Director Food & Beverage, Development & Openings Europe
Efet Cx_1 · Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom · hybrid
Shape the Future of Food & Beverage Across Europe
Hilton is seeking an experienced and commercially minded F&B Director to drive the development and opening of world-class Food & Beverage concepts across Europe, including the UK & Ireland.
This is a unique opportunity to influence how Hilton's newest hotels come to life, leading the end-to-end F&B development journey from concept creation and design through to opening, operational handover and post-opening review. Working with hotel owners, developers, architects, operators and brand teams, you will ensure every F&B venue delivers exceptional guest experiences, strong commercial performance and operational excellence.
What You'll Do
Lead F&B Concept Development
You will build and develop innovative F&B concepts that deliver:
- Operational excellence
- Commercial success
- Outstanding guest experiences
You'll partner with owners, development teams and brand stakeholders to create concepts that are achievable, commercially viable and aligned with Hilton's standards and long-term vision.
Drive Design Excellence
You'll own the design sign-off process across both Front and Back of House environments, ensuring:
- Efficient operational workflows
- Compliance with Hilton Development Design Standards
- Effective kitchen, bar and buffet installations
- Appropriate equipment specifications
- Space-efficient planning solutions
You will also lead owner and project meetings while managing external consultants throughout the development cycle.
Deliver Commercially Successful Openings
Working closely with Operations & Technology, Regional F&B Directors and General Managers, you will:
- Lead F&B pre-opening planning
- Drive value engineering decisions
- Manage snagging and operational handover processes
- Ensure asset quality and operational readiness
- Conduct post-opening reviews and continuous improvement initiatives
Your focus will be on ensuring every new venue opens successfully and performs from day one.
Act as a Trusted F&B Expert
As a recognised subject matter expert, you will:
- Support masterplan, conversion and third-party projects
- Drive CAPEX review processes for F&D initiatives
- Develop tools, resources and best practices for hotel teams
- Champion sustainability throughout the project lifecycle
- Introduce innovative operational solutions and emerging industry trends
- Deliver presentations to senior leadership and regional stakeholders
- Coach, mentor and develop wider team members, including interns
You will play a key role in elevating Hilton's F&B capabilities across Europe while helping shape the future of the function.
Key Partnerships
Success in this role requires collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders, including:
- VP Architecture & Construction and European team
- Operations Leadership (CE & UK)
- Development teams across EMEA
- F&B Development & Operations Directors
- AD&C teams
- Pre-opening teams
- F&B Brand Services
- General Managers
- Owners, Asset Managers and Consultants
- Finance and HR teams
Specific Job Knowledge, Skill and Ability
The individual must possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities and be able to perform the essential functions of the job:
- Demonstrates extensive operational experience in hotels/restaurants – both front & back of house – 10 years.
- Excellent knowledge of F&B – including product, culinary, beverage, catering, equipment, design, build & operational workflows.
- Demonstrates Strong Project Management capability.
- Shows Leadership outside of direct team via excellent Influencing and Motivational skills.
- Verbal & Written Communication skills – up to executive level.
- Ability to Build Relationships across multiple functions & levels – both internal & external.
- Able to work in Detail without losing sight of Strategic Priorities.
- Acts as Business Owner for the new hotels – thinking long-term and beyond their own team.
- Shows willingness to be hands-on as necessary.
- Customer-centric – sees the customer first and last in everything.
- Critical thinking – has the ability to invent, critique and simplify.
- Strong IT skills, predominantly AutoCAD, Excel & PowerPoint.
- Capacity to Work Independently – shows Resilience and a “Can-Do” Attitude in the face of setbacks.
- Flexibility to travel extensively.
Required Qualifications
- University degree or Associates Diploma in Hospitality Management, or extensive relevant experience in lieu thereof.
Preferred Qualifications
- A second language would be desirable.