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.
Food service director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real food service director resumes:
- 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.
- Include : 5 full-service restaurants , 9 full-service bars, concert venue, room service and 7 quick-serve food outlets.
- Work as a team to create and update process flows, work procedures and records to meet SQF and FSMA standards.
- Open a new LTC facility.
- Teach basic reading, writing and math skills.
- Experience with healthcare therapeutic and modify texture diets.
- Ensure compliance with regulatory organizations- DHEC, JCAHO, OSHA, and nursing home policies.
- Create food safety program to meet food safety control for human food per FSMA requirements.
- Develop new policy & procedures per guidelines of CMS, TJC, and IDPH regulations.
- Make sure the hot food is delivery correctly, verification of the diet changes and allergies.
Food service director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Food Service Directors are proficient in Customer Service, Culinary, and ServSafe. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Communication skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Food Service Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 13%
Developed customer service and training guidelines that enhanced the guest experience and increased sales and profitability while maintaining cost controls.
- Culinary, 9%
Ensured collaboration between interdisciplinary teams including the clinical, culinary, and patient food service management staff to improve department efficiency.
- ServSafe, 8%
Conducted classes for ServSafe certifications.
- Food Preparation, 6%
Job SummaryDirects food service operations within the community including all food preparation, dining room operations and dining delivery services.
- Good Judgment, 5%
Demonstrate initiative and good judgment in assisting customers, clients, peers and subordinates.
- Cost Control, 4%
Coordinated and supervised production, merchandising, quality and cost control utilizing systems and procedures in menu planning and development.
Most food service directors use their skills in "customer service," "culinary," and "servsafe" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential food service director responsibilities here:
Business skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a food service director to have is business skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "food service managers must understand all aspects of the restaurant business, including how to budget for supplies, comply with regulations, and manage workers." Food service directors often use business skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "prepare monthly financial reports for clients and attend weekly meeting to discuss business activities, goals and achievements. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform food service director duties is communication skills. Food service directors responsibilities require that "food service managers must give clear orders to staff and be able to convey information effectively to employees and customers." Food service directors also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "assisted in developing company customer service and diversity classes, created corporate monthly 'communication help and training' session. "
Customer-service skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of food service directors is customer-service skills. This skill is critical to many everyday food service director duties, as "food service managers must be courteous and attentive when dealing with patrons." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "monitored the performance of the unit through verification and analysis of customer satisfaction systems and financial reports. "
Leadership skills. Another common skill required for food service director responsibilities is "leadership skills." This skill comes up in the duties of food service directors all the time, as "managers must establish good relationships with staff to maintain a productive work environment." An excerpt from a real food service director resume shows how this skill is central to what a food service director does: "manage full service kitchen staff providing culinary direction and leadership through example. "
Organizational skills. While "organizational skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to food service director responsibilities. Much of what a food service director does relies on this skill, seeing as "managers have many different responsibilities, including scheduling and overseeing staff, budgeting, and maintaining financial records." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of food service directors: "developed and implemented organizational changes to improve p&l; and minimize food cost loss. "
The three companies that hire the most food service directors are:
- Compass Group USA425 food service directors jobs
- Aramark250 food service directors jobs
- Healthcare Services Group196 food service directors jobs
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Compare different food service directors
Food service director vs. Assistant restaurant manager
An assistant restaurant manager's role is to perform managerial support tasks and oversee restaurant operations, ensuring efficiency in workflow and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around maintaining records of all invoices and contracts, delegating tasks, monitoring the inventory of supplies, liaising with suppliers and vendors, and addressing issues and concerns. There are also instances when one must attend to customers' needs, prepare schedules, perform regular workforce inspection, and report to the manager. Furthermore, it is essential to implement all the company's health regulations and policies, all to maintain a safe and healthy environment for everyone.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a food service director are more likely to require skills like "servsafe," "good judgment," "patients," and "menu planning." On the other hand, a job as an assistant restaurant manager requires skills like "restaurant operations," "guest service," "work ethic," and "quality guest." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Assistant restaurant managers really shine in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $43,632. Comparatively, food service directors tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $59,629.On average, assistant restaurant managers reach similar levels of education than food service directors. Assistant restaurant managers are 1.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Food service director vs. Restaurant manager
A restaurant manager is responsible for handling the overall restaurant operations. These include monitoring revenues and daily restaurant sales, checking inventories and supplies, negotiating with third-party vendors, and managing customers' inquiries and complaints. Other duties include creating promotional offers, developing and improving sales strategies, organizing staff duties, maintaining the highest sanitary standards for everyone's strict compliance, and controlling operational expenses. A restaurant manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills and exceptional knowledge of food industry management.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that food service director responsibilities requires skills like "servsafe," "patients," "menu planning," and "financial reports." But a restaurant manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "guest satisfaction," "restaurant management," "guest service," and "restaurant operations."
Restaurant managers may earn a lower salary than food service directors, but restaurant managers earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $51,432. On the other hand, food service directors receive higher pay in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $59,629.In general, restaurant managers achieve similar levels of education than food service directors. They're 1.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Food service director vs. Banquet manager
A banquet manager oversees the daily operations of banquet-hosting establishments, from planning to execution, ensuring events run smoothly and efficiently according to client requirements and preferences. They coordinate with the banquet director and head chef, working together to establish goals, guidelines, budgets, schedules, and strategies to meet the events' needs. They have the authority to delegate responsibilities among staff, communicate with clients, and liaise with external parties to secure supplies. It is also their responsibility to manage the venue, decorations, seat plans, and other services, resolving issues promptly and professionally to ensure client and guest satisfaction.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a food service director is likely to be skilled in "servsafe," "good judgment," "sanitation standards," and "food handling," while a typical banquet manager is skilled in "wine," "guest satisfaction," "guest service," and "quality service."
Banquet managers make a very good living in the hospitality industry with an average annual salary of $55,820. On the other hand, food service directors are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $59,629.When it comes to education, banquet managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to food service directors. In fact, they're 2.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Food service director vs. Dietary manager
A dietary manager oversees the food service operations of a company or institution's kitchen facilities, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. They are primarily in charge of developing dietary programs and meal plans, coordinating with nutritionists, setting daily objectives, establishing food preparation standards and protocols, managing budgets and employee schedules, and monitoring overall operations, solving issues and concerns if any arise. They also supervise the recruitment and training of staff, monitor inventories, purchase supplies, and interact with customers. Moreover, a dietary manager leads employees to reach goals and implements industry standards and company policies.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between food service directors and dietary managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a food service director might have more use for skills like "customer service," "culinary," "good judgment," and "cost control." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of dietary managers require skills like "dietary services," "infection control," "good communication," and "meal planning. "
In general, dietary managers hold similar degree levels compared to food service directors. Dietary managers are 1.6% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of food service director
Updated January 8, 2025
