POSITION OVERVIEW
We are seeking a highly organized, professional, outgoing, and motivated Executive Assistant & Business Development Coordinator to support a growing hospitality group with two restaurants and a private chef, catering, and mobile bar business. This is not a traditional desk-only assistant role. The right person will help the owner stay organized, prepare daily business reports, manage follow-ups, build community relationships, and actively create new catering, wedding, private event, university, and restaurant opportunities.
EXECUTIVE & OWNER SUPPORT
- Prepare a clear Daily Owner Report covering key activity across both restaurants and the catering business.
- Organize priorities, meetings, deadlines, follow-ups, and action items.
- Review and organize business communications and flag urgent matters requiring the owner’s attention.
- Maintain calendars for catering events, meetings, venue tours, tastings, and partnership opportunities.
- Track pending quotes, contracts, deposits, invoices, and important deadlines.
- Maintain a running “Owner Decision Needed” list so urgent matters are easy to review.
DAILY BUSINESS REPORTING
- Summarize prior-day restaurant sales and business activity when data is available.
- Track labor information, staffing concerns, call-outs, late arrivals, and operational issues.
- Report maintenance concerns, customer issues, reservations, large parties, and VIP guests.
- Summarize new catering inquiries, proposals awaiting decisions, deposits due, and upcoming events.
- Report daily outreach activity, responses, meetings booked, tastings scheduled, and promising leads.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY OUTREACH
- Build relationships with businesses throughout Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, and surrounding Triangle communities.
- Contact hotels, apartment communities, gyms, medical offices, law firms, real estate companies, banks, dealerships, corporate offices, and other organizations.
- Introduce restaurant dining, catering, private chef, sushi experiences, mobile bar, and event services.
- Schedule meetings, tastings, partnership opportunities, and business introductions.
- Conduct professional follow-up by email, phone, and in person.
- Develop long-term referral relationships that create repeat business.
WEDDING & EVENT VENUE OUTREACH
- Research wedding venues, event spaces, hotels, country clubs, and private event locations.
- Contact venue managers, wedding coordinators, planners, and event directors.
- Introduce catering, sushi, private chef, and mobile bar services.
- Pursue preferred-vendor and recommended-vendor opportunities.
- Schedule venue tours and relationship-building meetings.
- Maintain an organized venue database with contact history and next follow-up dates.
UNIVERSITY & STUDENT ORGANIZATION OUTREACH
- Build relationships with UNC student clubs and organizations.
- Contact fraternities, sororities, graduate programs, cultural groups, international student groups, alumni groups, and campus organizations.
- Promote catering, group dining, private events, graduation celebrations, and restaurant partnerships.
- Identify sponsorship, fundraising, collaboration, and event opportunities.
- Maintain an organized contact list and consistent follow-up schedule.
CATERING & EVENT LEAD MANAGEMENT
- Organize new catering inquiries and track leads from first contact through booking.
- Follow up on proposals, pending decisions, contracts, deposits, guest counts, and event deadlines.
- Help maintain an accurate catering and private-event calendar.
- Identify opportunities for weddings, corporate lunches, graduations, birthdays, holiday parties, nonprofit events, university functions, and private dinners.
- Re-engage past clients and develop repeat-event opportunities.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
- Highly organized, dependable, proactive, and able to work independently.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with professional follow-through.
- Comfortable speaking with business owners, venue managers, planners, university organizations, and prospective clients.
- Confident using email, Google Docs, Google Sheets, calendars, spreadsheets, and basic CRM or business software.
- Sales, hospitality, catering, event, administrative, executive assistant, or business development experience is a plus.
- Local knowledge of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, and the Triangle is a plus.
- Must be comfortable with both office work and in-person relationship building.
PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
- Consistently create new local business relationships and maintain existing ones.
- Complete targeted outreach to wedding venues, event partners, and university organizations.
- Maintain accurate records of contacts, responses, next steps, and opportunities.
- Follow up consistently with catering and event leads.
- Help generate measurable catering, private-event, partnership, and restaurant opportunities.
- Deliver organized daily reports and clearly identify urgent owner decisions.
Pay: $16.00 - $25.00 per hour
Work Location: In person
