How To Become A Food Service Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a food service director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

A food service director manages the food service operations of a facility, such as a school, hospital, or restaurant. They oversee the preparation and distribution of meals, manage inventory and budgets, enforce health and safety regulations, hire staff, and develop menus. They also maintain relationships with clients, suppliers, and stakeholders. A food service director must have excellent organizational and leadership skills, as well as a strong understanding of nutrition and culinary arts.

ScoreFood Service DirectorUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,939

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.70%

Asian 7.34%

Black or African American 10.80%

Hispanic or Latino 15.42%

Unknown 5.45%

White 60.29%

Gender

female 41.91%

male 58.09%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a food service director?

Pros

Job security
Potential for advancement within the field
Opportunity to be creative and innovative
Hands-on experience in cooking and food preparation
Competitive salary and benefits package

Cons

Long hours, often including nights, weekends, and holidays
Potential for conflict resolution among staff or customers
Physical demands of standing for long periods of time and working in a fast-paced environment
Need to maintain cleanliness and safety standards in the kitchen
Risk of burnout due to demanding workload.

Key steps to become a food service director

Explore food service director education requirements

Most common food service director degrees

Bachelor's

47.6 %

Associate

33.7 %

High School Diploma

6.9 %

Start to develop specific food service director skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	12.61%
Culinary	8.69%
ServSafe	8.26%
Food Preparation	6.23%
Good Judgment	4.54%

Complete relevant food service director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New food service directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a food service director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real food service director resumes.

Gain additional food service director certifications

Food service director certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific food service director certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for food service directors include ServSafe Alcohol and Certified Dietary Manager (CDM).

More About Certifications

Research food service director duties and responsibilities

Train and manage countless dishwashers, cooks, servers, and other managers to achieve significant improvements in their productivity.
Manage both front of the house (FOH) and back of the house (BOH) operations.
Manage a team of 12 managers and 160 FTE.
Achieve highest level of compliance with CMS and Steritech audits.

Get food service director experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a food service director. The most common roles before becoming a food service director include executive chef, general manager team lead and chef.

Prepare your food service director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your food service director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a food service director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable food service director resume templates

Build a professional food service director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your food service director resume.