DIRECTOR OF FOOD & NUTRITION SERVICES

Director of Food & Nutrition Services

As the Director of Food & Nutrition Services, you will provide strategic and operational leadership for a hospital-based food and nutrition program with a 65 average daily census, $380K in annual retail sales, and $3.6 million in managed volume. This role oversees all aspects of patient dining, retail food operations, and bedside meal delivery services within a unionized healthcare environment. The Director is responsible for ensuring exceptional patient satisfaction, food quality, regulatory compliance, financial performance, and team engagement while serving as the primary liaison with hospital leadership and key stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of managers, supervisors, and frontline associates across patient dining, retail, and support service operations.
• Oversee bedside patient meal delivery services, ensuring excellence in food quality, accuracy, timeliness, and patient satisfaction.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with hospital leadership, clinical teams, patients, visitors, and key stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with all regulatory, food safety, sanitation, and healthcare standards.
• Manage departmental budgets, financial reporting, forecasting, labor productivity, and overall P&L performance for a $3.6M operation.
• Partner with culinary leadership to develop menus, enhance patient dining experiences, and maintain high-quality retail offerings.
• Drive operational excellence through quality assurance programs, performance metrics, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Effectively manage labor relations and support a positive partnership within a unionized workforce.
• Implement new programs, technologies, and service enhancements to improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency.
• Champion employee engagement, training, succession planning, and professional development.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Service Management, Hospitality, Nutrition, Culinary Arts, or a related field preferred.
• 3–5+ years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare food service, hospital dining, or a related foodservice environment.
• Experience managing patient dining, retail food operations, and bedside meal delivery programs.
• Strong knowledge of healthcare food service regulations, food safety standards, and quality assurance practices.
• Demonstrated success managing budgets, labor costs, and financial performance.
• Experience working in a unionized environment preferred.
• Proven ability to drive patient satisfaction, employee engagement, and operational excellence.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and client relationship management skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and foodservice management systems.
• Passion for delivering exceptional hospitality and patient-centered service in a healthcare setting.