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Catering Director
At Leeann Chin, we've built 46 years of brand loyalty across the Twin Cities. Our catering division has a solid footprint, but we are ready to scale significantly. We're looking for a hands-on Catering Director who understands the catering space inside and out. A driven leader ready to capture new business, build lasting client relationships, and unlock the full potential of our brand.
If you are a motivated sales leader who thrives on building strong client relationships, opening new doors, and turning one-off corporate orders into loyal recurring accounts, this is your chance to own and scale a brand's catering footprint.
Position Overview
As Catering Director, you'll own the sales strategy, client acquisition, and growth vision for Leeann Chin's established catering business. Reporting directly to executive leadership, you will lead and inspire a dedicated team, pioneer innovative sales strategies, and relentlessly expand our corporate footprint across the region. Success in this role comes down to active networking, driving consistent outreach, and partnering closely with our store managers and drivers to ensure every delivery is executed flawlessly. If you are hungry to innovate, build new clientele, and scale a proven brand's untapped market potential, this is your opportunity to directly impact our bottom line.
Key Responsibilities
Driving Sales & Account Growth
- Outbound B2B Sales & Outreach: Prospect, pitch, and close high-volume corporate accounts, administrative professionals, special events and event planners through innovative outreach and active local networking across the Twin Cities and Minnesota market.
- Client Retention & Account Nurturing: Foster and strengthen relationships with our existing client base, driving repeat catering business, account expansion, and long-term brand loyalty.
- Marketing & LSM Collaboration: Assist executive leadership in shaping catering marketing outreach while actively participating in Local Store Marketing (LSM) initiatives alongside General Managers to engage local business communities through tastings and targeted drop-offs.
- Brand Ambassador Strategy: Assist in training and empower store-level staff to spot catering opportunities during daily guest interactions and feed those leads directly to the sales team.
- Smart Margin Control: Oversee custom proposals, contract pricing, and discount thresholds to drive top-line revenue while maintaining healthy bottom-line profitability.
Leading & Supporting the Sales Team
- Hands-on Leadership: Hire, mentor, and coach a sharp sales and delivery team, keeping everyone aligned, accountable, and motivated to drive sales growth.
- Pipeline & Metric Tracking: Lead structured weekly sales check-ins to review pipeline health, evaluate outreach metrics, and adjust prospecting strategies based on real market feedback.
- Seamless Operations Partnership: Work hand-in-hand with Regional Directors, kitchen teams, and drivers to ensure prep, staging, and drop-off logistics run smoothly every single time.
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What We're Looking For
- Catering Sales Leadership: 5+ years of professional sales experience with at least 3+ years successfully managing a B2B sales team (multi-unit restaurant catering or hospitality background strongly preferred).
- Caterease Expertise: Direct, hands-on experience using Caterease catering software is strongly preferred. Familiarity with prospecting tools (like ZoomInfo) and CRM platforms is a strong plus.
- Growth & Networking Mindset: Proven track record in consistent outreach, building new clientele, and nurturing existing accounts through proactive networking.
- Solid Business Acumen: Strong understanding of menu margins, food costs, delivery logistics, and sales forecasting.
- Strong Communication: Professional, relatable communication style when connecting with corporate decision-makers, office managers, and internal store teams alike.
Physical Requirements
- Work is performed primarily in an office setting, and occasionally in a restaurant environment
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, demonstrate manual dexterity, climb stairs, talk, hear, and see
- Must be able to travel moderately in the local area
- Occasionally may be required to lift moderately heavy objects (up to 10 pounds) during the course of the workday
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
- Leeann Chin is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
- The Company provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.
Disclaimer
This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of duties, responsibilities, qualifications, or working conditions. Management reserves the right to modify job duties as business needs require and in accordance with applicable law.