Food service director vs dietary manager

The differences between food service directors and dietary managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a food service director and a dietary manager. Additionally, a food service director has an average salary of $53,939, which is higher than the $42,856 average annual salary of a dietary manager.

The top three skills for a food service director include customer service, culinary and servsafe. The most important skills for a dietary manager are kitchen equipment, patients, and dietary services.

Food service director vs dietary manager overview

	Food Service Director	Dietary Manager
Yearly salary	$53,939	$42,856
Hourly rate	$25.93	$20.60
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	136,337	95,306
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 30%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	4	4

What does a food service director do?

A food service director is responsible for managing the foodservice operations, achieving the customers' highest satisfaction by supervising the kitchen personnel, monitoring the food distribution, and responding to the guests' inquiries and concerns. Foodservice directors manage the food inventories, ensuring the adequacy of all the ingredients and materials, and keeping the storage safe and clean all the time by enforcing strict sanitary and hygienic procedures. A food service director must be updated with the current food industry trends to update the menu regularly and meet the guests' demands.

What does a dietary manager do?

A dietary manager oversees the food service operations of a company or institution's kitchen facilities, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. They are primarily in charge of developing dietary programs and meal plans, coordinating with nutritionists, setting daily objectives, establishing food preparation standards and protocols, managing budgets and employee schedules, and monitoring overall operations, solving issues and concerns if any arise. They also supervise the recruitment and training of staff, monitor inventories, purchase supplies, and interact with customers. Moreover, a dietary manager leads employees to reach goals and implements industry standards and company policies.

Food service director vs dietary manager salary

Food service directors and dietary managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Food Service Director	Dietary Manager
Average salary	$53,939	$42,856
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $82,000	Between $30,000 And $60,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	Baptist Health Care	-
Best paying industry	Health Care	-

Differences between food service director and dietary manager education

There are a few differences between a food service director and a dietary manager in terms of educational background:

	Food Service Director	Dietary Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 30%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Food service director vs dietary manager demographics

Here are the differences between food service directors' and dietary managers' demographics:

	Food Service Director	Dietary Manager
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%	Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 7.3% White, 60.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 7.7% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between food service director and dietary manager duties and responsibilities

Food service director example 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.
Manage departmental budget and payroll for 111 FTE's, service and production of ~ 1200 meals/day.
Manage food services at 142 bed sub-acute rehabilitation and skil nursing facility with a staff of 43 FTE's.

Dietary manager example responsibilities.

Manage operations and provide support to a team of 245 union employees at various elementary, middle and high school cafeterias.
Review records and assess the nutritional condition of at risk residents, including unplan weight changes, charting and MDS reporting.
Analyze diet requirement of patients and prepare nutritional balance menus accordingly.
Refer patients to appropriate outpatient settings for additional diet education and support.
Communicate effectively in medical charts, and complete MDS assessments for Medicare reimbursement with proficiency.
Increase student participation by overseeing and implementing marketing brands in school cafeterias.

Food service director vs dietary manager skills

Common food service director skills

Customer Service, 13%
Culinary, 9%
ServSafe, 8%
Food Preparation, 6%
Good Judgment, 5%
Cost Control, 4%

Common dietary manager skills

Kitchen Equipment, 11%
Patients, 9%
Dietary Services, 6%
Infection Control, 5%
Food Preparation, 5%
Federal Regulations, 5%

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Food Service Director
Food Service Director vs Dietary Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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