The best food and beverage leaders don’t begin their careers in boardrooms—they begin where the work happens.
For Matthew Moss, that journey started in New Zealand, where he learned early that successful hospitality is built on preparation, teamwork, consistency, and service. Those values, reinforced through years of competitive rugby and hands-on operational experience, would become the foundation of a career that has taken him from frontline foodservice operations in Europe to executive leadership roles across the United States, including some of the world’s largest and most complex hospitality environments.
Today, Orlando Espinosa Associates is proud to welcome Matthew as Partner, MAS/Operations.
Over more than two decades, Matthew has built a reputation for leading organizations through periods of significant growth, change, and transformation. What makes his perspective especially valuable is that it has been earned at every level of the business. He understands the realities of food and beverage operations because he has experienced them firsthand—from day-to-day service execution to executive strategy, capital planning, labor negotiations, and organizational leadership.
That operational foundation has shaped a practical leadership philosophy: successful strategies only work when they can be implemented by the people responsible for delivering the guest experience every day.
Throughout his career, Matthew has led food and beverage operations in environments where there is little room for error. His experience includes convention centers, healthcare systems, higher education, and global mega events, including the Olympic Games. Whether serving on the Senior Leadership Team for the Beijing Olympic Games’ Athlete Village foodservice operation, supporting operational readiness for the London Olympics, or overseeing hospitality operations at major convention centers across the country, Matthew has consistently demonstrated the ability to lead large, complex organizations while maintaining a relentless focus on operational excellence.
His work in convention centers alone spans more than a decade, including leadership roles at the Las Vegas, Baltimore, Albuquerque, and Kentucky International Convention Centers. He has overseen everything from daily operations and client partnerships to major renovations, operational readiness planning, and the successful launch of new food and beverage programs following significant capital improvements.
Most recently, Matthew served as Assistant Vice Provost for Dining and Auxiliary Services at Johns Hopkins University, where he led one of the most ambitious dining transformations in higher education. In less than a year, he guided the university’s transition from a contract-managed dining program to a fully self-operated model—building a new leadership team, navigating a complex union workforce transition, establishing procurement and operating systems, creating the Hopkins Dining brand, and developing hundreds of recipes that reflected the university’s vision for its future dining program.
His leadership extended well beyond dining. Matthew also directed a $40 million auxiliary services portfolio, led the vision for a redesigned campus bookstore, oversaw multiple concurrent capital projects, and partnered with university leadership to develop a long-term housing and dining master plan designed to support future campus growth.
While these accomplishments are impressive, what truly distinguishes Matthew is his approach to solving problems. He understands that operational success isn’t created through theory alone. It requires aligning people, processes, facilities, and strategy into systems that work—not just on opening day, but every day thereafter.
That perspective makes him a natural fit for Orlando Espinosa Associates.
At OEA, Matthew will help clients navigate operational challenges, strengthen food and beverage programs, evaluate self-operated and contract-managed models, prepare new facilities for opening, improve organizational performance, and develop practical strategies that create lasting results. His experience spans every stage of the operational lifecycle, allowing him to help organizations make informed decisions that balance strategic vision with operational reality.
As colleges and universities, convention centers, healthcare organizations, and public venues continue to evolve to meet changing customer expectations and financial pressures, leaders with deep operational expertise have never been more valuable. Matthew brings exactly that combination of strategic thinking, hands-on experience, and collaborative leadership.
We’re excited to welcome Matthew to the OEA team and look forward to the knowledge, insight, and leadership he will bring to our clients as they build the next generation of exceptional hospitality operations.
Have a question or want to start a conversation?
Matthew enjoys connecting with colleagues and organizations facing complex operational challenges. You can reach him via email or connect with him on LinkedIn.
