Food service director vs food & beverage assistant manager

The differences between food service directors and food & beverage assistant 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 food & beverage assistant manager. Additionally, a food service director has an average salary of $53,939, which is higher than the $50,488 average annual salary of a food & beverage assistant manager.

The top three skills for a food service director include customer service, culinary and servsafe. The most important skills for a food & beverage assistant manager are wine, customer service, and guest service.

Food service director vs food & beverage assistant manager overview

	Food Service Director	Food & Beverage Assistant Manager
Yearly salary	$53,939	$50,488
Hourly rate	$25.93	$24.27
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	136,337	218,038
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
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 food & beverage assistant manager do?

A food and beverage assistant manager is responsible for the operations of a restaurant. They ensure that all the food and drinks in the restaurant are of the highest quality. As a food and beverage assistant manager, duties include designing unique menus, handling customer complaints, creating company policies, and complying with food and safety regulations. They also prepare reports on how the restaurant is doing. To succeed in this role, you will need skills such as good customer relations, communication, and interpersonal skills.

Food service director vs food & beverage assistant manager salary

Food service directors and food & beverage assistant managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Food Service Director	Food & Beverage Assistant Manager
Average salary	$53,939	$50,488
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $82,000	Between $37,000 And $68,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	California	New Jersey
Best paying company	Baptist Health Care	Loews
Best paying industry	Health Care	Hospitality

Differences between food service director and food & beverage assistant manager education

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

	Food Service Director	Food & Beverage Assistant Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Hospitality Management
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Food service director vs food & beverage assistant manager demographics

Here are the differences between food service directors' and food & beverage assistant managers' demographics:

	Food Service Director	Food & Beverage Assistant Manager
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%	Male, 58.6% Female, 41.4%
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, 10.3% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 9.5% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between food service director and food & beverage assistant 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.

Food & beverage assistant manager example responsibilities.

Manage financial transactions and POS systems for daily operations
Manage subordinate managers and supervisors, manage various personnel functions including payroll, hiring, disciplinary actions, grievances and promotions.
Maintain an open dialogue with the culinary team by collecting guest feedback and exchanging information.
Work with sales team and culinary team in order to build streamline optimum results for customer.
Ensure staff maintains proper cleanliness in all areas of the bar, front and back of house.
Store cleanliness management through scheduling and monitoring of routine and detail cleaning of all equipment within the facility.

Food service director vs food & beverage assistant manager skills

Common food service director skills

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

Common food & beverage assistant manager skills

Wine, 12%
Customer Service, 9%
Guest Service, 5%
Guest Satisfaction, 4%
POS, 4%
Room Service, 3%

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Food Service Director
Food Service Director vs Food & Beverage Assistant Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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