Overview
Head of Lounges Jobs in Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR at Cathay Dining
Title: Head of Lounges
Company: Cathay Dining
Location: Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
As the principal airline caterer in Hong Kong International Airport, Cathay Dining operates one of the largest flight kitchens in the world.
Established in 1967, Cathay Dining builds on more than 50 years of experience to deliver unparalleled dining services to our customers. Committed to becoming the most valued inflight dining partner in the world, we strive for uncompromising quality, excellence and innovation to support our customers in elevating the consumer experience.
Responsibilities:
BOH Operations Management (Lounge & Street Café)
- Lead daily BOH operations across:
- 1. Airport lounges (buffet, kitchen, dishwashing, storage)
- 2. Street Café outlets (production, replenishment, service support)
- Ensure timely production, replenishment, and service readiness aligned with flight schedules (lounge) and retail peak periods (Street Café).
- Maintain optimal workflow and coordination between kitchen production, logistics & supply and Front-of-House service delivery.
- Manage peak demand and ensure operational continuity during high-volume periods.
Food Quality & Consistency Control
- Ensure all food products meet Cathay Dining quality, taste, and presentation standards across both formats.
- Implement daily quality control checkpoints prior to service.
- Drive consistency in lounge buffer offering and Street Café retail products.
- Lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions for customer feedback, product inconsistency and operational deviations.
Food Safety, Hygiene & Compliance
- Ensure full compliance with HACCP & food safety standards, airport & airline regulatory requirements and local licensing and hygiene regulations.
- Conduct regular audits across lounge and café facilities.
- Maintain strong documentation, traceability, and inspection readiness.
- Lead incident and escalation management with relevant authorities.
Supply Chain & Inventory Management
- Oversee end-to-end inventory planning and control across lounge operations and Street Café outlets.
- Ensure accurate ordering & stock availability.
- Ensure timely replenishment and logistics coordination.
- Drive waste reduction through demand forecasting, portion & batch control and waste tracking & reporting.
- Coordinate closely with CDI on menu cycles, product availability and procurement opportunities.
Street Café Operations Management
- Oversee daily operations of Cathay Dining Street Café outlets, ensuring product availability and freshness, service readiness & speed and consistent product execution.
- Optimise retail performance through sales mix management, production planning aligned to demand and waste & cost control.
- Support development and rollout of new café offerings, product innovations and seasonal menus.
Team Leadership & Workforce Management
- Lead, coach, and develop BOH teams across both lounge and café operations.
- Plan manpower and rostering aligned with flight schedules, passenger traffic and retail demand patterns.
- Drive productivity, accountability, and a strong performance culture.
- Promote high standards in safety, discipline and service mindset .
Cost Control & Performance Management
- Manage operational cost drivers, including food cost, labour efficiency and waste levels .
- Monitor and report key KPIs, including food cost %, waste ratio, production efficiency, sales & margin (Street Café).
- Identify and implement cost optimisation initiatives without compromising quality.
Cross-Functional Coordination
- Partner closely with Lounge Front-of-House Manager, Street Café operations teams and Cathay Dining (menu, procurement, quality).
- Ensure seamless end-to-end execution from production to customer delivery.
- Support broader initiatives such as menu upgrades, automation & process improvement and operational transformation programs.
Continuous Improvement & Innovation
- Drive operational improvements across efficiency & throughput, product consistency and waste reduction.
- Leverage data (consumption, sales, wastage, feedback) to improve decisions.
- Support innovation across both lounge and café formats.
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in hospitality, Culinary Arts, or related field
- Minimum 5–8 years’ experience in Airline catering/large-scale kitchen operations and Airport lounge or premium hospitality
- Experience gained from F&B retail F&B, e.g. café operations, preferred
- Strong operational leadership across multi-site/multi-format environments
- Deep understanding of high-volume food production, food safety & compliance and retail F&B operations would be an advantage
- Proven ability to manage cost control, other P&L elements and KPI-driven performance management
- Structured, disciplined, and execution-focused
- Ability to operate in a fast-paced, high-pressure airport environment
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making capability
- High attention to detail and quality
- Strong stakeholder and communication skills
Cathay Dining is an Equal Opportunities Employer. Personal data provided by job applicants will be used strictly in accordance with our personal data policy and for recruitment purposes only.
For more details regarding data privacy, you may refer to the Applicant Privacy Policy under our official web site. Candidates not notified within six weeks may consider their application unsuccessful. All related information will be kept in our file for up to 24 months.
