AVP, Food and Beverage

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd•Miami, FL

About The Position

The AVP, Food & Beverage Operations is a senior operating leader responsible for the total daily operation of Royal Caribbean International’s front-of-house food and beverage business, both shipboard and shoreside. The role owns fleetwide restaurant and beverage performance, including financial results, guest experience, employee experience, operational excellence, public health compliance, and continuous improvement. The AVP serves as a strategic partner to the SVP, Food & Beverage, translating brand and enterprise objectives into consistent operational delivery and maintaining an operational-level understanding of supporting functions such as Culinary, Supply Chain, Human Resources, Finance, Marketing, and Technology. The AVP leads and develops the Sr. Director, Restaurant Operations and Sr. Director, Beverage Operations, and through them the broader shipboard and shoreside teams. The position is a growth role intended to prepare the successful candidate to step into a brand Head of Food & Beverage role, requiring enterprise-level ownership, business acumen, leadership development, and strategic judgment. The role is based in Miami, Florida, and directly reports to the Senior Vice President, Food & Beverage for Royal Caribbean International.

Requirements

At least 10 years as a highly regarded senior food and beverage leader for established companies.
Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college; Hospitality Management or Business Administration is preferred.
Executive-level leadership and F&B management experience, including a record of building high-performance teams and attracting strong talent.
Strong business and financial acumen, P&L management expertise, and a demonstrated ability to drive return on investment.
Culinary, beverage, and restaurant operations experience, ideally in a high-volume, multi-unit environment.
Strategic business management knowledge and skills, including financial, product, quality assurance, human resources, and analytical skills.
Strong organizational, planning, communication, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate with all levels of employees.
Ability to establish credibility quickly with shoreside and shipboard teams as a go-to leader for F&B operations.
Ability to work across cultures and collaborate as a global, team-oriented leader.
Leadership style aligned with Royal Way values, high ethics and integrity, strong relationship-building skills, and executive presence.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a high-volume 4- or 5-star multi-resort, cruise line, hotel, multi-unit restaurant, or food service environment.
Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management or Business Administration.

Responsibilities

Hold end-to-end accountability for the daily fleetwide operation of front-of-house food and beverage, ensuring consistent, high-quality restaurant and beverage service across ships and shoreside support functions.
Lead and direct the Sr. Director, Restaurant Operations and Sr. Director, Beverage Operations, aligning their functions around shared standards, service delivery, and performance targets.
Establish, monitor, and improve operational standards, SOPs, and performance metrics, promoting operational excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Ensure compliance with company standards, USPH requirements, food safety requirements, and applicable regulatory and brand requirements.
Own daily financial performance, including revenue generation, cost control, labor efficiency, and margin management across restaurant and beverage operations.
Partner with the SVP on annual budgeting and forecasting; review reports, identify variances, and implement strategies to meet or exceed revenue and profitability targets.
Drive initiatives to increase onboard restaurant and beverage revenue while managing food, beverage, and labor costs.
Use guest insights, satisfaction metrics, and service feedback to identify opportunities, address service breakdowns, and improve the fleetwide guest experience and F&B ratings.
Strengthen the employee experience and foster an engaged, high-performing, results-oriented culture across shipboard and shoreside teams.
Coach and develop talent, mentor senior directors, and build the leadership pipeline and bench strength needed to support fleet growth.
Partner with Human Resources on talent attraction, selection, development, retention, assignments, succession planning, and organizational design.
Serve as a strategic partner to the SVP on strategy, planning, and execution, contributing an enterprise-level perspective and translating priorities into operational delivery.
Deputize for the SVP as needed and progressively assume broader scope and responsibility in preparation for advancement into the VP, Food & Beverage role.
Communicate and influence across functions and organizational levels to deliver results across the global organization.
Collaborate with Hotel Operations, Product Development, Supply Chain, Marketing, Guest Experience, and Technology on concepts, product launches, and operational initiatives.
Provide F&B operational leadership for new ship construction, modernizations, amplifications, business improvement efforts, and other front-of-house initiatives.
Build the annual financial plan with the SVP, manage forecasts, and evaluate performance against established budgets.
Manage food, beverage, and labor costs while protecting service standards and the guest experience.
Oversee personnel management, including hiring, training, and development of direct reports, and provide overall leadership for front-of-house shipboard and shoreside teams.