HOMERTON COLLEGE JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title:
Conference and Catering Manager
Reports to:
The Bursar
Direct Reports:
Head Chef
Assistant Catering Managers
Conference Sales and Marketing Manager
Buttery Supervisor
Background
Homerton College was founded in the 18th Century, moved to its current location in 1894 and was granted a
Royal Charter as a self-governing College of the University of Cambridge in 2010. Located within easy reach
of the historic city centre and within 5 minutes of Cambridge mainline station, the College has over 1,000
students and a Fellowship of over 70. Nearly 700 students live on the site.
The College is set within 25 acres of landscaped gardens and parkland, and its conference and event facilities
comprise a dedicated modern Conference Centre. Ample free on-site parking is also an attraction for
conference organisers.
The Conference and Catering Department
Catering provides 12 servery meals per week: lunch and dinner, Monday to Friday, and lunch (or brunch) at
weekends, although the Conference and Catering Manager will keep under review the services and service
times for students. There is also a popular Buttery and a Bar which is manned by employed staff.
In addition Formal Hall is served every Tuesday in Full Term. The maximum capacity for Formal Hall is 250,
and many Formal Halls reach this capacity. There are many other formal College meals throughout the year
for which a high standard of catering and service is required, including: Graduate Formals Guest Nights,
Governing Body Dinners, Matriculation Dinners, Charter Dinner, Alumni Reunion Dinner and Congregation
and Graduation lunches.
The College has a thriving Conference business which represents an important source of income to the
College. As well as the dedicated conference centre with 5 meeting rooms there are a further 22 flexible
meeting rooms, 3 versatile dining rooms and over 500 en-suite bedrooms available for letting during the
vacations. Catering includes lunches and dinners for conference guests, BBQs, breakfast service during
vacations, Christmas parties and marquee events. The catering department also provides refreshments for a
wide variety of functions and meetings, both College events and private events.
The Conference and Catering Manager is charged with maximising the contribution to overheads from these
various strands of catering service by controlling costs firmly and setting prices appropriately. The Conference
and Catering manager is expected to analyse the business of the catering operation very closely and on a
regular basis, and to make any changes necessary to ensure the contribution to overheads is maximised.
At present the College Bar and Buttery is used as a social space by the students and is the JCR. Conference
and catering staff work with the students to support and maximise opportunities for academic and social
events.
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Key Responsibilities
 Work with the Bursar and Estates Manager to develop the catering facilities of the College
 Work with the senior management of the College as a team to meet the requirements of the Principal,
Fellows, students, conference delegates, alumni and other guests and visitors
 Manage the overheads and costs of the department to optimise contribution to the College’s Academic
purpose
Strategic and Financial
 Budget and establish financial targets and forecasts (in conjunction with College Accountant) for
Conference and Catering and monitor performance against them
 Advise on pricing and costings of menus and events (in conjunction with Conference Sales Manager and
Chef)
 Analyse trends and advise appropriately
 Engage with the Fellowship and representatives of the student body so as to be aware of emerging
concerns and expectations, and to be able to respond to these appropriately
Team leadership and management
 Organising, leading and motivating the conference and catering team
 Develop professional service standards, encouraging the application of best practice and ensuring that
staff are contributing to high quality service delivery
 Recruiting and training staff
 Undertake annual staff reviews of direct reports, and oversee the staff reviews of all staff under their
management, ensuring staff have measurable objectives and that schemes for personal development are
in place
 Planning staff shifts and rotas
 Measure and improve staff productivity including management of overtime and casual staff hours
Hospitality
 Planning and delivering internal meeting and hospitality events in conjunction with Major Events
committee
 Working with Conference Sales team to plan, cost and deliver a high level of service to conference and
event guests. This will entail meeting conference and event organisers
Health, safety and risk
 Undertake risk assessments
 Ensure health and safety regulations are strictly observed
 Ensuring compliance with all fire, licensing, and employment regulations
Other

Serve as Homerton’s Designated Premises Supervisor, ensuring the College complies with the terms of
its license

Support Homerton May Ball and other student led events;

Support and enable where possible improvement in environmental standards.
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Person Specification
Required Skills and Experience
We are looking for an experienced and energetic Conference and Catering manager, with a good grounding in
the hospitality sector. Strong team leadership and people management skills will be essential to the success
of the role, as will the ability to build strong relationships with the various College communities: undergraduate
and graduate students, fellows, heads of department and their staff, alumni, visitors and suppliers.
Essential
 Proven ability to operate effectively as the member of a senior executive team of a medium/large
sized organization in the catering and hospitality sector, taking responsibility for major areas of activity
 Experience of preparing, agreeing and managing budgets
 Experience of initiating and managing change
 Outstanding inter-personal skills and a strong record as a people manager, team builder and leader
 Excellent communication skills, both oral and written, and IT skills
 Empathy with the values, customs and aspirations of the College, and a ‘can-do’ attitude
 A flexible approach to work, in terms both of responding to changing or unforeseen circumstances
and being willing to work outside regular hours as the need arises
 A passion for food and exceptional customer service
 An excellent eye for detail
Desirable
 Direct experience of managing conference or similar enterprises
 Demonstrable financial skills including budgeting, financial control, procurement and contract
negotiation
 A hotel, catering or general management qualification would be helpful as evidence of the above skills
Salary:
Up to £50,000
Benefits:
Membership of the LGPS pension scheme
25 days’ holiday per year, plus public holidays
Free meals on duty when the College kitchens are open
Free parking
Use of the gym (£100 pa)
Use of the Library
Hours:
37 hours per week, or as required for this senior management role. There will be a need to
attend events in the evening and at weekends.
Probation:
The appointment will be subject to an initial probationary period of six months during which
the appointment may be terminated by one month’s notice on either side. Following the
successful completion of the probationary period, the period of notice would be three months
on either side.
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