What does a food safety director do?
Food safety directors implement regulations and standards in various facilities. As a food safety director, you are responsible for training other inspectors who help inspect the facility and make detailed reports from which you determine how best to maintain safety standards. You will maintain documentation of day-to-day activities, making sure products meet the outlined criteria, educate suppliers, conduct regular safety audits, and promote smooth workflow.
Food safety director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real food safety director resumes:
- Manage operations and provide support to a team of 245 union employees at various elementary, middle and high school cafeterias.
- Prepare HACCP analysis report and provide reports for the areas not meeting the quality standards.
- Supervise culinary selection, catering, event planning, and baking/cooking functions and oversee menu development.
- Assist with the development and execution of HACCP plans specific to projects and special events.
- Ensure collaboration between interdisciplinary teams including the clinical, culinary, and patient food service management staff to improve department efficiency.
- Assist in directing total food service operation in accordance with USDA policies and procedures.
- Increase student participation by overseeing and implementing marketing brands in school cafeterias.
Food safety director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Food Safety Directors are proficient in Food Service, FDA, and HACCP. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Communication skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Food Safety Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Food Service, 10%
Plan, execute cycle menus, contract work with each Charter School member to create a more efficient food service program.
- FDA, 7%
Tailored program for the specific needs of the company within the guidelines of the USDA, FDA, US Agricultural Dept.
- HACCP, 7%
Researched, developed and wrote a comprehensive Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan to address food safety issues.
- Continuous Improvement, 6%
Managed all quality control functions, including customer service, directing all continuous improvement initiatives.
- Culinary, 6%
Supervised culinary selection, catering, event planning, and baking/cooking functions and oversaw menu development.
- Fsma, 5%
Worked as a team to create and update process flows, work procedures and records to meet SQF and FSMA standards.
Most food safety directors use their skills in "food service," "fda," and "haccp" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential food safety director responsibilities here:
Business skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a food safety director to have is business skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "food service managers must understand all aspects of the restaurant business, including how to budget for supplies, comply with regulations, and manage workers." Food safety directors often use business skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "supported four vp-led business teams for retail ketchup, food service ketchup, condiments and sauces, and winter brands. "
Communication skills. Many food safety director duties rely on communication skills. "food service managers must give clear orders to staff and be able to convey information effectively to employees and customers.," so a food safety director will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways food safety director responsibilities rely on communication skills: "established outstanding client relations rebuilding trust and communication. "
Customer-service skills. This is an important skill for food safety directors to perform their duties. For an example of how food safety director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "food service managers must be courteous and attentive when dealing with patrons." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a food safety director: "prepared dietetic meals for guests with food allergies and vegan and kosher meals for special religious restrictions. ".
Leadership skills. A commonly-found skill in food safety director job descriptions, "leadership skills" is essential to what food safety directors do. Food safety director responsibilities rely on this skill because "managers must establish good relationships with staff to maintain a productive work environment." You can also see how food safety director duties rely on leadership skills in this resume example: "applied dynamic leadership talents toward directing food service operations for a 100-bed skilled living center and rehab center. "
Organizational skills. Lastly, "organizational skills" is an important element of what a food safety director does. Food safety director responsibilities require this skill because "managers have many different responsibilities, including scheduling and overseeing staff, budgeting, and maintaining financial records." This resume example highlights how food safety director duties rely on this skill: "assisted in grant writing for additional senior programming as outlined in organizational strategic plan. "
The three companies that hire the most food safety directors are:
- Compass Group USA2 food safety directors jobs
- Ingredion1 food safety directors jobs
- PepsiCo1 food safety directors jobs
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Compare different food safety directors
Food safety director vs. Assistant restaurant manager
An assistant restaurant manager's role is to perform managerial support tasks and oversee restaurant operations, ensuring efficiency in workflow and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around maintaining records of all invoices and contracts, delegating tasks, monitoring the inventory of supplies, liaising with suppliers and vendors, and addressing issues and concerns. There are also instances when one must attend to customers' needs, prepare schedules, perform regular workforce inspection, and report to the manager. Furthermore, it is essential to implement all the company's health regulations and policies, all to maintain a safe and healthy environment for everyone.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, food safety director responsibilities require skills like "fda," "haccp," "continuous improvement," and "fsma." Meanwhile a typical assistant restaurant manager has skills in areas such as "customer service," "cleanliness," "restaurant operations," and "guest service." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Assistant restaurant managers tend to make the most money working in the hospitality industry, where they earn an average salary of $43,632. In contrast, food safety directors make the biggest average salary, $78,188, in the media industry.assistant restaurant managers tend to reach lower levels of education than food safety directors. In fact, assistant restaurant managers are 7.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.4% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Food safety director vs. Cashier/shift manager
A restaurant manager is responsible for handling the overall restaurant operations. These include monitoring revenues and daily restaurant sales, checking inventories and supplies, negotiating with third-party vendors, and managing customers' inquiries and complaints. Other duties include creating promotional offers, developing and improving sales strategies, organizing staff duties, maintaining the highest sanitary standards for everyone's strict compliance, and controlling operational expenses. A restaurant manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills and exceptional knowledge of food industry management.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that food safety director responsibilities requires skills like "fda," "haccp," "continuous improvement," and "culinary." But a cashier/shift manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "customer service," "basic math," "cleanliness," and "math."
On average, cashier/shift managers earn a lower salary than food safety directors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, cashier/shift managers earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $28,955. Whereas food safety directors have higher pay in the media industry, with an average salary of $78,188.cashier/shift managers earn lower levels of education than food safety directors in general. They're 10.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Food safety director vs. Restaurant manager
Catering managers are responsible for managing the daily catering operations and services in hotels, restaurants, and resorts. They monitor the quality of food and service provided by their outlets as well as make sure they are presented well. Their goals include achieving high customer satisfaction, producing excellent quality food, and maintaining that sanitary protocols are strictly followed. A degree is not a standard requirement for this job; however, employers do value those who have relevant qualifications with food, home, hotel, and hospitality management.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, food safety directors are more likely to have skills like "fda," "haccp," "continuous improvement," and "fsma." But a restaurant manager is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "guest satisfaction," "cleanliness," and "restaurant management."
Restaurant managers make a very good living in the hospitality industry with an average annual salary of $51,432. On the other hand, food safety directors are paid the highest salary in the media industry, with average annual pay of $78,188.Most restaurant managers achieve a lower degree level compared to food safety directors. For example, they're 7.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Food safety director vs. Catering manager
Types of food safety director
Updated January 8, 2025
