ABOUT STANFORD UNIVERSITY AND RESIDENTIAL & DINING ENTERPRISES:
Stanford University is one of the world's leading teaching and research universities. Founded in 1891, Stanford’s mission is to create and share knowledge and to prepare students to be curious, to think critically, and to contribute to the world. With world-class scholars and seven schools located together on a single campus, Stanford offers academic excellence across the broadest array of disciplines including business, education, engineering, humanities and sciences, law, medicine, and sustainability. It also is an engine of innovation, blending theory and practice to move ideas and discoveries from labs and classrooms out into the world. Stanford strives to foster a culture of expansive inquiry, fresh thinking, searching discussion, and freedom of thought – preparing students for leadership and engaged citizenship in the world. The university is located between San Francisco and San Jose in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, on a scenic 8,180-acre campus. Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE), the largest auxiliary organization at Stanford University, supports the academic mission of the university by providing high-quality services to students and other members of the university community. R&DE has an annual operating budget of $400M, operates 24/7/365, and oversees a $3B asset portfolio comprising over 7 million square feet - one-third of the campus footprint. R&DE provides housing for 16,000 students and dependents, serves 8 million meals annually at 48 student dining venues and 32 culinary enterprises. In addition, R&DE provides executive services, conference operations, and guest lodging. R&DE is a talented and diverse team of 1,200+ who comprise the following divisions: Student Housing Operations & Stanford Conferences; Stanford Dining and Hospitality & Auxiliaries; Maintenance Operations and Capital Projects; and a team of R&DE strategic business partners - Finance & Administration, Information Technology, Human Resources, and Strategic Communications and Marketing. “Students (Customers) First” is R&DE’s mantra and its strategic goals reflect its commitment to delivering service excellence to the campus community. R&DE’s belief is “students are never an interruption in our day; they are the reason we are here. ”R&DE’s dedication to promoting fair treatment, access to opportunities, and a positive work environment is reflected in its essential priorities and efforts for cultivating a culture of operational excellence as a foundational cornerstone. R&DE is committed to creating and sustaining inclusive excellence where all staff feel a sense of belonging and are empowered to thrive. R&DE’s dedication to promoting fair treatment, access to opportunities, and a positive work environment is reflected in its essential priorities and efforts for cultivating a culture of operational excellence as a foundational cornerstone. R&DE is committed to creating and sustaining inclusive excellence where all staff feel a sense of belonging and are empowered to thrive.
This role is designated as essential and requires incumbents to report to work onsite. Telecommuting is not available for this role. Weekend and dinner service hours will be required. The Dining Hall Manager reports to the Senior Director of Student Dining within Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) and serves as the on-site operational leader responsible for the daily execution of the residential student dining meal program and late-night retail operations within an assigned dining hall (as applicable). This role is accountable for delivering high-quality meals and exceptional hospitality that support student success, well-being, and the overall campus experience. The Dining Hall Manager ensures that all aspects of the dining operation are executed consistently at a high level, including food quality, service standards, cleanliness, and operational reliability. The Dining Hall Manager leads and develops frontline teams, ensuring staffing, training, and day-to-day operations are aligned to meet student demand throughout all meal periods, including late-night service. This role is responsible for creating a welcoming, student-centered environment that fosters connection, care, and community. Working closely with students, peers, and campus partners, the Dining Hall Manager addresses operational challenges in real time, incorporates student feedback into service improvements, and ensures compliance with all food safety, ADA, and university standards. The role is ultimately responsible for delivering a seamless, high-quality dining experience at the unit level that reflects Stanford’s commitment to excellence and hospitality. The Student Dining General Manager is the on-site operational leader for one residential dining hall reporting to the Senior Director of Student Dining. The position provides strategic and hands-on leadership for the residential student meal program and applicable late-night retail offerings, ensuring reliable execution across all meal periods. The role is accountable for hospitality, culinary and service quality, student satisfaction, food safety, financial performance, workforce effectiveness, and overall operational results. Provides general direction to reporting culinary leaders to ensure successful culinary execution. Working in close partnership with the Executive Chef and service, nutrition, procurement, finance, human resources, facilities, and other cross-functional teams, the General Manager translates Student Dining priorities into effective unit-level practices. The position aligns culinary and service leadership, staffing, budgets, facilities, technology, and service readiness with student needs, participation trends, dietary accommodations, wellness priorities, and institutional goals. The expected pay range for this position is $76,735 to $100,000 per annum. Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the university reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs.
Core Duties:
Dining Hall Operational Leadership o Direct daily operations for the assigned dining hall and provide operational response to changing student demand. o Establish and maintain unit operating standards for execution at volume. Conduct regular operational reviews of policies and performance; take needed corrective action promptly. o Coordinate staffing and resources to support reliable daily service, and business continuity.
Program Quality and Innovation o Partner with culinary and service leaders to align ongoing operating plans. Implement program enhancements that support overall experience while maintaining financial viability and operational feasibility. o Evaluate the end-to-end dining experience; implement unit-level improvements. o Use participation data and analytics, to drive overall dining experience improvements. Support innovation, sustainability initiatives, waste reduction, and evolving residential dining and retail models.
Food Safety and Compliance o Ensure full compliance with federal, state, local, university, and departmental requirements for food safety, sanitation, workplace safety, accessibility, labor practices, and public health. o Maintain inspection and audit readiness and achieve required outcomes for the assigned dining hall. o Establish clear accountability for safety and compliance and take timely corrective action when needed. Ensure effective controls are in place for all operational requirements.
Financial and Operational Management o Develop, implement, and manage the dining hall operating budget and business plan in alignment with R&DE and Student Dining goals. o Forecast and control all operating expenses; analyze performance against budget and adjust plans as needed. Ensure effective and efficient purchasing policies are followed. o Analyze financial and operational information to identify risks, change opportunities, service needs, labor requirements, and needed corrective actions.
Student Experience and Hospitality o Build a culture of genuine hospitality. Maintain a professional, visible presence and engage constructively with students, residential education partners, campus stakeholders, and the broader university community. o Review student satisfaction results and other feedback; establish priorities and support efforts for measurable improvement. Respond to service issues promptly and ensure seamless resolution. o Provide leaders and teams with the resources needed to deliver consistent, welcoming, best-in-class service.
Team Leadership and Development o Lead, coach, and develop all assigned manager staff, and frontline teams. Set clear performance, operational and budget goals. Communicate expectations and provide ongoing feedback. o Conduct regular leadership and team meetings. Reinforce safety, collaboration, respectful workplace practices, and continuous improvement. o Assess unit training needs; develop succession planning and ensure understanding of all procedures.
Minimum Education and Experience Required:
Bachelor's degree in hospitality, business administration, food service management or a related field or six years of progressively responsible, full-time dining, food-service, hospitality, or related operations and team-management experience in a high-volume environment, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Demonstrated experience managing a high-volume dining hall or comparable complex operation, including direct accountability for managers, cross-functional teams, and simultaneous operating priorities.
- Experience in collegiate, institutional, residential, hospitality, or another high-volume dining operation.
- Comprehensive knowledge of dining operations, hospitality, culinary and service execution, food safety, labor management, purchasing, inventory, accessibility, and cost control.
- Demonstrated financial acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, labor planning, expense control, revenue analysis, and interpretation of operational results.
- Strong leadership, communication, coaching, decision-making, problem-solving, change-management, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Support employee engagement and retention through fair and equitable practices, open communication, recognition, professional development, and timely resolution of workplace concerns.
- Ability to use Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, email, and internet based operating and reporting systems.
Certificates and Licenses Required Ability to obtain and maintain ServSafe CA certificate within 90 days of hire.