Dining Services Manager

About Roanoke College

Roanoke College is a place where every student who works hard has the opportunity to succeed. We champion potential, providing essential learning and leadership through innovative academic programs and transformative educational experiences, giving students the mettle, mindset, and empathy to pursue lives of purpose, build meaningful careers, and meet society’s most pressing needs. Located in scenic Salem, Virginia, Roanoke College is an intimate, welcoming community that has served the local region and beyond for nearly 200 years. Now, we’re building on momentum and offering a Roanoke experience for today’s students and a legacy that belongs to every Maroon. Learn about the College's new strategic plan, Imagine Roanoke: A Strategic Plan for Roanoke College and the 21st Century Learner.

Roanoke College is a nationally ranked residential liberal arts college affiliated with the Lutheran Church (ELCA), located in the beautiful Roanoke Valley of Virginia. A Phi Beta Kappa institution, Roanoke College is an equal opportunity employer and actively seeks diversity among its faculty, staff, and students; women and members of under-represented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

The Position

This position serves as a hospitality leader, decision-maker, and member of the Dining management team. The Dining Manager is a highly visible role and will direct and participate in all of the daily operations for Sutton Commons, Roanoke College’s all-you-care-to-eat dining center in order to provide excellent culinary and hospitality experiences. With an annual operating budget of over $10 million, the Sutton Commons serves over 1,500 meals daily to students, faculty, staff, and campus guests. This manager will also ensure facility readiness to accept guests during hours of operations, and may provide some support to other foodservice operations in the Colket Center and within Dining.

Key Responsibilities:

• Responsibilities include overseeing overall front-of-house operations.
• Use a Point of Sale machine to obtain payment transactions from customers including cash, credit, and tap-to-pay options.
• Ensure compliance to food safety, sanitation, workplace safety standards, and other department and college policies.
• Working with unit financials, file daily deposit records, maintains sales and inventory records; performs seasonal forecasting by reviewing prior year sales history; prepares and presents periodic and scheduled financial reports, and performs other financial tasks to meet operation and department’s financial goals.
• Work collaboratively with stakeholders to plan and supervise special events and functions.
• Direct customer interaction and management of employees.
• Conduct Human Resources functions including: interviewing, hiring, training, performance planning and evaluation, etc..
• Report any equipment, facilities, or maintenance issues as they are identified.
• Accurately record temperatures, sales data, inventory levels, and other pertinent data as needed.
• Manages and controls inventory: places orders, receives stock; checks invoices, maintains quality control, takes periodic physical inventories.
• Support department equipment inventory and maintenance processes.
• Work to achieve high quality customer and client satisfaction scores.
• Prepare signage, announcements, and other communication and marketing collateral. Performs and/or coordinates various public relations activities.
• Creates a positive environment and successfully motivates and manages team.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in the English language, including active listening, dynamic flexibility, and critical thinking, and ability to multi-task and ensure effective time management.
• Advanced computer skills and experience with computerized menu management systems and knowledge of office and industry software applications, including word processing, spreadsheets, database management, e-mail and web-based applications. Ability to learn new programs.
• Excellent decision making and reasoning skills, and excellent ability to develop original ideas to solve problems and perform operations analysis and quality control analysis.
• Excellent and effective interpersonal and work leadership skills to provide guidance to all levels of personnel.
• Advanced knowledge in food service operations
• Ability to effectively respond to a high-pressure environment and/or unpredictable outcomes.
• Effective leadership and interpersonal skills to provide guidance, coaching and mentoring to subordinates of various levels and within various job families
• Knowledge of business and management principles involved in planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership techniques, production methods and coordination of people and resources.
• Ability to teach others how to do something.
• Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience managing college & university food service operations.
• Skilled in examining and re-engineering operations and procedures, formulating policy, and developing and implementing new strategies and procedures.
• Experience working with menu management and time clock software.
• Experience with budget and report management

Education & Experience:

• Ability to compute basic math and read and write the English language.
• Education or professional experience equivalent to:

--> Associate’s degree in culinary arts, hospitality management, business management or related field, plus 4 years of equivalent food service experience, or

--> Bachelor’s degree in culinary arts, hospitality management, business management or related field, plus 2 years of equivalent food service experience, or

--> 6+ years of equivalent Food Service Experience with thorough knowledge in food service operations.

• 2+ years' experience in a foodservice leadership/supervisory role.
• Familiarity with safe food service principles and VA Dept. of Health guidelines.