Kitchen staff vs food service director

The differences between kitchen staff and food service directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a food service director has an average salary of $53,939, which is higher than the $29,816 average annual salary of a kitchen staff.

The top three skills for a kitchen staff include food handling, cleanliness and sanitation standards. The most important skills for a food service director are customer service, culinary, and servsafe.

Kitchen staff vs food service director overview

	Kitchen Staff	Food Service Director
Yearly salary	$29,816	$53,939
Hourly rate	$14.33	$25.93
Growth rate	2%	10%
Number of jobs	154,513	136,337
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	37	39
Years of experience	-	4

What does a kitchen staff do?

The kitchen staff consists of preparation workers who execute several routine tasks as directed by chefs, food service managers, and cooks. These works should have the ability to follow cooking instructions and deliver well-prepared meals. Their responsibilities include the cleanup of dishes, cooking equipment, and the working stations. They also take charge of food safety regulations, storing and sorting of ingredients, and preparing foodstuff.

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.

Kitchen staff vs food service director salary

Kitchen staff and food service directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Kitchen Staff	Food Service Director
Average salary	$29,816	$53,939
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $37,000	Between $35,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	Redwood City, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	California
Best paying company	The Road Home	Baptist Health Care
Best paying industry	Education	Health Care

Differences between kitchen staff and food service director education

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

	Kitchen Staff	Food Service Director
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	Cornell University

Kitchen staff vs food service director demographics

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

	Kitchen Staff	Food Service Director
Average age	37	39
Gender ratio	Male, 56.5% Female, 43.5%	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 7.0% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	10%

Differences between kitchen staff and food service director duties and responsibilities

Kitchen staff example responsibilities.

Assist the catering manager to manage, prepare, cook and deliver each day s caterings.
Present an enjoyable and positive atmosphere while preparing an outstanding product, manage inventory, and maintain cleanliness
Conduct daily inspections for overall cleanliness of all areas and proper sanitizing of food preparation surfaces.
Increase sales by upselling and signing customers up for discount cards
Prep food for dinner dishes, bar back, work on fryers, and wash dishes.
Cook, wash dishes, serve customers, prepare food for caterings, and stock shelves.

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 staff vs food service director skills

Common kitchen staff skills

Food Handling, 25%
Cleanliness, 21%
Sanitation Standards, 13%
Quality Food, 9%
Food Products, 7%
Meal Preparation, 5%

Common food service director skills

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

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Kitchen Staff vs Food Service Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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