Banquet Operations Manager — Boutique Colonial & Hacienda

Responsibilities

• Lead banquet operations across SMA's boutique hotel and hacienda estate venues: manage a core service team of 8–16 professionals across an event portfolio that includes destination weddings, creative retreats, anniversary galas, and intimate private celebrations
• Develop equipment delivery and setup protocols for cobblestone access-constrained venues: many SMA Centro venues cannot be reached by catering or décor vehicles — the operations manager plans manual transport of furniture, equipment, and supplies via cart or hand-carry through cobblestone streets and narrow doorways
• Manage noise ordinance compliance during live events: SMA's Centro Histórico has entertainment sound cutoffs that vary by zone — the manager coordinates entertainment timing and sound system management to ensure compliance and avoid ordinance violations that could affect the property's event licensing
• Execute service at altitude: at 1,870m above sea level, food service timing is adjusted for altitude cooking effects; sparkling wine carbonation is managed carefully; outdoor evening events require team and guest warmth provisions as temperatures drop significantly after sunset in the Guanajuato highlands
• Develop wine country product integration in service programs: SMA events are increasingly incorporating Guanajuato regional wines and artisanal spirits — the banquet manager develops service knowledge of these products and trains the team accordingly
• Produce post-event operational debriefs with specific venue-constraint management notes for future events at the same locations

Requirements

• Banquet management with boutique and outdoor venue experience; historic building constraints experience preferred
• Altitude event operations knowledge (Guanajuato highland temperature and cooking effects)
• Noise ordinance compliance management
• Manual equipment logistics management for vehicle-access-constrained venues
• English fluency for the large proportion of international wedding clients in SMA

Benefits

• IMSS, aguinaldo, paid vacation + premium
• Fixed monthly + event performance bonus
• SMA boutique property dining and facilities access
• Career development in a unique and internationally recognized boutique events destination

Work environment

Boutique colonial and hacienda banquet operations in San Miguel de Allende. Constraint-intensive, high-standard event service management in Mexico's most architecturally distinctive destination wedding city.

About the role

The SMA banquet manager who arrived at a boutique hotel with a cart at 10am, hand-carried 20 folding tables through a 400-year-old doorway, assembled a dining room in a colonial courtyard with no vehicle access, served an 8-course dinner under hand-strung lights at 9pm, and broke everything down before the noise ordinance cutoff at 11pm — did it all while maintaining a service quality that 40 international guests described as the finest dinner they'd ever attended. That's what boutique banquet operations looks like at its best.