Food Service Director

Position Type:
Food Services/Food Service Director

Date Posted:
7/23/2026

Location:
District
Food Service Director

The Food Service Director oversees all aspects of a school district's food service program, ensuring efficient operations, adherence to nutritional guidelines, and compliance with regulations. They are responsible for developing menus, managing budgets, hiring and training staff, and maintaining a safe and sanitary food preparation environment.

Position is 1.0 FTE, 260 days/year

Compensation range: $75,000-$100,000; benefits eligible

Reports to Executive Director

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Menu Planning and Development: Develop menus that meet nutritional guidelines, student preferences, and federal regulations. Post menu online in a timely manner, make adjustments in real time as needed. Utilize grant money available from Farm to School initiatives, planning menus and utilizing local food vendors.
• Food Procurement and Budget Management: Follow procurement procedures, Implement cost-effective procurement systems, manage budgets, and track expenses. Oversee the ordering and inventory management for the school concessions stand.
• Staff Management: Hire, train, direct, supervise, and evaluate food service staff. Instructs new employees in performing their assigned tasks.
• Food Safety and Sanitation: Establish and maintain high standards of sanitation and food safety.
• Compliance: Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and district regulations. Responsible for entering Clics, Educational Benefits and Direct Certification information.
• Program Administration: Manage the overall food service program, including logistics, operations, and financial matters, to ensure compliance with sanitization, safety, and USDA standards. Serve as a member of the District's administrative team and actively participate in the development, implementation, and achievement of the District's strategic plans.
• Communication and Collaboration: Communicate effectively with administrators, staff, students, and the community.
• Quality Control: Monitor food quality, portion sizes, and overall service quality.
• Facility Management: Ensure proper maintenance and functionality of kitchen and cafeteria facilities.
• Wellness & Strategy: Serve as Co-Chair on the Wellness Committee. Ensure Federal regulations are met. Post minutes, action plan and triennial review on the website for the community.
• Safety Reporting: Follow up with Human Resources on any reports of problems or accidents occurring in the kitchen or cafeteria premises immediately.
• Inventory Security: Assumes responsibility for the security of food and supplies. Ensures proper handling and receiving of food and supplies by training kitchen staff on proper procedures.
• Partnerships & Networking: Facilitate vendor relationships. Network with other schools (School Nutrition Directors Minnesota), Scratchworks Initiative, Farm to School Institute and Harvest of the Month.
• Special Events & Catering: Provide and facilitate meals and food needs for Professional Development days, Back to School night, and other special events throughout the year. Coordinate and provide contracted meals for athletic teams/events if requested by coaches.
• Other duties as assigned.

Essential Skills Required

• Bachelor's degree in food service management, culinary arts, nutrition, or related field
• CFPM license (preferred)
• Knowledge of the National School Lunch Program
• 10 hours of Nutrition, Food Safety and Sanitation classes (available online)
• Strong computer skills including experience with CLiCS, QuikLunch, Synergy, and Google
• Knowledge of food safety, sanitation, and nutritional guidelines and maintenance of USDA Professional Standards
• Ability to work in noise and organized chaos and maintain flexibility
• Understand kitchen health and safety standards of conduct
• Strong communication skills
• CPR certification (recommended)
• Extensive experience in food service management, preferably in a school setting
• Strong leadership, organizational, and communication skills
• Proficiency in food service software and equipment
• Ability to manage budgets and track expenses effectively; Skyward experience preferred
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams

Physical Requirements

• Bending, twisting, stretching, standing and repetitive motions for prolonged periods of time
• Frequent: bending and lifting of food trays, racks and sheet pans with weights of 2# - 12#
• Frequent: lifting from the floor or below knees of milk crates that are 25# each
• Frequent: lifting condiment pumps (12#) when full and moving from cart to table
• Frequent: twisting and lifting dish racks with trays, dishes and silverware (8# - 20#)
• Frequent: using table mop to wipe down tables this requires core muscles (to push table mop along table tops) back, arms and shoulders. Emptying table mop buckets at end of day lifting and dumping (8# - 16#)
• Frequent: panning up food items for next day lifting cases (10# - 40#) from freezer to work station, leaning over table to pan up, lifting full sheet pans and putting on rack which go from above shoulder height to below knees
• Frequent: picking up items off the ground that are spilled or dropped by student
• Frequent: standing at cashier station or server station for 2.5 hours per day
• Frequent: help put orders away, lifting boxes (2# - 30#) to put away in cooler/freezer/storage
• Occasional: Lifting 10# - 40# cases from floor to put away
• Frequent: Wiping down of salad bar - leaning, bending at waist to reach in and wipe down salad bar enclosure. Lifting stainless steel hotel pans out of salad bar (2# - 10#). Wiping down sides of salad bar, below waist level
• Ability to lift up to 40 pounds

Attachment(s):

• Benefits Summary