Senior Director of Food & Beverage – East

At ExplorUS, we provide exceptional hospitality services in some of the most breathtaking locations across the country, including national and state parks, marinas, forests, and museums. From Hawaii to the East Coast, our dedicated teams create unforgettable experiences for visitors, with the support of our corporate office in Overland Park, Kansas.

Position Summary:
The Senior Director of Food & Beverage – East provides strategic and operational leadership for F&B operations across the company’s eastern portfolio. This role is responsible for driving financial performance, operational excellence, leadership development, guest experience, and consistent execution across a diverse group of hospitality operations.

Working closely with the Corporate Executive Chef – East and Director of F&B Compliance & Operations, the Senior Director provides hands-on support to property teams and serves as a key connection between field operations and corporate leadership. The ideal candidate is an experienced multi-unit F&B leader who is equally comfortable analyzing a P&L, coaching leaders, developing strategy, and working alongside teams in the field.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide operational leadership and oversight for F&B operations throughout the eastern portfolio.
• Partner with property and operations leadership to improve food quality, service, financial performance, safety, cleanliness, and guest experience.
• Monitor revenue, COGS, labor, profitability, budgets, forecasts, and other key performance indicators; develop action plans when performance falls below expectations.
• Conduct regular site visits, identify operational challenges, and work directly with property teams to implement sustainable solutions.
• Coach and develop property-level F&B leaders and support recruiting, onboarding, succession planning, and leadership development.
• Support seasonal openings and closings, leadership transitions, high-volume periods, and other critical operational needs.
• Manage and strengthen vendor relationships, including product quality, pricing, service, supply-chain performance, and procurement opportunities.
• Support equipment selection, replacement planning, capital projects, renovations, and new concept development.
• Participate in new business, acquisitions, mobilizations, and openings, including site assessments, budgeting, equipment planning, operational design, and F&B strategy.
• Partner cross-functionally with Culinary, Operations, Marketing, Finance, IT, Safety, and other departments to implement company-wide F&B initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to increase revenue, improve profitability, strengthen operations, and enhance the guest experience.
• Other duties as assigned. 

Requirements:

• Strong knowledge of both front- and back-of-house hospitality operations.
• Demonstrated experience managing P&Ls, budgets, forecasting, labor, COGS, and operational performance.
• Proven ability to develop leaders, solve operational challenges, and drive accountability across multiple locations.
• Experience with vendors, procurement, equipment purchasing, and capital planning.
• Strong communication, analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to operate independently in a remote leadership role and travel regularly.
• Experience with seasonal operations, parks, resorts, concessions, remote destinations, or complex hospitality environments strongly preferred.
• Must reside in the eastern half of the United States.
• A hands-on, solutions-oriented leader who balances strong business and financial acumen with a passion for hospitality.
• This individual builds strong relationships with field teams, develops leaders, holds operations accountable, and is comfortable moving between strategic planning and practical, on-site execution.

Experience & Education:

• 10+ years of progressive F&B leadership experience with significant multi-unit responsibility.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred; equivalent education and relevant professional experience will be considered.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.