Director Food & Beverage, Development & Openings Europe
Hilton · Watford
Shape the Future of Food & Beverage Across Europe
Hilton is seeking an experienced and commercially minded F&B Director to drive the development and opening of world-class Food & Beverage concepts across Europe, including the UK & Ireland.
This is a unique opportunity to influence how Hilton's newest hotels come to life, leading the end-to-end F&B development journey from concept creation and design through to opening, operational handover and post-opening review. Working with hotel owners, developers, architects, operators and brand teams, you will ensure every F&B venue delivers exceptional guest experiences, strong commercial performance and operational excellence.
What You'll Do
Lead F&B Concept Development
You will build and develop innovative F&B concepts that deliver:
- Operational excellence
- Commercial success
- Outstanding guest experiences
You'll partner with owners, development teams and brand stakeholders to create concepts that are achievable, commercially viable and aligned with Hilton's standards and long-term vision.
Drive Design Excellence
You'll own the design sign-off process across both Front and Back of House environments, ensuring:
- Efficient operational workflows
- Compliance with Hilton Development Design Standards
- Effective kitchen, bar and buffet installations
- Appropriate equipment specifications
- Space-efficient planning solutions
You will also lead owner and project meetings while managing external consultants throughout the development cycle.
Deliver Commercially Successful Openings
Working closely with Operations & Technology, Regional F&B Directors and General Managers, you will:
- Lead F&B pre-opening planning
- Drive value engineering decisions
- Manage snagging and operational handover processes
- Ensure asset quality and operational readiness
- Conduct post-opening reviews and continuous improvement initiatives
Your focus will be on ensuring every new venue opens successfully and performs from day one.
Act as a Trusted F&B Expert
As a recognised subject matter expert, you will:
- Support masterplan, conversion and third-party projects
- Drive CAPEX review processes for F&D initiatives
- Develop tools, resources and best practices for hotel teams
- Champion sustainability throughout the project lifecycle
- Introduce innovative operational solutions and emerging industry trends
- Deliver presentations to senior leadership and regional stakeholders
- Coach, mentor and develop wider team members, including interns
You will play a key role in elevating Hilton's F&B capabilities across Europe while helping shape the future of the function.
Key Partnerships
Success in this role requires collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders, including:
- VP Architecture & Construction and European team
- Operations Leadership (CE & UK)
- Development teams across EMEA
- F&B Development & Operations Directors
- AD&C teams
- Pre-opening teams
- F&B Brand Services
- General Managers
- Owners, Asset Managers and Consultants
- Finance and HR teams