Regional Culinary Director - Collegiate Hospitality

Aramark

Morrisville, NC

JOB DETAILS
SALARY
$160,000–$170,000 Per Year
SKILLS
Best Practices, Business Development, Catering Services, Coaching, Communication Skills, Contract Management, Cook Dishes, Cost Control, Culinary Training, Customer Relations, Customer Support/Service, Customer Training, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Event Management, Financial Operations, Food Presentation, Food Purchasing, Food Quality, Food Safety, Food Services, Food and Beverage Industry, Human Resources, Lead Generation, Leadership, Maintain Compliance, Marketing, Menu Development, Microsoft Office, Performance Reviews, Pricing, Procedure Development, Process Improvement, Product/Service Launch, Production Control, Production Costing, Profit & Loss, Project/Program Management, Quality Management, Recipe Development, Regulatory Requirements, Retail, Revenue Growth, Safety Compliance, Sales Support, ServSafe Certification, Standards Development, Strategic Planning, Succession Planning, Talent Management, Team Lead/Manager, Twitter, Willing to Travel
LOCATION
Morrisville, NC
POSTED
30+ days ago

Job Description

The Regional Culinary Director (RCD) provides strategic culinary leadership across the region, ensuring operational excellence and consistent food quality. Collaborates with Finance and Operations to manage food costs, purchasing compliance, and food safety, driving improved satisfaction in residential and retail surveys. Partners with Marketing to deliver engaging, innovative programs at each location. Works with Human Resources to recruit, train, and develop culinary talent, building a regional succession plan. Supports Growth initiatives through new business development and retention efforts. The RCD Collegiate Hospitality East Region serves as the senior culinary leader, reporting to the Regional Vice President. This role drives the execution and enhancement of culinary programs aligned with Collegiate Hospitality and regional strategies. While primarily focused on regional impact, the RCD also leads one enterprise-wide initiative-such as standardized menus, food and labor productivity, or culinary innovation-across the Collegiate Hospitality portfolio.

Job Responsibilities

Culinary Leadership:

  • Lead and coach culinary teams across multiple sites, ensuring food quality, presentation, and creativity. Maintain standards, oversee equipment and safety compliance, and support regional development through a dotted-line leadership network. Manage special events, hiring, training, and performance reviews. Engage with campus leadership to tailor programs and build culinary bench strength.

Operational Excellence:

  • Collaborate with regional leaders to implement brand initiatives, standardize recipes, and improve satisfaction. Partner with the Aramark Innovation Center to roll out trends and lead high-profile events. Ensure consistency, share best practices, and drive strategic planning for retention.

Driving Growth:

  • Promote culinary talent, support marketing initiatives, and lead productivity efforts. Optimize food and labor processes, ensure vendor compliance, and develop premium catering menus. Innovate to grow revenue and reduce costs through improved procedures.

Team Leadership & Financial Performance:

  • Lead regional culinary talent development, training, and recognition. Drive financial goals through cost optimization and productivity. Oversee food quality, safety, and consistency. Supervise chefs and ensure adherence to Aramark standards of excellence.

Key Capabilities:

  • Expert in culinary techniques, large-scale production, and cost control. Skilled in multi-unit operations, menu development, and driving efficiency. Strong leadership, communication, and project management abilities. Capable of managing innovation, training, and client engagement. Development includes leading audits, training, new services, and sales support. Milestones include unit openings, taskforce participation, and STAR team leadership. Core leadership traits: influence, talent growth, hospitality, initiative, and impact.

At Aramark, developing new skills and doing what it takes to get the job done make a positive impact for our employees and for our customers. In order to meet our commitments, job duties may change or new ones may be assigned without formal notice.

Qualifications

  • CIA ProChef or ACF certification required.
  • 10+ years of culinary management experience.
  • Culinary degree or equivalent experience.
  • Advanced knowledge of principles and practices within the food service industry.
  • Expertise in demonstration cooking, menu writing and development and understanding of standards.
  • Ability to lead in a diverse environment with focus on client and customer service.
  • Previous experience with controlling food and labor costs, demonstration cooking, menu development and pricing development.
  • P&L accountability and/or contract-managed service experience preferred.
  • Proficiency in MS Office Suite, key Aramark productivity tools (e.g. Prima or equivalent).
  • Requires exceptional communication skills.
  • ServSafe Certification
  • Ability to travel 60-75% of the time
  • High level of professionalism, maturity, and project management capability

Compensation

COMPENSATION: The salary range for this position is $160,000 to $170,000. If both numbers are the same, that is the amount that Aramark expects to offer. This is Aramark's good faith and reasonable estimate of the compensation for this position as of the time of posting.

BENEFITS: Aramark offers comprehensive benefit programs and services for eligible employees including medical, dental, vision, and work/life resources. Additional benefits may include retirement savings plans like 401(k) and paid days off such as parental leave and disability coverage. Benefits vary by location and are subject to any legal requirements or limitations, employee eligibility status, and where the employee lives and/or works. For more information about Aramark benefits, click here Aramark Careers - Benefits & Compensation.

There is no predetermined application window for this position, the position will close once a qualified candidate is selected. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable law, including, but not limited to, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the California Fair Chance Act, and the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance to the extent that those laws apply to the opportunity.

About Aramark

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 Aramark, 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 Aramark

The people of Aramark proudly serve millions of guests every day through food and facilities in 15 countries around the world. Rooted in service and united by our purpose, we strive to do great things for each other, our partners, our communities, and our planet. We believe a career should develop your talents, fuel your passions, and empower your professional growth. So, no matter what youre pursuing - a new challenge, a sense of belonging, or just a great place to work - our focus is helping you reach your full potential. Learn more about working here at http://www.aramarkcareers.com or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About the Company

A

Aramark

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.

COMPANY SIZE
10,000 employees or more
INDUSTRY
Food and Beverage Production
FOUNDED
1936
WEBSITE
https://www.aramark.com/