Hospitality Operations Manager
Reporting to: Head of Event Operations
Purpose

This role provides strategic and operational leadership for food and beverage delivery across the Melbourne Cup Carnival (MCC), VRC Race Days and VRC-owned events. It is accountable for the culinary direction, operational execution and service standards of all hospitality products, venues and service models.

The role holds overarching responsibility for menu integrity, service excellence, operational readiness and financial performance. It leads a team of Hospitality Leads across Member, Retail and General Admission, and MCC hospitality operations. Working in close partnership with catering partners, Product, Commercial and Operations teams, the role ensures MCC delivers a world-class, commercially sustainable and operationally disciplined food and beverage experience at scale.

Stakeholders

Internal: C-Suite, Executive General Managers, Department Heads & Managers and the wider VRC Team.

External: Suppliers, Vendors, Stakeholders, Partners, Sponsors, Members and Guests, and the wider industry networks and associations.

Focus

o Maintain overall accountability for food and beverage operations across all MCC hospitality products.

o Lead the Hospitality Leads team, ensuring alignment across Member, Retail and General Admission, and premium hospitality products.

o Act as the senior MCC food and beverage authority during planning, build, live delivery and close-out.

o Provide culinary leadership across MCC and year-round menus, ensuring consistency, quality and practical execution.

o Oversee menu development with catering partners and talent chefs, where engaged.

o Establish menu governance, approval processes and production standards across venues.

o Set service methodologies, staffing frameworks and operational standards across all hospitality environments to support year-round optimisation.

o Oversee floorplans, back-of-house flows, bar configurations and guest journeys.

o Ensure operational designs support speed, quality, safety and scale.





o Act as the senior operational relationship owner for catering partners and key suppliers.

o Collaborate with Product Owners and all VRC departments to align planning and delivery.

o Align hospitality execution with broader MCC and VRC strategic objectives.

o Provide end-to-end oversight of MCC and year-round food and beverage operational budgets and cost frameworks.

o Contribute strategic input into pricing, yield optimisation and commercial performance.

o Govern financial tracking, forecasting and post-event reporting.

o Hold overall responsibility for operational risk management across food and beverage delivery.

o Ensure compliance with WHS, RSA and food safety requirements.

o Oversee readiness planning and contingency response frameworks.

o Lead post-event reviews and performance analysis across all hospitality products.

o Capture insights, trends and innovations to inform future MCC and year-round delivery.

o Drive year-on-year uplift in capability, consistency and execution.

Success Measures (KPIs)

o Delivery on CX and Member KPI’s in collaboration with Catering Partners.

o Uplift in catering and hospitality experience across member spaces.

o Operational efficiency in process and delivery.

o Support our catering partner in the delivery of quarterly KPI achievement.

Core Capabilities

o Extensive experience leading large‑scale hospitality and food & beverage operations across major events and high‑volume venues.

o Proven ability to lead senior operational teams and oversee multiple, diverse hospitality portfolios.

o Strong culinary foundation with deep expertise in menu design, production flow, and large‑scale execution.





o Skilled at translating culinary vision into operationally feasible and commercially successful solutions.

o High level of financial literacy, with experience managing complex budgets and large contractor partnerships.

o Ability to balance brand integrity, guest experience, and commercial performance in high‑pressure environments.

o Demonstrated success delivering major, multi‑day, multi‑venue events with consistently high standards.

o Highly organised, calm, and decisive when operating in live event conditions.

o Strong influencing and negotiation capabilities with senior stakeholders, partners, and suppliers.

o Trusted advisor to executive leaders on hospitality strategy, operations, and delivery.

o Ability to design integrated operating models that align people, process, product, and technology.

o Disciplined planning capability across workback schedules, readiness frameworks, and risk mitigation.

o Deep understanding of WHS, RSA, food safety, and event compliance requirements.

o Commitment to safe, well‑governed, and resilient operational environments.

o Proficient in Monday.com and similar project management platforms.

o Contribute to a positive and respectful team setting that values open communication, creative collaboration, and mutual support.

o Manage workload effectively, with guidance from leaders, to maintain a healthy balance between high-quality creative output and personal wellbeing.

o Support an inclusive workplace where diverse perspectives are valued, and feedback is encouraged, constructive, and solution focused.

Values

Think VRC: We deliver with one purpose and plan. We’re one VRC team.

Create Joy: We design every experience, for our members, customers and each other, to create joy.

Be Gutsy: We are grounded in our heritage; we’re brave and curious in our pursuit of a bigger future.

F-Learn: We fail but learn, treating setbacks as opportunities for growth.

Care Deeply: We genuinely care about each other: our people, our members, are customers and our community.

#J-18808-Ljbffr

📌 Hospitality Operations Manager (Melbourne)
🏢 Victoria Racing Club
📍 Melbourne