Hospitality Training Manager (Contract) - Jacksonville, FL

A note from the founder

Every venue operator in this market has been burned by the same thing.

You book staffing for a 600-person plated dinner. The agency sends 30 servers. Half do not know how to fire a course. A quarter cannot read the BEO. None of them have been on a property like yours before.

The night ends with the host humiliated and the operator quietly deciding to lower the bar next time.

The hospitality field has stopped expecting trained staff. Most operators have given up on the standard because they have stopped finding partners who can hold it.

We started The Wilkinson Firm Premium Hospitality + Event Staffing because the gap is not bodies. The gap is trained captains and trained crews.

This seat is for the hospitality training leaders who have spent their careers building service standards in the field and want to help us put those standards back into the workforce.

What we are building

A staffing model where every event has a TWF-trained captain on the floor leading the service.

• Servers who have been through our cohort cycle before they ever step on a property
• Captains promoted on demonstrated competence, not tenure
• BEO walk-throughs and venue-specific prep before staff arrive
• Service recovery, allergen protocol, and alcohol compliance baked into the cohort, not bolted on

We want to be the staffing partner that hotels, venues, caterers, and convention centers call when the event is too important to leave to luck.

The firm operators reach for when the service standard has to hold.

Where we are right now

We are 14 months in.

• PHES active in the field
• Captain-led model proven on early engagements
• Building the training infrastructure that scales it

You would be helping build that training engine from the ground.

The relationship we want with you

This is not a job. It is a working partnership.

You stay in your current role. Hotel F&B training, venue training, restaurant T&D, hospitality school faculty, or boutique training consultant.

You build the cohort curriculum. You train the captains. You become the named training voice of PHES. Your reputation in the field becomes part of what makes operators trust the model.

What you would actually do

• Build the cohort curriculum for bartenders, servers, banquet staff, line cooks, housekeeping, and captains
• Run cohort training cycles in our primary markets (Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, Nashville, Tampa, Orlando, Miami)
• Train and credential the captains who lead crews on event nights
• Pre-event readiness sessions: BEO walk-throughs, diagram reads, venue-specific prep for high-stakes events
• Service recovery and compliance: ServSafe, TIPS, allergen protocol, OSHA banquet basics, alcohol service liability
• Field QA: observe crews on event nights, write coaching notes, recalibrate the curriculum
• Co-author content under your name on hospitality training and service standards

Who we want

You have 10+ years in hospitality with deep training experience.

• Forbes 5-Star, AAA Five Diamond, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Marriott Luxury Collection, or cruise line luxury background welcome
• Multi-unit training director, hotel F&B training lead, convention center training director, or large-format banquet training experience
• Cornell School of Hotel Administration or equivalent field-built credential
• ServSafe Instructor and TIPS Trainer certifications strongly preferred
• Banquet captain experience required. You have led the floor on a 1,000-cover plated dinner.
• Bilingual English / Spanish a strong plus. We respect the labor force we recruit from.

You believe service standards are not nostalgia. They are protection for the host and dignity for the staff.

You know the difference between a server who can recite the sequence of service and a captain who can hold the floor when a kitchen goes down 45 minutes before salads fire. You have trained both.

Who we are not for

• Trainers whose only experience is classroom or LMS
• Someone who has never been a captain on the floor themselves
• Someone who thinks hospitality training is safety compliance and a check-the-box service script

Before our conversation — take a look at the firm

You might be the right person for this seat. You might know the right person. You might be a future client or a future referral. Either way, here is where we live.

• Premium Hospitality + Event Staffing: hospitality.thewilkinsonfirm.com
• Main firm: thewilkinsonfirm.com
• HR Advisory practice: hr.thewilkinsonfirm.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thewilkinsonfirm

If this seat is not the right fit for you, you may still know:

• A hotel, venue, catering operator, or convention center that has stopped expecting trained staff and needs a captain-led partner
• A wedding planner, DMC, or PCO whose staffing vendors keep embarrassing them at the high end
• A CMHC, FQHC, IDD agency, or behavioral health system that needs HR advisory built around clinical reality
• A federal contractor or agency that needs MBE-certified workforce delivery

We grow by referral. If anything here resonates, share it with someone who might need what we do.

How to start the conversation

Email: daryan@thewilkinsonfirm.com
Subject line: Hospitality Training Manager - [Your Market]

In your note, tell us:

1. Your primary market
2. The training certifications you currently hold (ServSafe Instructor, TIPS Trainer, AHLEI, etc.)
3. The largest plated or buffet event you have led or trained for, and the property
4. One sentence on the one service standard you think the industry has quietly given up on, and why we should stop accepting that

We respond within 48 hours. We do not ghost.