Director of Dining Services - IU Indianapolis

Job Description

Job Description

Seeking a Director of Dining Services to support food service operations at IU Indianapolis. This leadership role is responsible for overseeing a defined portion of the campus dining business, ensuring strong financial performance, operational excellence, brand standards, client partnership, and an outstanding guest experience for students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors.

The Director of Dining Services will provide daily leadership, support campus dining strategy, and ensure all operations are executed according to brand standards. This role requires a hands-on, people-focused leader who can balance hospitality, financial accountability, team development, and client expectations in a fast-paced university environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead daily operations for assigned dining locations, ensuring consistent service, food quality, cleanliness, safety, and hospitality.
• Manage and develop a team of managers, supervisors, and frontline associates.
• Build strong working relationships with university partners, students, campus departments, and internal support teams.
• Monitor financial results, including sales, labor, food cost, purchasing, inventory, and controllable expenses.
• Partner with culinary, marketing, finance, HR, and operations teams to execute business plans and improve the student dining experience.
• Ensure compliance with food safety, sanitation, brand standards, cash handling, HR policies, and regulatory requirements.
• Support staffing, training, coaching, performance management, and associate engagement.
• Identify opportunities to improve service, efficiency, sales, and customer satisfaction.
• Respond professionally to guest feedback, client requests, and operational challenges.
• Lead by example with a strong presence in the operation and a commitment to teamwork, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Previous leadership experience in food service, hospitality, retail dining, campus dining, concessions, or multi-unit operations preferred.
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to understand labor, food cost, sales, budgets, and operational performance.
• Proven ability to lead teams, coach managers, and create a positive workplace culture.
• Excellent communication, organization, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong commitment to food safety, guest service, and operational standards.
• Experience in higher education dining or contract food service is a plus.
• ServSafe certification preferred or ability to obtain.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a visible, engaged leader who enjoys developing people, solving problems, and building strong partnerships. This person should be comfortable working in a campus environment where student satisfaction, client trust, brand standards, and financial performance all matter. They should be professional, collaborative, accountable, and able to lead with both urgency and care.

Why Join Our Team

At IU Indianapolis, dining is an important part of the campus experience. This role offers the opportunity to lead meaningful operations, develop teams, support student life, and contribute to the continued growth of a dynamic urban campus dining program.