished Corporate Director of Food & Beverage to serve as a strategic leader across a dynamic, multi-property hospitality portfolio. This position will play a critical role in driving operational excellence, leadership development, training, beverage innovation, new restaurant openings, brand standards, and F&B profitability.

The ideal candidate is a proven hospitality professional with 5+ years of success as Director of Beverage, Director of Food & Beverage, or a High-Volume Restaurant General Manager with an extensive Beverage Background. Must have strong Craft Cocktail Knowledge, P&L expertise, exceptional leadership capabilities, and a passion for developing people and elevating the guest experience. This is an outstanding opportunity for an experienced F&B executive who is ready to transition from property-level leadership into a highly visible corporate role with broad organizational impact.

Key Responsibilities

Training & Leadership Development

• Lead and support restaurant manager training and development programs.
• Mentor Restaurant Managers and Chefs through structured development plans and regular progress reviews.
• Coordinate trainer assignments and provide additional resources when property-level training is unavailable.
• Oversee Front-of-House and Heart-of-House associate training initiatives.
• Partner with Corporate Training & Development to develop and maintain hourly F&B certifications.
• Conduct quarterly training and leadership meetings for Restaurant General Managers.
• Facilitate Train-the-Trainer and company service-standard training across assigned markets.

New Restaurant Openings

• Participate in restaurant opening critical-path planning and provide operational guidance to property teams.
• Lead and support pre-opening training initiatives and develop associated training materials.
• Coordinate communication among hotel leadership, restaurant leadership, regional teams, sales, marketing, and corporate F&B stakeholders.
• Ensure critical opening milestones are achieved on schedule and to brand standards.
• Develop and maintain standardized training materials, service standards, and operational resources.
• Lead pre-opening purchasing and ordering for F&B operations, including china, glassware, flatware, service equipment, menus, branded collateral, uniforms, and other operational necessities while maintaining budgetary and brand requirements.

Corporate Communications & Marketing

• Develop and manage consistent internal F&B communications, including newsletters, dashboards, updates, and leadership communications.
• Represent Food & Beverage in marketing activation planning, execution, and program approval.
• Participate in property- and market-specific F&B activation strategy meetings.
• Provide ongoing oversight of annual F&B activation plans and initiatives.
• Review operational feedback, guest satisfaction data, service audits, and other performance reports.
• Partner with property leaders to develop action plans and ensure timely follow-through on identified opportunities.

Beverage Program & Innovation

• Lead cocktail research and development in partnership with senior corporate F&B leadership.
• Oversee corporate beverage programs, inventory-management systems, and related technology.
• Develop and maintain strategic relationships with national beverage suppliers and vendors.
• Conduct beverage tastings and support seasonal menu development and new restaurant concepts.
• Maintain an accurate and current corporate beverage recipe database.
• Monitor industry trends and bring innovative beverage concepts and ideas to the organization.
• Provide guidance to properties on beverage profitability, execution, presentation, and guest experience.

Systems, Processes & Operational Excellence

• Maintain corporate F&B resources, including training materials, recipe databases, concept libraries, SOPs, and operational tools.
• Participate in operational audits alongside Regional Vice Presidents and property leadership.
• Identify opportunities for improvement and develop actionable plans to address performance gaps.
• Support continuous hotel and restaurant training initiatives through auditing, coaching, and field-based development.
• Analyze operational and financial data to identify trends, opportunities, and areas requiring intervention.

Standards & Performance Management

• Partner with Regional Vice Presidents and property leadership to ensure consistent execution of F&B standards and initiatives.
• Monitor service audit results and work directly with leaders when performance falls below expectations.
• Conduct property visits and provide hands-on coaching, leadership development, and operational guidance.
• Build a culture focused on exceptional guest service, employee engagement, sales growth, and operational efficiency.
• Coach and mentor F&B leaders while promoting accountability and continuous improvement.
• Support corporate F&B initiatives and special projects as directed by senior leadership.

What You'll Bring

Core Leadership Competencies

• Creating a Strong Service Culture
• Inspiring Excellence
• Building and Developing Talent
• Guiding Team Success
• Driving Accountability and Execution
• Strategic Planning & Business Development
• Change Leadership
• Cross-Functional Collaboration

Professional Skills

• Exceptional ability to analyze operational and financial data and translate findings into actionable strategies.
• Strong understanding of restaurant and hotel F&B P&L statements, budgeting, forecasting, labor management, and cost controls.
• Demonstrated success driving revenue, profitability, guest satisfaction, and operational performance.
• Outstanding coaching, mentoring, conflict-resolution, and team-building skills.
• Ability to lead through influence and establish credibility with senior executives, RVPs, General Managers, Chefs, and Restaurant Leaders.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple properties, projects, and deadlines simultaneously.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving hospitality environment.
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 40%.

Education & Experience

• 5+ years of proven success as a Director of F&B, Director of Beverage or General Manager in a high-volume restaurant environment.
• 5+ years of progressive Food & Beverage leadership experience.
• Experience with restaurant openings, training programs, menu development, and beverage programs strongly preferred.
• Level 1 Sommelier certification preferred.
• Food Manager/Sanitation certification preferred.
• Four-year college degree in Hospitality Management, Business, Culinary Arts, or a related field preferred.

Why This Opportunity

This is an exceptional opportunity for a high-performing F&B leader who has excelled at the property level and is ready to influence multiple hotels, restaurants, teams, and markets at the corporate level. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to shape training, operational standards, restaurant openings, beverage strategy, leadership development, and overall F&B performance across a premier hospitality organization.