Associate Director Dining Experience

Overview

Tufts Dining is a self-operated food service provider managing a comprehensive collegiate dining program on the Tufts University Medford / Somerville and SMFA / Fenway campus, delivering high quality, contemporary and innovative food, and hospitality services to meet the various needs of students, staff, faculty, administrators, and visitors in a fiscally responsible manner. Our team provides a progressive resident dining program as well as innovative retail services, and a distinctive university catering program serving a campus community comprised of 6500 undergraduates, 2100 graduate students, and 2300 staff, faculty and administrators.

What You'll Do

This is a one-year, limited-term position that is benefits-eligible.

Tufts Dining seeks a collaborative and results-oriented leader to join its senior team and strengthen operational performance across residential, retail, and catering business lines. This high-impact role will support initiatives to improve financial margins, optimize labor productivity in a high volume, unionized environment, and revitalize underperforming units - while contributing to culinary innovation and service excellence.

The Associate Director will work closely with the Director of Campus Dining, the Associate Director for Culinary Excellence, and the Associate Director of Catering & Logistics to advance cross-functional projects, enhance operational efficiency, and elevate the overall dining experience. This position will play a key goal in rebalancing profitability within the catering unit, aligning logistics and service execution with financial and quality goals.

Essential Functions :

Campus Dining Leadership

Operational Strategy & Margin Support

• Collaborate with the Director of Campus Dining and Associate Director of Culinary Excellence to support turnaround efforts for underperforming retail venues, including concept redevelopment, cost containment, and customer engagement strategies.
• Assist in analyzing labor productivity and scheduling practices, offering recommendations that align with union guidelines and operational goals.
• Monitor financial performance across dining units and contribute to action plans that improve food cost control and profitability.
• Support implementation of best practices and performance benchmarks across units.

Catering Program & Logistics Collaboration

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Leadership

Systems & Data Optimization

What We're Looking For

Basic Requirements :

Preferred Qualifications :

Working Conditions :

Pay Range

Minimum $96,500.00, Midpoint $120,600.00, Maximum $144,800.00

Salary is based on related experience, expertise, and internal equity; generally, new hires can expect pay between the minimum and midpoint of the range.