Wine Director

We are seeking a skilled and talented Wine Director to join Wolfgang Puck Spago Beverly Hills team. The ideal candidate will be well versed in managing the beverage program and setting the stage for a memorable guest dining experience.

Job Summary: The Wine Director will oversee, manage, and direct wine and restaurant wine program to ensure they attain or exceed established quality standards, productivity goals, budget and unit cost objectives, new product development support, and implementation timelines. The Wine Director ensures production schedules are met, inventories are managed and maximum wine quality standards are achieved.

Essential Job Functions:

• Manages and directs the wine operations and assigned staff to meet or exceed established cost, quality, and productivity standards
• Provides leadership, communication, and coaching to employees; cultivates a motivated employee environment of trust, teamwork, accountability, self-confidence, and business ownership
• Manages departmental business planning, budgeting, training, quality improvement, continuous improvement, and spending control processes
• Controlling and monitoring wine orders, stock and par level
• Manages the daily activities necessary for maintenance and promotion of the restaurant’s wine collection

• Develops, implements, and maintains processes, procedures, and programs to improve the safety, productivity, and profitability of the operation
• Participates in new product development initiatives
• Coordinates to ensure that the staff performs and records monthly inventory counts
• Keeps up to date on overall activities of the team, identifying problem areas and taking corrective actions.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities: Directly supervises the front of house staff and carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, training employees; planning, assigning and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding; discipline employees in conjunction with Human resources, addressing complaints and resolving problems.

Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education: Bachelor’s Degree

Required Experience:

• Minimum 5 years wine operations experience preferably in fine dining
• Minimum 2 years wine purchasing experience
• Ability to work in a high pressure, fast-paced environment
• Excellent wine and beverage knowledge and wine pairings
• Excellent knowledge of computer applications and POS system
• Open flexibility – requires weekend and evening work schedule

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:

• Excellent guest service and hospitality skills and professional presentation
• Strong people oriented leadership skills
• Strong analytical/decision making skills
• Excellent interpersonal communications and presentation skills
• Excellent ability to solve complex problems
• Demonstrated ability to effectively drive sales and profits
• Ability to drive initiatives to increase brand loyalty
• Proven success of building and cultivating strong positive working relationships
• Self-motivated with excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Time management and deadline oriented
• Must be effective at listening, understanding and clarifying concerns and issues raised by guests

Physical Requirements:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand for extended periods of time, twist at the neck and trunk, bend at the waist and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms, reach overhead, above shoulders and horizontally. Employees will use hands to handle objects and tools, and operate service equipment. The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 40-pound objects. Vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. Employees may use vision to monitor food quality and quantity and may also order supplies, etc.

Work Conditions: May require evening and weekend hours. While performing the duties of this job, the employee generally works in an indoor front of restaurant and kitchen environment with exposure to heat from ovens, hot foods and steamers and cleaning chemicals, fumes, equipment, and metal objects. You will usually be based indoors, splitting your time between the front of the restaurant and the kitchen. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate but may be loud dependent on specific work site and/or equipment operation. The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This job description should not be interpreted as all-inclusive; it is intended to identify major responsibilities and requirements of the job. The employee in this position may be requested to perform other job-related tasks and responsibilities than those stated above.

Wolfgang Puck Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants due to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status, or on the basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class. If you’d like more information about your equal employment opportunity rights as an applicant under the law, please click here: EEOC Poster.