Nutrition Services | Senior Manager | Secondary Operations

About the role

The Senior Manager of Secondary Operations leads all school-based Nutrition Services operations across secondary sites (middle schools and high schools), ensuring consistent, compliant, and efficient meal service within the secondary self-operation model. This position supervises secondary cafeteria managers, owns segment-level performance and accountability, and drives participation growth and operational efficiency through disciplined execution of high-volume service models, staffing readiness, and production quality.

Responsibilities

• Lead all secondary Nutrition Services operations (middle schools and high schools) ensuring readiness, service execution, and consistent implementation of department SOPs, standard work, and operational expectations within the self-operation model; serve as the day-to-day operational point of contact with building administrators for assigned secondary sites, escalating strategic or relationship-level concerns to the Director.
• Supervise and evaluate secondary cafeteria managers; set clear performance expectations, conduct evaluations, provide coaching and mentoring, and initiate corrective or disciplinary action in coordination with the Director of School Operations and HR.
• Own secondary segment performance including participation rates, claimed meal volume, speed of service, lunch throughput, and operational consistency; identify underperforming sites, diagnose root causes, and implement targeted improvement actions.
• Lead standardization and continuous improvement of secondary breakfast and lunch execution including service flow, staging, labor deployment during peak service line speed, closing routines, and student traffic management to maximize participation, throughput, and the student experience.
• Manage staffing readiness across assigned sites by partnering with cafeteria managers to address call-offs, vacancies, and daily adjustments; coordinate relief coverage needs with the Assistant Director's dispatch process to maintain uninterrupted service in high-volume environments.
• Conduct routine site observations to verify service quality, portioning consistency, speed of service, customer service behaviors, food safety practices, on-site production standards, and adherence to standardized procedures; ensure corrective actions are documented and completed.
• Ensure compliance with USDA meal pattern standards, offer-versus-serve requirements, food safety/HACCP protocols, civil rights requirements, and district wellness practices across all secondary sites; support audit readiness through consistent documentation and follow-through.
• Coordinate with NPC operations (production, distribution) to address delivery issues, product availability, on-site production alignment, and the operational impact of menu changes on secondary execution; escalate systemic issues to the Director.
• Collaborate with the Participation & Student Experience Lead and Field Performance & Training Lead on secondary-specific initiatives and system implementations; own the execution of approved systems and interventions within the secondary segment and ensure managers and site-based production staff adopt and sustain them as designed.
• Monitor site-level financial indicators within the secondary segment including labor utilization, food cost alignment, and on-site production efficiency; flag variances and recommend adjustments to the Director of School Operations.
• Provide on-call support as needed for urgent food-safety situations across school sites (e.g., equipment/power issues) including coordination, escalation, and documentation per SOPs.
• Provide regular reports to the Director of School Operations on secondary segment performance including participation trends, staffing metrics, site observations, production quality, compliance status, and corrective action follow-through.
• Support the FWCS Schools of Success mission to empower all students to reach their potential through equitable and relevant community-connected experiences to ensure students achieve at least one of the 4E’s - (Enrollment, Employment, Enlistment, or Entrepreneurship.)

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Food Service Management, Business, Hospitality, Nutrition, or a related field or three to five (3-5) years of progressive supervisory/operations experience in food service, school nutrition, hospitality, retail, or a comparable high-volume service environment in lieu of a degree.
• Demonstrated experience supervising, evaluating, and developing site-based managers in a multi-location high-volume food service operation.
• Working knowledge of food safety and sanitation requirements; knowledge of USDA school meal program operations preferred.
• Ability to analyze operational data (participation, labor, service issues, production metrics) and translate findings into practical improvements and measurable results.
• Strong oral and written communication skills; ability to provide clear direction, manage conflict professionally, and hold people accountable in fast-paced environments.
• Proficiency with office productivity tools and ability to learn and operate district systems (e.g., LINQ, UKG, and related tools).
• Food Safety Training Certification (must obtain within 30 days of employment).
• Valid Indiana driver's license and ability to travel between district sites.