Food service director vs kitchen manager

The differences between food service directors and kitchen 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 kitchen manager. Additionally, a food service director has an average salary of $53,939, which is higher than the $50,448 average annual salary of a kitchen manager.

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

Food service director vs kitchen manager overview

	Food Service Director	Kitchen Manager
Yearly salary	$53,939	$50,448
Hourly rate	$25.93	$24.25
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	136,337	151,781
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Associate Degree, 31%
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 kitchen manager do?

A kitchen manager is responsible for supervising overall kitchen operations duties, checking food storage, and distributing appropriate kitchen staff tasks. Kitchen managers' jobs also include monitoring food preparation, ensuring that all orders and serving portions are correct, organizing menu prices, researching current market trends of the food industry, and maintaining the highest sanitation procedures. Kitchen managers should also assist guests with their inquiries, manage concerns, and handle complaints. They should have excellent communication and leadership skills to lead the kitchen staff in providing the best customer experience.

Food service director vs kitchen manager salary

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

	Food Service Director	Kitchen Manager
Average salary	$53,939	$50,448
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $82,000	Between $37,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Baptist Health Care	Hillstone Restaurant Group
Best paying industry	Health Care	Hospitality

Differences between food service director and kitchen manager education

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

	Food Service Director	Kitchen Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Associate Degree, 31%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Food service director vs kitchen manager demographics

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

	Food Service Director	Kitchen Manager
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%	Male, 72.0% Female, 28.0%
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, 10.8% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 7.6% White, 59.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between food service director and kitchen 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.

Kitchen manager example responsibilities.

Manage the daily operations of the kitchen, providing professional leadership and direction to all personnel.
Supervise cooks and manage the preparation, portioning, garnishing, and storage of all food items.
Manage kitchen staff and cook, develop new recipes, inventory and ordering, and fill in for bartending.
Manage kitchen staff, delegates responsibilities, place groceries order, prepare menus and prepare food base on recipes.
Prepare bills for orders, manage cash register, help with accounting using adding machine, POS software and programs.
Manage the daily operation of food production for patients, guests and employees as well as all internal and external catering.

Food service director vs kitchen manager skills

Common food service director skills

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

Common kitchen manager skills

Customer Service, 15%
Kitchen Equipment, 13%
Cleanliness, 9%
Food Handling, 9%
Fifo, 8%
Food Waste, 6%

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Food Service Director
Food Service Director vs Kitchen Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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