Associate Director Food Service

Primary City/State:

Phoenix, Arizona

Department Name:

Culinary & Nutrition-Hosp

Work Shift:

Day

Job Category:

Facilities, Environmental Services, and Culinary

A rewarding career that fits your life. Learn how Banner Health, a certified Great Place To Work®, prioritizes team members and strives to be the best place to work in health care.

The Associate Director, Culinary & Nutrition Services provides strategic direction, planning, and supervision of food services and clinical nutrition services at Banner Estrella Medical Center. This leader ensures the delivery of efficient, high-quality meal service and nutritional care to patients and customers across all food and beverage operations. Areas of oversight include patient food services, retail food and beverage units, catering services, and clinical dietary care. The leader who steps into this role would report to the Guest Services Director who is accountable for all aspects of retail and patient food services on a 24-hour basis.

The core functions of this role are to oversee all aspects of food and nutrition services including menu planning, recipe development, food production, procurement, retail operations, patient dietary counseling, and clinical nutrition care. The Associate Director leads personnel actions, manages departmental information systems, drives innovation through emerging trends and technologies, ensures quality and regulatory compliance, and maintains full financial accountability including budget development, revenue forecasting, and monthly expense reconciliation.

This leader will directly support a team of approximately:

• 66 Staff Members
• 3 Supervisors
• 3 Leads

Schedule Expectations

This is a varied schedule, primarily day-shift based, with the following expectations:

• Core hours: No earlier than 6:00 AM, no later than 9:00 AM start
• Evening coverage: 2 days per month with shifts ending at 8:30 PM to support the evening team
• Late-night coverage: 1 shift ending at 11:00 PM approximately every 60 days, based on business need

Preferred Qualifications

• Hospital Kitchen Operations: Hands-on experience managing and supporting a hospital kitchen environment, with a strong understanding of the unique demands of healthcare food service
• Multi-Area Food Service Expertise: Working knowledge that extends across all areas where food is supported within a healthcare facility, including:
  • Cafeteria operations — high-volume service and workflow management
  • Café and coffee shop — specialty food and beverage program oversight
  • Barista and cashiering services — front-of-house customer experience and point-of-sale operations
  • Patient room service programs — individualized, patient-centered meal delivery
• Healthcare Regulatory Knowledge: Familiarity with healthcare food service compliance standards and accreditation requirements
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to work across departments and service lines within a hospital or health system setting

Disclaimer: This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the position and is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, or qualifications required. Banner Health reserves the right to modify job duties or requirements at any time.

Banner Estrella Medical Center is a 353-bed acute care hospital providing a full range of health care services to the fast growing communities of west Phoenix. Opened in 2005, this is an innovative, fully electronic facility that features electronic medical records, computerized physician order entry, digital radiography, sophisticated ICU monitoring and much more. In fact, we've been named one of the "ten most innovative hospitals in the country" by Newsweek Magazine and are recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of Phoenix's Best Hospitals. The hospital is also designed to provide a soothing, healing atmosphere for both patients and their family members. We encourage the use of such therapies as pet therapy, aromatherapy, spiritual care and Reiki Therapy.

POSITION SUMMARY
This position provides direction, planning and sup