Steward Chief

About the Role

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts is seeking a Steward Chief to manage daily kitchen utility operations in Medina, Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia. This full-time role involves overseeing dish room operations, night cleaning, back dock maintenance, banquet plating, and food running. The Steward Chief will supervise kitchen employees not directly involved in cooking, focusing on improving guest and employee satisfaction while adhering to the operating budget.

Core Responsibilities

• Manage daily kitchen utility operations, including dish room, night cleaning, back dock cleaning, banquet plating, and food running.
• Order and manage necessary supplies, ensuring staff have required equipment, tools, and uniforms.
• Schedule events, programs, activities, and employee work shifts.
• Monitor the inflow and maintenance of ordered materials.
• Conduct inventories of china, glass, silver, food, equipment, smallware, and liquor, reporting shortages.
• Inspect supplies, equipment, and work areas to ensure efficient service and compliance with standards.
• Investigate and follow up on employee accidents.
• Manage all equipment, china, glass, and silver, ensuring adequate clean supplies.
• Supervise employees in following loss prevention policies to prevent accidents and control costs.
• Enforce proper cleaning routines for serviceware, equipment, and floors, and ensure correct use and cleaning of dish room machinery.
• Ensure all food holding and transport equipment is in working order.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, food handling, and sanitation standards.
• Inform and update executives, peers, and subordinates on relevant information in a timely manner.

Team Leadership and Management

• Lead, influence, and encourage team members using interpersonal and communication skills, advocating sound financial/business decision-making.
• Supervise and manage employees, understanding their roles to perform duties in their absence.
• Provide leadership, vision, and direction to prioritize departmental goals efficiently and effectively.
• Ensure and maintain employee productivity levels.
• Serve as a role model, demonstrating appropriate behaviors.
• Achieve and exceed performance, budget, and team goals.
• Recognize team members' contributions publicly.
• Encourage and build mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
• Communicate performance expectations in accordance with job descriptions.
• Establish and maintain open, collaborative relationships with employees.
• Participate in managing departmental controllable expenses to achieve or exceed budgeted goals.
• Strive to improve service performance and solicit employee feedback.
• Understand the impact of departmental operations on overall property financial goals and objectives.

Customer Service and Human Resources

• Attend meetings and communicate with executives, peers, and subordinates to improve service quality.
• Manage day-to-day operations, ensuring quality, standards, and customer expectations are met daily.
• Emphasize guest satisfaction during all departmental meetings and focus on continuous improvement.
• Provide guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
• Recruit, interview, select, hire, and promote employees.
• Train employees in safety procedures and provide feedback based on service behavior observations.
• Review employee satisfaction results to identify and address problems or concerns.
• Ensure disciplinary procedures and documentation comply with Standard and Local Operating Procedures (SOPs and LSOPs) and support the Peer Review Process.
• Ensure property policies are administered fairly and consistently.
• Ensure utility staff is properly trained regarding sanitation, equipment handling, and chemical usage.
• Participate in employee progressive discipline procedures.

Qualifications and Experience

Candidates for the Steward Chief position should possess 5-10 years of relevant experience in kitchen utility operations and staff management. The role requires strong leadership abilities and a comprehensive understanding of sanitation, inventory control, and operational efficiency within a hospitality environment.

Work Environment

This is a full-time position based in Medina, Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia, within the dynamic environment of Sheraton Hotels & Resorts. The role involves managing a team and ensuring high standards of kitchen utility operations to support overall guest satisfaction.