Area Director - K-12 School Food Service

Lunchtime Solutions•Kearney, NE

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Lunchtime Solutions is seeking an Area Director to join its Operations leadership team in the Nebraska area. The Area Director provides strategic direction and leadership to Food Service Directors (FSDs) across an assigned geographic area, developing strong teams and ensuring operational systems and procedures are implemented effectively at the school district level. The role calls for an authentic, collaborative, and energetic approach guided by the company’s mission and values. The position works with FSDs to set operational goals, develop budgets, monitor performance, and support profitability. It oversees customer relationships and satisfaction, school-level compliance and operations, and the start-up of new schools. The role also contributes to company initiatives, projects, and growth. The schedule is Monday through Friday with a flexible work schedule. Work may be performed from a home office when not traveling to assigned K-12 school districts. Travel within the assigned territory may take up to 50% of working time and includes some overnight travel. A company-issued vehicle is provided for business-related travel.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
For external hires, 5–7 years of multi-site food service management experience.
Proven experience leading professional teams in a decentralized organization.
Extensive food service industry experience, including substantial knowledge of establishing and maintaining customer relationships.
Exemplary leadership skills.
Strong communication and customer-management skills.
Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent training and development skills.
Ability to read and analyze P&L statements, develop budgets, and interpret operational metric trends.
Ability to develop long-term strategic plans and lead or participate in short-term operational implementation.
Ability to set priorities, manage time effectively, and develop work plans to complete tasks and projects.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including business correspondence and developing and presenting business presentations and trainings.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office 365 Suite.
Ability to travel within an assigned territory, up to 50% of the time, including some overnight travel.

Responsibilities

Demonstrate and communicate the company’s mission, culture, and values to team members in the assigned area.
Lead and manage a productive, motivated team through regular meetings, communication, empowerment, recognition, and coaching.
Maintain effective engagement and two-way communication with Food Service Directors (FSDs).
Manage customer relationships to support customer satisfaction and business retention through regular, transparent communication.
Develop short- and long-term operational goals and strategies with assigned FSDs, and monitor progress.
Develop operating budgets with assigned FSDs and drive operational goals and profitability through P&L and performance-metric analysis.
Conduct audits and ensure schools meet operational policy, safety, regulatory, menu-planning, food-production, ordering, recipe, service, point-of-sale, team-management, training, inventory, promotion, and customer-feedback expectations.
Directly oversee and manage start-ups of new schools.
Prepare and present business presentations and trainings as required.
Serve on company project teams or committees and contribute to the company’s growth and development.