Director of Food & Nutrition Services

General Information:

Job title: Director of Food & Nutrition Services

Schedule: Full-time, 80 hours per pay period; Monday - Friday

Position Summary:

The Director of Food & Nutrition Services provides strategic, operational, clinical, and financial leadership for food service and nutrition operations across the hospital and affiliated nursing home facilities. This position is responsible for ensuring safe, high-quality, nutritious, and cost-effective food and nutrition services that support patient recovery, resident well-being, regulatory compliance, and overall customer satisfaction.

The Director oversees hospital patient meal services, nursing home dining services, retail food service, food production, purchasing, inventory management, staffing, and departmental financial performance. The position establishes standardized processes and performance expectations across facilities while recognizing the distinct clinical, regulatory, and operational needs of acute care and long-term care settings.

Position Responsibilities:

• Direct food production, hospital patient meal services, nursing home dining, retail food service, and nutrition operations across all assigned facilities, ensuring consistent service standards, operational efficiency, and quality.
• Collaborate with registered dietitians, nursing, providers, and other clinical personnel to ensure appropriate therapeutic diets, food allergy precautions, texture-modified meals, nutritional supplements, and individualized patient and resident nutrition needs are addressed.
• Ensure compliance with applicable CMS, Wisconsin DHS, accreditation, and local food safety requirements. Maintain survey readiness, sanitation standards, food safety programs, required documentation, and corrective action processes.
• Develop and manage departmental operating and capital budgets; monitor food and labor costs, productivity, overtime, waste, and budget variances; and implement initiatives to improve financial performance without compromising quality or safety.
• Oversee food procurement, vendor relationships, inventory management, contract compliance, and product standardization. Maximize group purchasing organization (GPO) opportunities, purchasing leverage, and economies of scale across facilities.
• Recruit, train, supervise, and retain qualified food service and nutrition staff. Establish appropriate staffing models, productivity standards, scheduling practices, competency requirements, and cross-training opportunities.
• Promote high-quality, patient- and resident-centered dining services that support satisfaction, dignity, choice, nutritional adequacy, and quality of life. Monitor feedback, resolve complaints, and implement service improvements.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators for food quality, meal accuracy, timeliness, food safety, labor productivity, food waste, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. Lead corrective actions and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Collaborate with executive leadership, nursing home administrators, nursing, finance, supply chain, human resources, and infection prevention to align nutrition services with organizational priorities and identify opportunities for shared services, technology improvements, and operational efficiencies.
• Standardize policies, procedures, menus, and operational practices across assigned facilities while addressing the distinct needs of acute care and long-term care. Evaluate equipment, technology, kitchen infrastructure, and service delivery investments to support long-term operational sustainability.

Position Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in dietetics, nutrition, food service management, hospitality management, healthcare administration, or a related field preferred.
• Equivalent education and three or more years of relevant healthcare food service leadership experience may be considered, subject to applicable regulatory and organizational requirements.
• Registered Dietician license preferred.
• Certified Dietary Manager certification is required.
• Food safety certification is required.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:

• Intermediate to expert proficiency with computers is required.
• Understands the basic nutrition requirements for meal service in a healthcare facility such as food exchanges, portion control, and therapeutic diets.
• Strong quantitative and analytical competency.
• Self-starter with excellent interpersonal communication, oral and written communication, and problem-solving skills.