Head Of Retail Food & Beverage - Cardiff City

About the Role

Levy UK, the food and drink partner of Cardiff City Football Club, manages and operates all food and drink within the venue. This role provides strategic and operational leadership for both front-of-house retail and back-of-house logistics across the stadium, covering event and non-event days. The post-holder leads operational and logistics teams to deliver retail, hospitality and catering services that meet client expectations and commercial targets, working with clients, contractors, suppliers and internal stakeholders including culinary, marketing, finance and security.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for front-of-house retail and back-of-house logistics across the stadium.
• Lead and coach Operational Managers to deliver retail, bar and concession operations on event and non-event days, ensuring outlets are set up, stocked and staffed to standard.
• Conduct critical walks, line and spot checks across retail areas, monitor the customer journey, and capture, act on and report client and customer feedback.
• Ensure compliance with retail licensing requirements (such as Challenge 25 and RSA) and venue security and profit protection procedures, and maintain departmental maintenance logs with timely resolution of facilities and equipment issues.
• Oversee procurement, inventory management, stock rotation and storage, schedule and govern regular stock takes, investigate variances, and enforce food safety, temperature control and storage standards.
• Coordinate transportation and distribution of food, beverage and catering supplies across site, plan contingency logistics for peak periods and disruptions, manage the equipment lifecycle including maintenance, repair, replacement and asset tracking
• And plan logistics for event set-up and breakdown.
• Own P&L drivers for retail and logistics operations, prepare and manage budgets, deliver financial targets (GP%, COS, VPM, labour cost, waste) and drive top-line performance (SPH, spend per transaction).
• Build and sustain high-performing teams, overseeing recruitment, deployment and rostering of large volumes of casual and seasonal staff, performance reviews, talent development, succession planning and training.
• Establish and maintain relationships with clients, contractors, suppliers and internal stakeholders, present performance reporting and improvement plans, and support client initiatives including community engagement and sustainability.
• Champion Health, Safety and Environmental standards and food safety legislation, conduct compliance inspections and training, record, report and close out incidents and corrective actions, and maintain emergency and business continuity plans.
• Identify and implement process improvements and technology solutions, use data such as COS, VPM, yield, sales mix and stock variances to inform decisions and forecast demand, and lead post-event reviews with action plans.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Significant operational experience across retail, hospitality and logistics/supply chain, with a demonstrable track record in multisite, stadium or event catering environments.
• Minimum 3 years' experience in a retail and beverage environment, with proven experience managing logistics and procurement operations.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience managing budgets, P&L drivers and delivering financial targets.
• Proven leadership skills, with the ability to manage, motivate and develop shift-based teams including casual workforces.
• Excellent planning and organisational skills, with the capacity to manage competing priorities across site and events.
• Strong analytical skills, able to interpret COS, VPM, yield and POS data to inform decisions.
• Excellent stakeholder management and negotiation skills, with vendor management experience.
• Sound knowledge of HSE, food safety and licensing requirements, with a commitment to compliance.
• IT literate, comfortable with inventory and rostering systems and producing management reports.
• Flexible availability to work evenings, weekends and event days, and able to travel between venues as required.
• Strategic thinker with operational pragmatism, a results orientation and commercial focus.
• Calm and decisive under pressure with strong problem solving, and a collaborative, effective communicator across all stakeholder levels.
• High integrity and values-based leadership, with a commitment to people development and continuous improvement.

Preferred Skills

• Relevant food safety or logistics qualifications.
• Experience with major supplier negotiations and contract management.
• Experience implementing technology solutions for inventory or workforce management.
• Previous exposure to sustainability or waste reduction programmes.
• Excellent written and presentation skills with the ability to influence at senior levels.

Benefits & Perks

• Medicash healthcare benefits, including dental, optical and therapy treatments (includes up to 4 dependent children).
• Aviva Digicare free annual healthcare check.
• Exclusive benefits and wellbeing site (Perks at Work).
• Entertainment discounts, including up to 55% off cinema tickets.
• Health and wellbeing discounts, including 20% off Nuffield Health and 10% off Pure Gym.
• Travel discounts with holiday companies such as TUI and Expedia.
• Shopping discounts, saving up to 15% at high street and online stores by purchasing shopping cards.
• Meals on duty.
• Vodafone discounts.
• Pension scheme and life assurance.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• 23 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, plus an additional day off for your birthday.