Food service director vs shift lead manager

The differences between food service directors and shift lead 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 shift lead manager. Additionally, a food service director has an average salary of $53,939, which is higher than the $34,547 average annual salary of a shift lead manager.

The top three skills for a food service director include customer service, culinary and servsafe. The most important skills for a shift lead manager are math, management, and food safety.

Food service director vs shift lead manager overview

	Food Service Director	Shift Lead Manager
Yearly salary	$53,939	$34,547
Hourly rate	$25.93	$16.61
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	136,337	274,021
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	High School Diploma, 36%
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 shift lead manager do?

A shift lead manager is an employee who is responsible for supervising the daily activities of a store, particularly in creating schedules and assigning them to staff members. Shift lead managers are required to monitor the team's performance and manage the requests of employees. They must open registers and close them by the end of the day and prepare cash to be deposited. Shift lead managers are also required to handle customer issues and report them to the management during the shift.

Food service director vs shift lead manager salary

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

	Food Service Director	Shift Lead Manager
Average salary	$53,939	$34,547
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $82,000	Between $26,000 And $44,000
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 shift lead manager education

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

	Food Service Director	Shift Lead Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	High School Diploma, 36%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Business
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Food service director vs shift lead manager demographics

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

	Food Service Director	Shift Lead Manager
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%	Male, 44.3% Female, 55.7%
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, 11.1% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 8.1% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between food service director and shift lead 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.

Shift lead manager example responsibilities.

General lead server duties and some bartending and managing.
Manage FOH to insure all guests are happy and well taken care of.
Recognize for solid business acumen and performance excellence and promote to primary trainer for server and bartending staff.
Maintain proper staffing, excellent money management skills, ensure quality customer satisfaction, and uphold a positive work environment.
Recognize for solid business acumen and performance excellence and promote to primary trainer for server and bartending staff.

Food service director vs shift lead manager skills

Common food service director skills

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

Common shift lead manager skills

Math, 30%
Management, 29%
Food Safety, 10%
Cleanliness, 9%
Leadership, 4%
Inventory Management, 3%

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Food Service Director
Food Service Director vs Shift Lead Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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