Sr. Manager, F&B New Ventures

JOB SUMMARY

The Senior Manager, New Ventures – Food & Beverage is responsible for identifying, evaluating, and implementing innovative products, ingredients, and vendor partnerships that enhance culinary execution, operational efficiency, and cost effectiveness across the fleet. This role partners closely with culinary, supply chain, operations, finance, and external vendors to support ideation, conduct data-driven assessments, and bring scalable solutions to market. The position oversees analytics and insights related to new ventures and manages one Specialist and one Analyst. This role requires approximately 50% travel to support vendor engagement, tastings, testing, and fleet-level implementation.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Identify, source, and evaluate new food, beverage, ingredient, and production-driven products that support culinary disciplines and large-scale execution.
• Build and manage strategic relationships with external vendors, manufacturers, and partners aligned with cost, quality, and operational standards.
• Lead new venture ideation efforts in collaboration with Culinary, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, and Brand teams.
• Oversee data analytics, financial modeling, and performance assessments related to new products, vendors, and initiatives.
• Evaluate products for fleetwide scalability, consistency of execution, and operational feasibility.
• Drive sourcing strategies for ingredients and products to ensure consistency in quality and execution across the fleet.
• Ensure all new products meet established cost targets, quality benchmarks, and food safety requirements.
• Plan, organize, and lead product tastings, trials, and validations with culinary leadership and key stakeholders.
• Develop business cases, pilot plans, and post-implementation reviews to inform go/no-go decisions.
• Manage and mentor a Specialist and an Analyst, providing clear direction, performance feedback, and professional development.
• Partner with procurement and supply chain teams to support contract negotiations and vendor onboarding.
• Stay current on industry trends, emerging technologies, and innovative solutions within high-volume food and beverage environments.
• Perform other job-related functions as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

DEGREE TYPE: Bachelor's Degree

FIELD(S) OF STUDY: Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management, or a related field required.

EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in large-volume food & beverage operations such as cruise lines, casinos, conventions, airlines, hotels, or comparable environments.

COMPETENCIES/SKILLS

• Demonstrated experience sourcing products or ingredients at scale while balancing cost, quality, and operational constraints.

• Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally and influence stakeholders at multiple levels.

• Strong analytical skills with experience overseeing data analysis, financial assessments, and performance metrics.

• Experience managing and developing direct reports preferred.

• Ability to travel approximately 50% of the time, including ship visits, vendor facilities, and industry events.