Event Operations Lead

For consideration, please submit a resume/ cover letter describing your background, experience, availability, and anything else requested in the job posting to our staffing team: recruiting@bitecatering.net

Please note that the post may contain elements we ask you to include in your application - we consider those heavily as a mark of your detail-orientation and design thinking.

Please, no phone calls, and principals only (no recruiters/ staffing agencies)!

The main function of the event operations lead role is to set the company up to successfully execute events. This includes all non-chef related event execution elements including equipment, planning, and facilities (venues + off-premise).

It's a full-time role open to people who want to help create well-designed /beautiful events through thoughtful design reviews, detailed site visits, proactive logistics planning, detailed organization of inventory, a tested pool of front of house staff, and a push to maintain all of our equipment and venues in a ready state.

We're fairly organized, but operational excellence is a journey rather than a destination. This role will drive a series of continuous improvement initiatives into a rapidly scaling/ evolving organization (recovery from Covid, dynamic corporate environment, and opening of a new venue holding > 1000 people).

You will work directly with our owners (one of whom is a lean operations consultant as well as a developer) to help us build this function into an industry leader in quality, reliability, creativity, and productivity. To be successful, you'll need to therefore be able to communicate clearly, structure problems into intelligent option sets/ bets, embrace change, and lean into whatever tools are available (including technology/ data) to achieve the best results.

What is the role?

Bite Catering Couture is looking for a spectacularly organized and results-oriented Event Operations Lead to join our team.

This is a role that has a few areas of focus:

• create accountability and feedback loops for outstanding event execution
• proactively perfect our event plans, especially complex serviced events
• build the strength of our event team through recruiting and development
• prepare for events and pack back / return to ready following
• maintain our facilities in ready status

Essentially, you are leading our charge to plan the logistics and elements that make our events amazing, get all of the stuff and people to the event, and bring it all back / get everything ready so we can do it again. Success is often in preparation and in helping improve our processes as we scale. However, this is not just a logistics type of role, as the warmth of distinctive hospitality is critical to creating lifelong customers and the capturing of the "bookable" insta shot is what builds our brand.

Who should apply?

You're a mix of someone with an eye for presentation, crafty skills to build things, ability to communicate clearly, and dynamic understanding of process. You can see and sketch a vision of an event from its job sheet/ BEO. You are hands-on and able to put together the pieces to bring it to life (and yet still fit in a van or two). You are able to communicate your ideas and requirements in a way that our chef and event team can execute in great coordination. You're able to stay on top of the tools in the industry to maintain and source elements that keep us in the high end of quality and performance within reasonable costs. You keep us continuously ready to take on more events. And you're constantly looking to take the bottlenecks from the existing process and solve for them.

It's a great role for someone who loves the production side of the event industry who loves the ability to make a difference in a small business (getting to work on owner-level projects). They likely have a few years of catering experience (off-premise preferred) and complex event execution (catering, planner, agency, live event, theater). However, some of the best in our industry have had starting points from direct mail to heavy industry/ manufacturing. If you've come across and been excited about lean operations, Six Sigma, High Output Management (book), or anything along those lines and you love food/ events then this may be a fit!

Why Work for Bite Catering Couture?

We’re a high-end company who helps people and organizations put together some of the most important events in their lives.

We offer the warmth of a small business and team with the organization and stability of a more established company.

This role is one that works on owner-level projects to improve a rapidly-scaling catering company on the verge of opening a premium venue that can host > 1000 people (it's new for us but it's a historic landmark). You'll get a lot of exposure to an industry leader in lean operations and adoption of technology and help us to drive those elements further to improve quality, creativity, reliability, and productivity. In many organizations, this is an insane job...we're working to make it much more sustainable through process, continuous improvement, organization, and delegation.

You'll want a robust job (approx. 45-50 hours/wk) working on projects directly with the business' owner.

Success in the role generally looks like:

• An ability to keep multiple plates spinning. We must develop the capacity to handle events, get venues and equipment back to Ready status, and work on initiatives simultaneously.
• Keeps a consistently productive pace (including physically). Consistently ships good work.
• 80/20 approach to solving problems.
• A belief that process and trusted team are the foundations of a sustainable work-life in the event industry.
• A deep empathy for our clients which helps you to understand their priorities and blind spots
• A "lean" approach to problem solving that starts with an open mind to "go see" and explore solutions.

Responsibilities & The Role

• Formulate and work on projects that improve the overall performance of our event operations
• Keep our team, equipment, and facilities "Event ready". Fix the bottlenecks where that is rocky
• Streamline and standardize where possible to improve speed, reliability, quality, and cost
• Ensure our pack-out, pack-back, and event processes are performing at a high level through feedback loops and quality control checks
• Assist in interviewing staff and maintaining our front of house talent pool as we scale
• Build on event capabilities, client relationships, account understanding, creative assets that all are at the heart of great events and repeat/ referral work

Preferred Education and Experience:

• Associates Degree or equivalent academic foundation to incorporate ideas, theory, and mathematics into our work and plans
• 2+ years relevant work experience in high end productions and/ or hospitality. Prior high-end event and off-premise catering experience a plus!
• 1+ years of work in an operational improvement setting or role. Please share projects that you did to improve a prior company you've been a part of and how that translated into high value real world impact (including financial metrics).

Compensation

Total comp: $65,000-$82,000 (Hourly base of $23.50/hr + Event rate + Event bonuses + Performance Bonus + Health Stipend + PTO + 401K match)

Requirements

• Familiarity with excel and entering information into computer web apps (we are developing our own catering/ event software)
• History of achievement/accomplishment
• Must have a reliable method of transportation, valid license and clean driving record.
• Must be able to lift 50 lbs waist high repeatedly
• Must be able to lift 50 lbs shoulder height occasionally (using the correct equipment or assistance for ergonomics)
• Fluent in English
• Live within reasonable driving distance to cover work sites between Palms/Culver City Area and Long Beach
• Able to taste and describe ALL foods

IN ORDER TO APPLY:

Please fill out the application and questions in the linked google form (will need an email): https://forms.gle/EZEvbX9egwsQGmQm8

Last Updated: Dec 31, 2023

Estimated Pay: Expected total comp $65K - $82K with an hourly base of $25/hr and event rate of $30-35/hr (total comp includes PTO, health stipend, event bonuses, performance bonuses, 401K, OT)

Location: Los Angeles, CA (near Culver City/ Palms)

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