Food service director vs general service manager

The differences between food service directors and general service managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a food service director, becoming a general service manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a general service manager has an average salary of $85,187, which is higher than the $53,939 average annual salary of a food service director.

The top three skills for a food service director include customer service, culinary and servsafe. The most important skills for a general service manager are customer service, customer satisfaction, and business plan.

Food service director vs general service manager overview

	Food Service Director	General Service Manager
Yearly salary	$53,939	$85,187
Hourly rate	$25.93	$40.96
Growth rate	10%	6%
Number of jobs	136,337	435,376
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	39	44
Years of experience	4	6

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 general service manager do?

General service managers are professionals who manage the administrative activities of a company to ensure that a proper environment for its operations is achieved. These managers are required to supervise the maintenance activities and upgrades of equipment and systems so that they can minimize disruptions of business activities. Under the direction of the finance manager, general service managers must coordinate with service providers on matters related to finance and tax. They must also manage teams to ensure that they comply with local and occupational health laws.

Food service director vs general service manager salary

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

	Food Service Director	General Service Manager
Average salary	$53,939	$85,187
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $82,000	Between $52,000 And $137,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Mountain View, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Baptist Health Care	Stanford University
Best paying industry	Health Care	Finance

Differences between food service director and general service manager education

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

	Food Service Director	General Service Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Business
Most common college	Cornell University	University of Pennsylvania

Food service director vs general service manager demographics

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

	Food Service Director	General Service Manager
Average age	39	44
Gender ratio	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%
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, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between food service director and general service 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.

General service manager example responsibilities.

Lead team through ISO certification which increase quality and processes.
Lead RFP process for CRM software to include extensive evaluation and contract negotiation.
Stabilize logistics organization, recruit and train 2 key positions, achieve zero staff turnover for two years.
Coordinate and participate with the installation teams to help troubleshoot problems and resolve customer concerns while managing service and commissioning engineers.
Maximize repair/assembly departments' workflow, parts inventory, and logistics.
Improve quality systems across all plants and obtain QS or ISO certification at all sites.

Food service director vs general service manager skills

Common food service director skills

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

Common general service manager skills

Customer Service, 20%
Customer Satisfaction, 7%
Business Plan, 6%
Employee Development, 5%
Oversight, 5%
Financial Statements, 5%

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Food Service Director
Food Service Director vs General Service Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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