Job Title: Food & Beverage Manager UKI (Aspire Pre-Flight Hospitality)

Location: Remote: Travel required across UK and Ireland

Reporting to: UKI Head of Hospitality (Direct Operational Line), Global Food & Beverage Director 

Role Type: Regional / UK & Ireland

Contract:Permanent, Full-Time; Travel required across UKI Locations

Do you want to be at the forefront of one of the fastest-growing sectors in global travel and hospitality? Aspire Pre-Flight Hospitality—the airport hospitality division of Swissport—is the global leader by market share. Operating over 112 lounges across 40+ airports in 22+ countries, we serve more than 18,000 guests daily, tracking towards 200 lounges by 2030. We bring sophistication to everyday travel through our brand promise to make our guests 'Wait Wonderful'.

In the UK and Ireland in 2025 we hosted over 1.2m guests and have lounge presence at Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Belfast City, Birmingham, Inverness, Humberside and launching early 2027 at London City Airport. The portfolio is varied across our classic, luxe and suite offerings as well as a bespoke premium product at London City.

The Food & Beverage Manager UKI is the pivotal strategic, operational, and commercial leader responsible for end-to-end culinary and beverage execution across the UKI estate. Acting as the vital link between central culinary strategy and on-the-ground operational execution, this role steers commercial margin engineering, cost of sale management, luxury/premium guest experiences, robust supplier management, CapEx openings, and airline partner tenders, with an uncompromising focus on commerciality, guest satisfaction and CSAT targets.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership, CSAT Objectives & Tiering Architecture

• Tiered Lounge Deployment: Lead the F&B operational deployment of the tiered lounge portfolio, adapting service styles, presentation, and menus to specific brand tiers, guest profiles, and passenger flow dynamics.
• CSAT & NPS Accountability: Maintain end-to-end accountability for regional F&B Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Scores (NPS), defining and monitoring clear guest experience benchmarks across every lounge.
• Service Audits & Corrective Action: Conduct structured lounge audits and service assessments to identify friction points affecting CSAT, deploying targeted culinary service improvements and menu refinements.
• Global Strategic Alignment: Maintain a strategic dotted line to the Global Food & Beverage Director, aligning regional execution with global menu architecture, sustainability mandates, and brand standards.
• Tender & Commercial Representation: Act as an operational and subject-matter expert during airline partner contract tenders, commercial renewals, and joint airline stakeholder presentations.

Commercial Optimisation, Budgeting & Procurement

• P&L Governance & Cost Controls: Maintain end-to-end accountability for regional F&B profit and loss (P&L), gross profit (GP) margins, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), and labour optimisation.
• Supplier & Contract Management: Lead supplier relationship management, working alongside central procurement to negotiate terms, run RFPs, capture commercial rebates, monitor SLAs, and ensure supply continuity.
• Commercial Yield Generation: Drive commercial yield by developing upselling pathways, premium dining upgrades, and brand sponsorship opportunities.
• Inventory & Shrinkage Controls: Establish tight inventory controls across all locations, including min/max par levels, automated stock takes, shrinkage minimisation, and zero-waste initiatives.

Culinary Standards, New Openings & CapEx Projects

• Technical & Recipe Compliance: Act as the regional technical expert on culinary standard operating procedures (SOPs), recipe compliance, and presentation standards.
• CapEx & Kitchen Design Integration: Collaborate on new lounge developments, concept design briefs, kitchen fit-outs, and refurbishment CapEx projects in tandem with central infrastructure teams.
• Launch Mobilisation & Readiness: Mobilise critical-path readiness for new lounge openings, brand conversions, and kitchen handovers, ensuring operational compliance and CSAT readiness from Day One.

Stakeholder Engagement, Compliance & People Leadership

• Network Stakeholder Alignment: Work collaboratively with Lounge Managers, culinary team colleagues, and lounge F&B leads across the country airport network to instil pride, product knowledge, and service excellence.
• CSAT Remediation & Customer Relations: Partner closely with the Customer Relations team to review guest sentiment and resolve escalated feedback, converting guest critique into CSAT action plans.
• HACCP & QHSE Compliance: Ensure strict adherence to regional food safety standards, HACCP regulations, airside security guidelines, and QHSE auditing frameworks.
• Culinary Coaching & Development: Deliver structured training matrices, coaching, and culinary upskilling programmes to maintain uniform food quality and guest satisfaction across all shifts.

• 5 GCSEs (Grade 4/C+), including English & Maths
• Level 3 Food Safety/HACCP certification
• Clean UK driving licence and eligibility for Airside Pass (5-year checkable background)

Ideal Candidate:

• Degree/HND in Hospitality Management or Culinary Arts
• Level 3 Managing Food Safety & HACCP
• 7–10+ years multi-site F&B management (premium venues, hotels, airline lounges, or high-end hospitality)
• Proven success boosting CSAT/NPS and delivering CapEx lounge launches

Swissport values: Show You Care | Do the Right Things | Win as a Team