Food service director vs shift manager

The differences between food service directors and shift 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 manager. Additionally, a food service director has an average salary of $53,939, which is higher than the $32,110 average annual salary of a shift manager.

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

Food service director vs shift manager overview

	Food Service Director	Shift Manager
Yearly salary	$53,939	$32,110
Hourly rate	$25.93	$15.44
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	136,337	335,517
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	High School Diploma, 34%
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 manager do?

Shift managers are employees assigned to oversee the operations of the business during a specific time or work shift. They manage the employees assigned in a particular shift and ensure that the employees are working on their specific tasks. They also ensure that the needed manpower is met. Shift managers are also in charge of checking the sales, ensuring that the finances are properly balanced, and maintaining records during the work shift. They also respond to any challenges that may occur during the time period. Shift managers should have good organization skills, decision-making skills, and interpersonal skills.

Food service director vs shift manager salary

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

	Food Service Director	Shift Manager
Average salary	$53,939	$32,110
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $82,000	Between $23,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Los Angeles, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Baptist Health Care	ABB
Best paying industry	Health Care	Retail

Differences between food service director and shift manager education

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

	Food Service Director	Shift Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	High School Diploma, 34%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Business
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Food service director vs shift manager demographics

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

	Food Service Director	Shift Manager
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%	Male, 43.1% Female, 56.9%
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, 11.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 8.2% White, 58.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between food service director and shift 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.

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Shift manager example responsibilities.

Manage night shift ensuring closing procedures, customer service, and employee management are accomplished following company policies
Manage FOH to insure all guests are happy and well taken care of.
Provide excellent customer service, operate POS systems, maintain friendly but secure retail environment, track and manage inventory
Handle all customer relation issues in accordance with company policy and provide exceptional customer service to all CVS customers.
Receive SERVSAFE certification along with online management courses.
Execute store operations during schedule shifts, organize shift assignments and maintain consistent attendance and punctuality.

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Food service director vs shift 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 manager skills

Cleanliness, 35%
Inventory Management, 13%
Management, 10%
Leadership, 5%
Customer Service, 3%
Help Support, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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