Highlights
As a key member of the leadership team, the Director of Operations partners with university stakeholders, dining team leaders, and support teams to create an exceptional campus dining experience that enhances student success, strengthens community, and advances the institution's mission. This role drives operational excellence, financial performance, culinary and service innovation, student engagement, and team development across residential dining, retail operations, catering, convenience services, and other campus hospitality venues.
Numbers & Facts
| Location | Elon, NC |
| Industry | Food and Beverage Production |
| Company Size | 10,000 employees or more |
| Year Founded | 1936 |
| Website | https://www.aramark.com/ |
Description
Job Description
The Director of Operations provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for a multi-unit higher education dining program. This role drives operational excellence, financial performance, culinary and service innovation, student engagement, and team development across residential dining, retail operations, catering, convenience services, and other campus hospitality venues.
Scope of Role:
As a key member of the leadership team, the Director of Operations partners with university stakeholders, dining team leaders, and support teams to create an exceptional campus dining experience that enhances student success, strengthens community, and advances the institution's mission. The role ensures operational consistency, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement while fostering a culture of hospitality, inclusion, accountability, and innovation.
Job Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Operational Excellence
? Lead the execution of operating strategies that support client objectives, student satisfaction, organizational growth, and contract commitments.
? Oversee daily performance across multiple dining venues, ensuring consistency in service, food quality, safety, cleanliness, and operational efficiency.
? Establish and monitor key performance indicators related to financial results, guest satisfaction, labor, safety, quality, and productivity.
? Drive continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen service delivery, simplify processes, and improve the campus dining experience.
? Champion innovation in dining services, technology integration, sustainability, and customer engagement.
Client & Campus Partnership Management
? Build trusted relationships with university leadership and partners across student affairs, housing, athletics, faculty, and student organizations.
? Serve as a strategic advisor on dining operations, program enhancements, emerging student needs, and long-range priorities.
? Participate in client meetings, campus committees, and strategic planning discussions.
? Address operational concerns proactively and implement sustainable solutions that strengthen client confidence and partnership success.
Financial Stewardship
? Lead budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, and cost-control activities across the dining program.
? Analyze financial and operational performance to identify opportunities to improve revenue, profitability, productivity, and resource allocation.
? Monitor labor, food, inventory, and supply costs while maintaining quality and service expectations.
? Support contract retention, program expansion, and business development initiatives.
Team Leadership & Talent Development
? Lead, coach, and develop operational leaders, managers, and frontline teams.
? Create a culture of accountability, engagement, collaboration, recognition, and service excellence.
? Drive talent acquisition, workforce planning, succession planning, leadership development, and retention strategies.
? Ensure consistent performance management, coaching, development planning, and communication routines.
? Promote an inclusive workplace where employees are respected, supported, and equipped to succeed.
Student Experience & Hospitality Innovation
? Champion a student-centered culture grounded in hospitality, wellness, accessibility, belonging, and community.
? Partner with culinary, nutrition, marketing, and campus teams to create relevant dining experiences that reflect evolving student preferences.
? Use student feedback, dining trends, participation data, and performance insights to improve programs and services.
? Advance sustainability, health and wellbeing, community engagement, and campus culture initiatives.
Compliance, Safety & Risk Management
? Ensure compliance with organizational standards, university requirements, contractual obligations, and applicable local, state, and federal regulations.
? Maintain high standards for food safety, sanitation, workplace safety, emergency readiness, and risk management.
? Lead preparation for audits and inspections and ensure timely corrective actions.
?Reinforce consistent application of policies, procedures, training, and documentation requirements.
Qualifications
? Bachelor's degree in hospitality management, Business Administration, Food Service Management, Higher Education Administration, or a related field preferred.
? 7-10 years of progressive leadership experience in hospitality, food service, higher education dining, or multi-unit operations.
? Demonstrated success leading complex dining, retail, hospitality, or service operations.
? Experience with budget ownership, labor planning, financial analysis, and operational accountability.
? Proven ability to develop leaders, manage change, and build productive client relationships.
? Strategic thinking, sound judgment, and strong business acumen.
? Exceptional leadership, coaching, communication, and relationship-building skills.
? Strong analytical, financial, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
? Ability to manage multiple priorities and lead effectively in a dynamic, campus-based environment.
? Working knowledge of food service operations, safety regulations, quality systems, and hospitality best practices.
? Ability to use operational, financial, and customer data to guide decisions and improve performance.
About Harvest Table Culinary Group
Our Mission
Rooted in service and united by our purpose, we strive to do great things for each other, our partners, our communities, and our planet.
At HTCG, we believe that every employee should enjoy equal employment opportunity and be free to participate in all aspects of the company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, pregnancy, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military status, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by applicable law.
About Company
We focus on enriching and nourishing the lives of millions all over the world, providing a wide range of services—food, facilities and uniforms—to a diverse group of clients in 19 countries. We serve world champion sports teams, Fortune 500 companies, state-of-the-art healthcare providers and the world’s leading educational institutions. And every day, we dream of ways to do it better through our commitment to innovation and our passion for excellent customer service.
Innovation inspired by you
The better we know the people we serve, the greater the experiences we can develop. Whether it’s food service, facilities or uniforms, our proprietary programs allow us to understand the wants and needs of our audiences.
Armed with that knowledge, our Service Stars spring into action, combining insights and ingenuity to deliver moments that make a difference. These innovations could be game-changing campus transformations. Or a simpler, quicker way for you to access condiments at the ballpark. In any case, our innovations help create experiences that make an impact.
Beyond great service
Another key part of what makes us different is something we call service excellence.
To us, service excellence isn’t just about providing great customer service. It also means using time-tested practices and proven processes to get it right every day, everywhere, in everything that we do. And it's also about striking the perfect balance between doing something well over and over again and being responsive enough to the changing needs of clients and customers. It’s being open to the continuing cycle of innovation. Excellent, but never satisfied. Process-driven, but never locked in place.
We never stop thinking of new, better ways to get it right when our people impact the lives of clients and consumers every day.
Our people make all the difference—we make sure of it
Our commitment to hiring, training and rewarding the right people ensures that our employees are more than just hard workers. They’re Service Stars, and that means they can be counted on to go above and beyond, every single day.
We understand that many times our people are literally the face of your business. That’s why all 270,000 Service Stars receive continual access to professional development and proprietary skills training.
The bottom line is this: when you work with Aramark, you can be confident you’ll be collaborating with the right people with the right skills and the right attitude. That’s true whether it’s for strategic expertise, operational excellence or just serving a morning coffee. That’s our commitment as trusted partners and Service Stars. That’s the Aramark way.