Senior Director of Catering and Sales

At NAYA, we’re on an exciting journey - growing fast, sharing authentic, fresh, and nutritious Middle Eastern flavors, and building a team that grows right along with us.

Our mission is to share the Middle Eastern flavors that nourish and inspire us.

We are looking for an experienced, passionate person to grow with us as we live our mission. If you’re ready to lead with heart, inspire others, and be part of something bigger, NAYA is the place to make it happen.

You will love working at NAYA

We believe great people deserve great rewards. NAYA offers a comprehensive and people-focused benefits package designed to support you at work and beyond, including:

• Competitive pay to recognize your impact
• Competitive bonus plan
• Paid Vacation time
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance to keep you healthy and thriving
• Flexible Spending Account
• Commuter benefits to make life easier
• Employee discounts and free NAYA meals — because we believe in enjoying what we serve
• Employee Assistance, Pay on Demand, Pet Insurance, Identity Theft Protection, and much more!

At NAYA, you’ll find more than a job — you’ll find a community that values you, supports your goals, and celebrates your success.

Position Summary

NAYA is seeking a strategic, growth-oriented Senior Director of Catering and Sales to lead and scale our catering business across all markets. This role will be responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive catering and sales strategy that drives revenue, increases brand awareness, strengthens local relationships, and supports NAYA’s expansion into suburban and new markets.

The Senior Director of Catering and Sales will own the full catering business — including sales strategy, local market growth, business development, partnerships, catering operations, and field execution. This leader will work cross-functionally with Operations, Marketing, Area Managers, General Managers, and Technology to ensure a seamless guest experience and consistent growth.

This role is ideal for someone who is entrepreneurial, highly organized, data-driven, hands-on, and excited to build scalable processes in a fast-growing Middle Eastern restaurant brand.

Key Responsibilities

Catering Strategy & Revenue Growth

• Develop and execute a company-wide catering and sales strategy to drive meaningful revenue growth across all NAYA locations
• Build annual, quarterly, and monthly catering sales plans with clear revenue targets, market goals, and growth strategies
• Identify opportunities to expand catering sales in suburban markets, new restaurant openings, office parks, schools, healthcare facilities, sports organizations, local businesses, and community groups
• Create local marketing sales playbooks that can be executed by General Managers, Area Managers, and field teams
• Analyze sales performance, market trends, guest behavior, and competitive opportunities to adjust strategy and maximize growth
• Partner with Finance and Operations to establish catering sales goals, forecasting, reporting, and profitability metrics

Business Development & Relationship Building

• Develop relationships with local businesses, offices, schools, hospitals, event planners, hotels, sports teams, community organizations, and corporate partners
• Identify and secure new catering accounts, repeat business opportunities, and strategic partnerships
• Build a pipeline of new business opportunities in suburban and emerging markets
• Partner with Marketing to create outreach campaigns, promotional strategies, sampling programs, and local store marketing efforts that support catering growth
• Represent NAYA in the community through networking events, chamber of commerce meetings, grand openings, and local partnerships

Sales Leadership & Execution

• Build and manage a proactive sales process, including lead generation, outreach, follow-up, pipeline management, and account retention
• Develop tools, resources, scripts, and training materials to help restaurants drive local catering sales
• Establish standards for how catering inquiries, orders, guest issues, and follow-up are managed across the business
• Monitor catering performance by market, restaurant, and account to identify wins, gaps, and opportunities
• Support new restaurant openings with pre-opening catering and sales plans that help build awareness and early demand
• Partner with restaurant leadership teams to ensure catering execution is operationally excellent and guest expectations are exceeded

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Work closely with Marketing on catering campaigns, digital ordering, loyalty, social media, photography, promotions, and local store marketing
• Partner with Operations to ensure restaurants are staffed, trained, and prepared to execute catering orders consistently
• Collaborate with Technology and Digital teams to improve catering ordering platforms, reporting, guest communication, and ease of use
• Partner with Training to develop catering standards, tools, and onboarding materials for restaurant teams
• Create regular reporting for senior leadership on catering revenue, trends, growth opportunities, and performance against goals

What you Bring

• 7 years of experience in catering sales, business development, local restaurant marketing, or sales leadership
• Experience leading catering or off-premise sales for a multi-unit restaurant, hospitality, foodservice, or retail business
• Proven track record of growing revenue, building partnerships, and creating scalable sales processes
• Strong understanding of suburban market dynamics, new market expansion, and local community-based sales strategies
• Experience working closely with restaurant operations teams in a fast-paced environment
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, identify trends, and make business decisions
• Excellent communication, relationship-building, and presentation skills
• Highly organized with strong project management and follow-through
• Comfortable working in a fast-growing company where priorities can evolve quickly
• Experience with CRM systems, catering platforms, Toast, Olo, Lunchbox, or similar restaurant technology is preferred
• Ability to travel regularly to restaurants and markets as needed

Success in This Role Looks Like:

• Significant year-over-year growth in catering revenue
• Increased brand awareness and catering presence in suburban and new markets
• Strong partnerships and repeat business across local communities
• Clear catering processes, playbooks, and expectations across the business
• Consistent catering execution and guest satisfaction across all restaurants
• A scalable strategy that supports NAYA’s long-term growth