WineTalent Classifieds: Hospitality Manager in St. Helena

WineTalent is working with our confidential client in St. Helena, CA, to find an experienced hospitality professional to lead the hospitality team at the winery.

Job Description:  Situated in the heart of the Napa Valley, WineTalent’s client is seeking a Hospitality Manager to oversee the staff and manage the guest experience at a busy tasting room on the Silverado Trail.   Working with colleagues from the wine club team, the Hospitality Manager will be directing the tasting room, facilitating wine club sign-ups, managing wine sales and overseeing hospitality events.  This position will be managing a team of 10 tasting room personnel as well as a few key hospitality support personnel.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee daily tasting room operations including staffing. 
• Handle outreach to business partners including destination management companies, tour providers and wineries. 
• Manage wine and non-wine sales including shipping, inventory management and providing top-line customer service when necessary.
• Ensure the tasting room is stocked with all necessary items including stemware, wine supplies, retail goods and related items.
• Market winery’s hospitality program within local community, to wine enthusiasts and to business partners. 
• Manage and build VIP and key customer relationships.
• Determine areas where improvement is needed and put systems in place to correct and improve. 
• Manage tasting room within annual company budget and periodically make adjustments to maximize profitability

Qualifications:

• 2 or more years in a hospitality management position within the wine industry. 
• Experience with AMS and Vin65 preferred
• Proven personnel management experience including recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training, scheduling, coaching and effectively reviewing performance. 
• Solid DTC sales management experience.
• Understanding of government regulations including compliance and consumer shipping regulations.

All applicants and inquiries will be treated with the utmost confidentiality.   

Winejobs Monthly Hiring Update: Postings up 1% from Last Year

Wineries keep increasing the job postings on winejobs.com, up 1% from the same time in 2016.  Hospitality was the greatest growth of postings from the same time last year, up 19%.  Winemaking postings broke even while sales and marketing job postings were down 27%.  Hmmm--maybe good wines are being made and salespeople are able to sell them, while the desire to push more sales through DTC continues.  For more information, please visit www.winejobs.com.

Book Review: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

I love a book that you don't want to put down and once you finish it you've learned about new things and have gained insight into other people's lives.  I would say I loved Lab Girl by Hope Jahren.  This book is written by Hope Jahren, recounting her experiences in the science laboratory, in academia and in life.  Hope is a geobiologist who talks about the life of plants--in a riveting way, and also talks about the life of a scientific researcher--in a very personal way.

Lab Girl chronicles Dr. Jahren's life from her childhood in Minnesota, through her undergraduate college days and into her professor and research roles.  Hope incorporates memories and thoughts from her past into tales about plant life and soil science.  This may sound unusual, but Hope does a facinating job of it.  She is unabashedly honest about the struggles she has faced in interpersonal relationships, in the academic setting, and with her own mental health.  

I read this book earlier this year and have had it sitting on my desk waiting for a chance to review it.  I got through this book very quickly, which is always a godsend for me.  But over the last few months I have not forgotten her stories.  These include her loyal lab mate's life living at or below the poverty line on a university's technician's pay.  Living in his beat up van, moving it from public land to abandoned parking lot, all while having a shoddy manual transmission.  

Hope also weaves information about the life cycle, hopes and dreams and the ultimate end of plants' lives.  Talking about paleobotany, academic struggles, successful scientific discoveries and unsuccessful lab disasters, Hope keeps you engaged and rooting for her success.

During the story, Hope also describes her personal struggle with mental health.  She is completely frank and honest about what she has dealt with, what it is like, and how she deals with it.  It can be surprising to hear her revelations, but it makes you so impressed with her commitment to scientific research, and to the people she values around her.  

Her book concludes with a science experiment wrapping up in her botany lab in Hawaii.  She is a full professor at the University of Hawaii.  She has secured a good position for her faithful companion, Bill, and they are finally able to live well.  Hope has married and has a young son.  Life seems to be shining on her.  And out of her contentment came this wonderful book about her life.  Go shine some light on this book, and your knowledge will grow--just like a young seedling!

WineTalent Classifieds: Winery Cost Accountant in Napa, CA

WineTalent is working with our client, Nakedwines.com, to find a Cost Accountant to join their team in Napa.

About Nakedwines.com:  Nakedwines.com is creating a community of wine drinkers and winemakers who are changing the wine world for the better.  Nakedwines.com customers support talented, independent winemakers across the USA and the world, in return for access to exclusive handcrafted wines at amazing prices. Because they fund winemakers upfront, Nakedwines.com can remove a huge chunk of the costs that would usually be passed back to the customer.

Nakedwines.com started in the UK in 2008 and by 2012 Naked Wines launched in the US and later in Australia.  The US business recently celebrated its 5^th anniversary and is delivering profits along with significant growth.  In Napa, Nakedwines.com has a marketing, operations, finance and customer service team approaching 100 people, and a production site in Kenwood.  WineTalent is searching for someone to improve the wine cost accounting processes to support the fast growth of sales.

Come be a part of a culture of fun, hard-working people in a laid-back environment where employees come to work in flip flops and jeans.  All of NakedWines.com’s staff members are very friendly and helpful, so before long you will be coming to work with your friends.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

We are looking for an experienced wine Cost Accountant for NakedWines.com US business to help the company reach its fullest potential.  This position will report to the Controller and support the following activities:

• Design and implement best-in-class controls to improve cost accounting methods and procedures.
• Reconcile monthly inventory of bulk wine, cased goods, and packaging materials to ensure that inventory value is accurately reflected on financial reports.
• Compile and produce summary reports related to winery spend and monthly costs.
• Drive business performance through insightful analysis of inventory and COGS.
•  Work closely with Controller on annual audit and lead inventory and cost accounting areas.
•  Work across various departments both locally and globally to implement group standard tools, systems and processes.
• Provide analysis support for various business driven projects as needs evolve.

Candidates who connect through positive and respectful interaction and create extraordinary experiences, solutions and ideas will be at the top of the list. 

QUALIFICATIONS

• Four-year degree in Accounting or Finance; CPA preferred.
• 3 – 5 years of cost accounting experience desired; previous wine industry experience preferred.
•  Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel.
• Highly organized with acute attention to detail and high level of integrity.
• Ability to take initiative and work collaboratively within company guidelines.
• Passion for continuous process improvement.

     COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

• Health and Dental Insurance
• Retirement Plan
• Paid Holidays, vacation, and sick time
• Monthly gym contribution
• Wine allowance
•  Compensation - Dependent on experience and qualifications

HOW TO APPLY

Email resumes to amy@winetalent.net. All inquiries will be kept strictly confidential.  Applicants will also be required to take an online assessment.