Senior Hospitality Manager

Joseph Phelps Vineyards, an iconic luxury wine estate, is seeking a Senior Hospitality Manager to provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for our hospitality team. This role is responsible for ensuring every guest, member, and partner interaction reflects the excellence, warmth, and elevated service standards of Joseph Phelps Vineyards. Leads the team in delivering best-in-class hospitality, driving retail and experience revenue, and executing all aspects of a refined luxury guest experience. Directly manages the Estate Ambassador team, Hospitality Manager, and Supervisors, with full P&L responsibility for the Guest Center, including wine sales, non-wine sales, and experience bookings.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The following reflects management’s definition of essential functions for this job but does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned. Management may assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time due to reasonable accommodation or other reasons.

Under general direction, leads and directs the Hospitality Manager and Estate Ambassador team in support of daily guest experience, retail sales, and operational excellence. Oversees cash flow, expenditures, and revenues through thoughtful budget preparation, monitoring, and reporting. Develops effective staffing plans to maximize efficiency while maintaining best-in-class hospitality standards. Partners closely with the Senior Director of DTC and Marketing and the Marketing team to strengthen brand image, support business goals, and promote Joseph Phelps Vineyards’ wines and experiences. Serves as the primary Hospitality contact for facility-related maintenance and repair needs within the Guest Center. May represent the winery at external promotional functions and industry events. Remains current on wine industry trends, luxury hospitality best practices, and elevated guest experience standards.

Hiring:

• Leads the interviewing and hiring process for Estate Ambassadors, Hospitality Managers, and hospitality support staff in coordination with management and Human Resources.

Training and Personnel Development:

• Develops, maintains, and oversees hospitality training programs, materials, and 30-, 60-, and 90-day goals to support team development, consistency, brand alignment, and service excellence.

• Maintains up-to-date training certification information for all Hospitality staff in Responsible Beverage Service and ServeSafe Food Handling Training.

Cross Training:

• Oversees cross-training and collaboration with Customer Service, Events, and Reservations to strengthen continuity, staffing support, and service excellence across guest-facing teams.

Employee Supervision and Discipline:

• Schedules and conducts 30-, 60-, and 90-day reviews, annual performance reviews, and year-end bonus reviews for direct reports, including goal setting and timely follow-up in the RISE module.

• Makes thoughtful recommendations for salary increases and discretionary bonus awards, in alignment with performance and company guidelines.

• Addresses performance or disciplinary matters in coordination with Human Resources, ensuring clear communication, timely documentation, appropriate follow-up, and alignment with company guidelines.

Schedules:

• Coordinates schedules and staffing coverage to ensure seamless hospitality operations, appropriate backup support, and an elevated guest experience.

GENERAL:

• Assigns duties, monitors quality of work, and ensures the team operates in accordance with organizational policies, procedures, service standards, and applicable regulations.

• Provides day-to-day leadership, guidance, coaching, and recognition to direct reports while identifying opportunities for continued improvement and growth.

RETAIL SALES, GUEST TASTING EXPERIENCE AND OPERATIONS:

• Champions an exceptional, luxury-level guest experience and ensures each visitor interaction reflects the warmth, professionalism, and quality of Joseph Phelps Vineyards.

• Resolves guest concerns promptly and thoughtfully, ensuring timely follow-up, full resolution, and communication of significant issues to the Senior Director of DTC and Marketing.

• Ensures consistent adherence to Joseph Phelps Vineyards policies, including policies related to pets, guests under 21 years of age, smoking, and other guest safety and compliance standards.

• Oversees systems and tools that support guest visits, tastings, retail sales, reservations, point-of-sale activity, security, audio/visual needs, and daily hospitality operations.

• Oversees monthly wine and non-wine inventory, working closely with E-Commerce and Operations to manage inventory accuracy, vintage changes, and library and large-format wine allocations.

• Supports winery events in close collaboration with the Events Manager, ensuring seamless execution, appropriate hospitality support, and an elevated guest experience.

• Partners closely with the Club team to deliver a highly personalized experience for members, recognizing them as some of the winery’s most valued clients.

• Works closely with the Reservations team to support seamless scheduling, clear guest communication, and a polished pre-arrival through onsite experience.

• Acquires and maintains thorough knowledge of Joseph Phelps Vineyards, its wines, history, guest experiences, and brand standards.

• Communicates with Commerce7 and appropriate Joseph Phelps Vineyards personnel to resolve system issues and maintain smooth operational workflows.

• Monitors wine sales performance, pricing accuracy, and budget expectations, recommending thoughtful adjustments to tasting options and retail strategies to support sales goals and guest engagement.

• Manages budget GL 73, including retail sales and expenditures, while monitoring cash flow, revenue trends, and opportunities for improved financial performance.

• Contributes to retail sales budgeting, forecasting, and ongoing fiscal accountability.

• Ensures employees and guests are informed of applicable reciprocal state laws related to wine shipping.

• Coordinates sales materials, printed collateral, Insignia Futures materials, forms, edits, and restocking needs in partnership with Associate Hospitality Managers.

• Partners with the Marketing team to source and order merchandise that is brand-aligned, refined, and relevant to the guest experience.

• Implements new wine and non-wine items in Commerce7, communicates updates to the Hospitality team, and ensures system organization supports retail sales and guest service standards.

• Coordinates with Human Resources to ensure new hire onboarding materials are complete, accurate, and implemented effectively.

• Ensures tasting room and inventory areas remain clean, organized, well-stocked, and visually appealing; maintains wine and non-wine product displays to reflect luxury presentation standards.

• Able to perform wine educator functions as needed, including tastings, seated experiences, point-of-sale transactions, reservation support, daily sales reconciliation, and transaction posting.

• Performs other duties as assigned by manager.

FACILITIES:

• Coordinates facility repairs, maintenance requests, and work orders with the Facilities Manager, Maintenance department, and Associate Managers to support safe, refined, and guest-ready spaces.

• Performs designated mechanical checks on equipment, including refrigerators and freezers in the production kitchen, glasswashers in the North and South buildings, refrigerators in the South building, and small refrigerators used for service.

• Conducts daily facility inspections and communicates housekeeping needs to support cleanliness, presentation, and readiness for guests and team members.

• Works with outside contractors to maintain concrete floor surfaces, including dining room concrete tiles, ensuring facilities remain polished, welcoming, and well-maintained.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provides direct leadership, supervision, and performance feedback to Estate Ambassadors, Hospitality Managers, and Supervisors, while supporting hospitality-related housekeeping standards and facility presentation.

Requirements

• Regular schedule is Wednesday through Sunday. As an exempt leadership role, this position may require reasonable availability outside of the regular schedule to respond to urgent operational matters, guest-impacting issues, safety concerns, or time-sensitive business needs, in accordance with company policy and applicable wage and hour laws.

• 3-5 years of progressive leadership experience managing a team in a luxury hospitality, fine wine, premium retail, private membership, or high-touch client service environment.

• Proven track record of full P&L responsibility, including revenue management, expense control, budgeting, forecasting, and operational accountability.

• Strong knowledge of wines, wine production, and luxury wine country guest experiences.

• Demonstrated commitment to excellence, refined service execution, and maintaining high standards in a luxury hospitality environment.

• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to represent the brand with polish, confidence, and professionalism.

• Strong organizational, analytical, problem-solving, business planning, and financial acumen, including the ability to calculate discounts, margins, percentages, gross and net sales, and cost of goods.

• Polished, professional presence and demeanor aligned with a luxury hospitality environment.

• Versatile, flexible, and able to manage competing priorities while maintaining focus on service excellence, team performance, and evolving business needs.

• Exceptional customer service and relationship-building skills, with a high-touch approach to guests, members, vendors, partners, and individuals at all organizational levels.

• Sound judgment with the ability to make timely, thoughtful, and service-oriented decisions.

• Creative, collaborative, and positive leader with the ability to inspire engagement, continuous improvement, and a culture of excellence and warmth.

• Demonstrated ability to make successful presentations to individuals and groups, including guests, members, trade partners, and internal stakeholders.

• Demonstrated ability to lead, coach, motivate, and develop high-performing hospitality teams, with working knowledge of direct reports’ core duties and responsibilities.

• Proficient in Excel, Word, and Outlook.

PHYSICAL/MENTAL REQUIREMENTS:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to do the following:

• Stand and walk for long periods of time.

• Understand and respond to a diverse population.

• Coordinate multiple tasks simultaneously.

• Lift a case of wine that weighs approximately 25 pounds, repeatedly and safely.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• Work is primarily performed in an enclosed tasting room and hospitality environment, with occasional time spent outdoors. The individual is occasionally exposed to fumes or airborne particles related to normal cellar and vineyard operations.

• Noise levels are usually low to moderate.

Annual Salary Range: $115k - $125k, depending on experience, plus Discretionary Performance Bonus

Benefits

• 13 Paid Holidays
• Vacation & Sick time