Catering Manager Job Description

Salary Range

$56,870 - $86,800

Experience

A few years in food service or events

Work Environment

Kitchens, banquet halls and event venues

What Does a Catering Manager Do?

When a client is planning a wedding, a gala or a campus conference, the catering can be the thing that decides whether guests talk about the long wait or whether they talk about the food. As a catering manager you'll book events, plan menus with clients and run busy service teams on the day. This might involve a hotel ballroom, a university dining service, a conference center or a tent at an outdoor wedding.

Other Job Titles for This Work

Workers in this occupation report titles such as Banquet Manager, CDM (Certified Dietary Manager), Dining Service Director, F and B Manager (Food and Beverage Manager), Food Service Director, Food Service Manager, Food Service Supervisor, Kitchen Manager.

Catering Manager Duties and Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of a catering manager include:

• Meet clients to plan menus, guest counts, room layouts and service style for each event.
• Write proposals and banquet event orders that spell out food, staffing and pricing.
• Price menus to meet food and labor cost targets as well as the client's budget.
• Schedule chefs, servers and bartenders and brief them before every event.
• Order food, rentals and linens and confirm delivery times with vendors.
• Supervise setup, service and breakdown on site and solve problems as they come up.
• Check that hot and cold food holds at safe temperatures during transport and service.
• Follow up with clients after events to collect feedback and final payments.
• Build repeat business with campus departments, wedding planners and corporate clients.
• Track event revenue and costs and report results to the director of food and beverage.

Required Skills and Qualifications

To succeed as a catering manager, you will need the following skills and qualifications:

• Event planning and banquet event orders
• Menu costing and proposal writing
• Catering and event software such as Caterease or Tripleseat
• ServSafe Food Protection Manager certification
• Sales and client relationship skills
• Staff scheduling for events large and small
• Grace under pressure when plans change on the day
• Close attention to allergies, dietary requests and timing

Education and Training

Work as a banquet captain is the usual springboard, since captains already run service at large events. Employers generally want at least a high school diploma, and coursework in hospitality counts in a candidate's favor. What gets people hired is hands-on event experience and a knack for selling a menu to a nervous client.

Salary and Job Outlook

Employment of food service managers, which covers catering managers, should grow about 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, according to BLS projections. That works out to roughly 38,800 openings a year across all kinds of food service management. Although event budgets rise and fall with the economy, people keep marrying, graduating and holding conferences, so experienced catering managers usually find work.

Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Food service managers.

Catering Manager Pay Range

Highest-Paying States for Catering Managers

The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are Washington ($95,190), Massachusetts ($92,240), Hawaii ($87,800), New York ($84,200), Rhode Island ($82,850). Pay is lowest in Mississippi ($59,540), Arkansas ($55,120), West Virginia ($54,800).

What the Work Is Like

O*NET surveys people who work as food service managers about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:

• 99% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
• 91% work indoors in a climate-controlled space every day
• 82% spend more than half the workday on their feet
• 80% are on the phone every day
• 78% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
• 75% spend more than half the day walking or moving around
• 66% deal with rude or angry people at least once a week

Education Workers Say the Job Needs

Tools and Software Catering Managers Use

Tools and equipment

• Computerized cash registers
• Laser printers
• Notebook computers
• Personal computers
• Personal digital assistants PDA

Software

• Microsoft Office software
• Facebook
• Google Docs
• Intuit QuickBooks
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Project
• Microsoft Word
• Aestiva Employee Time Clock
• Apache Groovy
• Army Food Management Information System

Is This Job a Good Fit for You?

People who do well in this job tend to enjoy leading, persuading and making business decisions as well as organized work with data, records and clear procedures.

Skills O*NET rates most important: Active Listening, Speaking, Monitoring, Coordination, Management of Personnel Resources, Reading Comprehension.

Knowledge areas used most: Customer and Personal Service, Administration and Management, Food Production, English Language, Personnel and Human Resources.

Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 2 of 5, which means some preparation.

Related Careers

These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:

• Assistant Catering Manager job description
• Food Operations Manager job description
• Restaurant Manager job description
• Assistant Restaurant Manager job description
• Beverage Manager job description
• Cafeteria Manager job description
• Chef job description
• Sous Chef job description

Applying for a Catering Manager Job

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