Associate Director - Dining Services - 991890

We are excited that you are considering joining Nova Southeastern University!

Nova Southeastern University (NSU) was founded in 1964, and is a not-for-profit, independent university with a reputation for academic excellence and innovation. Nova Southeastern University offers competitive salaries, a comprehensive benefits package including tuition waiver, retirement plan, excellent medical and dental plans and much more. NSU cares about the health and welfare of its students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors and is a tobacco-free university.

We appreciate your support in making NSU the preeminent place to live, work, study and grow. Thank you for your interest in a career with Nova Southeastern University.

Primary Purpose:

Contributes to the success of NSU by managing the dining operations across university campuses, including communications, relationship management, project management, student engagement, dining locations oversight, and special programs and initiatives.

Job Category: Exempt

Hiring Range: 

Pay Basis:  Annually

Subject to Grant Funding? No  

Essential Job Functions: 

1. Serves as the dining relationship manager for campus partners across the University including, academic deans, deans of students, staff, and faculty to help maintain and build university-wide support for dining on campus.

2. Establishes programmatic benchmarks, goals, and objectives for the on-campus dining operator.

3. Develops and communicates program priorities and performance standards and assesses operations using these criteria. Plans and conducts quality assurance reviews and recommends changes as appropriate.

4. Visits dining locations regularly and performs spot checks on service, contract compliance, food quality, labeling, and practices.

5. Uses in-depth knowledge and experience to administer the delivery of services to program participants and/or beneficiaries such as communicating with programs sponsors and academic advising for undergraduate students.

6. Manages the dining services budget and monitors the budget of any sub-contractors, projecting short and long-term budget needs, developing revenues to the budget through contract changes, and authorizing expenditures.

7. Communicates effectively with campus partners and vendors to ensure that the university dining operations team can execute facility preventative maintenance.
8. Endorses and maintains safety, sanitation, food quality, and nutrition standards within campus Dining Services.

9. Maintains University dining’s feedback loop and continual evaluation of the department’s customer service standards through team engagement and participation.

10. Provides communication leadership for the department, including student outreach, parent communication and media requests.

11. Collaborates with vendor’s marketing team to assist in generating marketing material and ideas to promote our dining program.

12. Assists in providing strategic direction for retail dining on campus, including concept development, menu creation, and sales analysis.

13. Creates and executes events with student groups and campus partners for university dining guests, including cultural celebrations, bi-weekly dinners, and multi-faceted activities.

14. Maintains a vibrant and culinary diverse dining program that fosters community throughout the campus.

15. Provides leadership in the assessment and development of meal plans which provide portability and flexibility for students, faculty, and staff.

16. Facilitates ensuring that university dining operations maintain the sense of belonging between various academic units, schools, and divisions throughout the campus.
17. Keeps well-informed and current on new concepts, practices, and trends in food service technology as they relate to institutions of higher education.

18. Seeks opportunities for future initiatives, revenue growth, and opportunities to increase customer satisfaction. Reviews these opportunities applying responsible financial management principles and practices and making sure they meet the desired direction and goals of the department.

19. Negotiates, renegotiates, and administers contracts with suppliers, vendors, and other representatives.

20. Approves and submits bills for payment.

21. Analyzes internal processes and recommends and implements procedural or policy changes to improve operations.

22. Plans, administers, and controls budgets for contracts, equipment, and supplies.

23. Completes special projects as assigned.

24. Performs other duties as assigned or required.

Job Requirements: 

Required Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities: KNOWLEDGE:
1. Administration and Management - General knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, budgeting, leadership technique, and/or coordination of people and resources.
2. Customer and Personal Service - General knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of user satisfaction.
3. English Language - General knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
4. Law and Government - Working knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
5. Production and Processing - General knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
6. Transportation - General knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including relative costs and benefits.
7. General knowledge of MS Office Suite (Outlook, Word, and Excel).

SKILLS:
1. Work collaboratively- with students, families, faculty, and staff at all levels in a complex and diverse environment
2. Provide leadership and direction to others
3. Communicate- clearly and work effectively in an environment characterized by change
4. Respond - calmly and quickly to challenging situations
5. Work- independently and as part of a team
6. Multi-task -while managing multiple projects and assignments
7. Active Listening - Proficient skills in giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
8. Reading Comprehension - Proficient understanding of written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
9. Speaking - Basic skills in talking to others to convey information effectively.
10. Writing - Proficient skills in communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
11. Critical Thinking - Basic skills in using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
12. Judgment and Decision Making - Basic skills in considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the appropriate one.
13. Complex Problem Solving - Basic skills in identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
14. Negotiation - Basic skills in bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
15. Persuasion - Basic skills in persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
16. Management of Financial Resources - Basic skills in determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
17. Social Perceptiveness - Basic skills in being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
18. Active Learning - Basic skills in understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

ABILITIES:
1. Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
2. Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
3. Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (including finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
4. Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING CONDITIONS:
1. Near Vision - Must be able to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
2. Speech Recognition - Must be able to identify and understand the speech of another person.
3. Speech Clarity - Must be able to speak clearly so others can understand you.
4. Travel - Must be able to travel on a daily and/or overnight basis.
5. May be required to work nights or weekends.
6. May be exposed to short, intermittent, and/or prolonged periods of sitting and/or standing in performance of job duties.
7. May be required to accomplish job duties using various types of equipment/supplies, to include but not limited to pens, pencils, and computer keyboards.

Required Certifications/Licensures: 

Required Education: Bachelor's Degree

Major (if required: Hospitality Management, Business, or closely related field

Required Experience: 1. At least five (5) years of direct multi-unit food service management, marketing, communication, and operational management experience.

2. At least two (2) years of applicable catering experience.

Preferred Qualifications: 

At least five (5) years direct experience managing multi-unit food services in higher education.

Is this a safety sensitive position? No  

Background Screening Required?  No  

Pre-Employment Conditions: 

Sensitivity Disclaimer: Nova Southeastern University is in full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and does not discriminate with regard to applicants or employees with disabilities and will make reasonable accommodation when necessary.

NSU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital or veteran status or any other legally protected status.