Director of Restaurant Awards

Wine Enthusiast•Valhalla, NY

2d•$125,000 - $145,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Wine Enthusiast Media is seeking an entrepreneurial, highly organized Director of Restaurant Awards to lead the execution and growth of its new national restaurant recognition program. The program celebrates exceptional wine programs across the hospitality industry, recognizing restaurants for excellence in wine selection, accessibility, discovery, and guest experience. This hands-on role owns the Restaurant Awards business and oversees the program from restaurant recruitment and submissions through winner recognition. The Director works closely with internal marketing, editorial, product, sales, and events teams, as well as external partners, to build a successful, scalable annual program. The position offers a flexible hybrid schedule and requires onsite work at the Valhalla, NY headquarters at least twice per week, with Tuesday and Thursday designated as required in-office days.

Requirements

6–10+ years of experience in hospitality, restaurant industry relations, awards programs, client services, business development, or program management.
Strong knowledge of the restaurant and hospitality industry.
Proven ability to drive outreach, recruitment, participation, or customer acquisition.
Exceptional organizational skills and ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously.
Strong written and verbal communication skills and a service-oriented approach.
Experience managing customer databases, CRM systems, and digital application or registration platforms.
Commercially minded and detail-oriented, with the ability to own both strategy and execution.
Entrepreneurial, proactive, and willing to take a hands-on approach in a growing business.

Nice To Haves

Existing relationships in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Responsibilities

Own restaurant recruitment strategy and execution, driving nationwide participation and paid submissions.
Build and maintain relationships with restaurant groups, sommeliers, wine directors, hospitality organizations, and industry associations.
Develop prospect lists and conduct direct outreach to prospective applicants.
Manage recruitment pipelines, follow-ups, and conversion tracking.
Identify strategic partnerships and opportunities to expand restaurant participation.
Achieve annual submission volume and revenue targets.
Own the restaurant submission process from initial inquiry through completed application and payment.
Serve as the primary point of contact for participating restaurants and provide responsive, professional client services.
Manage the Restaurant Awards inbox and answer questions about eligibility, categories, deadlines, pricing, and submissions.
Track incoming applications, ensure they are complete, resolve submission issues, maintain accurate applicant records, and coordinate submissions for judging.
Develop and maintain FAQs, client communications, and operational workflows to support a seamless applicant experience.
Manage relationships with participating restaurants throughout the awards lifecycle.
Own the annual Restaurant Awards calendar, including milestones, deadlines, budgets, and deliverables.
Serve as the central point of accountability across internal departments and external partners.
Coordinate judging logistics, winner notifications, recognition materials, and program fulfillment.
Develop reporting dashboards to track participation, submissions, revenue, and overall performance.
Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, applicant experience, and program profitability.
Collaborate with internal marketing teams and external PR partners to develop and execute recruitment campaigns.
Coordinate paid media, email, social media, owned advertising, and earned media initiatives.
Use restaurant outreach and applicant feedback to improve marketing effectiveness; monitor campaign performance and identify ways to increase submissions.
Partner with the product team on the submission platform and restaurant directory, identify product enhancements, and support testing, troubleshooting, and ongoing optimization.
Coordinate with editorial leadership on awards content, newsletters, and winner coverage while preserving editorial and judging independence.
Collaborate with sales and external partners on recognition products, restaurant marketing opportunities, and related revenue initiatives.
Coordinate winner outreach, communications, and recognition fulfillment.
Partner with the events team on launch events, winner celebrations, and other program activations.