Assistant Director, Food Services

County of Santa Clara; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Santa Clara Valley Healthcare is seeking a supervisory professional to maintain a high‑quality hospital food service program. You will direct purchasing, preparation and serving for patients, inmates, staff and visitors across multiple sites.

The role requires strong knowledge of nutrition, menu planning, inventory control and staff training, with oversight of sanitation and safety. You will coordinate with departments to ensure timely, safe meals and supervise kitchen operations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in foods and nutrition, food service administration, or related field.
• At least three years of increasingly responsible hospital food service experience, including supervisory responsibilities.

Responsibilities

• Establishes and maintains standards of food production, service, sanitation and safety.
• Directs purchasing, preparation and serving of food to patients, staff and visitors.
• Inspects areas, equipment and staff hygiene to ensure sanitation compliance.
• Prepares work schedules and assigns tasks to food service staff.
• Trains and mentors subordinate personnel and participates in hiring decisions.
• Monitors budgets, inventories and reports on meals prepared and costs.

Skills

Staff supervision

Menu planning

Food production oversight

Inventory management

Quality control

Data reporting

Effective communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in foods and nutrition or related field

Job description

Under direction, to be responsible for maintenance of a high quality food service program at a major institution; to direct and supervise the purchasing, preparation and serving of food to patients, inmates, staff, and visitors; to direct and supervise the sanitation and ware washing elements of the food service program.

Because we serve patients throughout multiple hospitals and clinics, you may have to work at different sites. We will meet any obligations we may have when this occurs.

The Power of WE: Together, we can make a greater impact. Bringing better care and expanding healthcare services across the community.

Santa Clara Valley Healthcare (SCVH) is the second largest public health care system in California and includes three acute care hospitals, 14 clinics and 60+ specialty and sub-specialty services. Our mission is to provide high-quality, accessible healthcare and excellent service to everyone in Santa Clara County.

Because we serve patients throughout multiple hospitals and clinics, you may have to work at different sites. We will meet any obligations we may have when this occurs.

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center - SCVMC is a full-service tertiary acute care teaching hospital with 699 licensed beds providing a wide range of specialized services, including Rehabilitation, Burn, Trauma, and NICU. SCVMC was ranked by U.S. News and World Report as #6 Rehabilitation Hospital in the nation and #1 in the West and designated as a 2024 High Performing hospital for Maternity Care, Heart Failure, Stroke, Hip Fracture, and Pneumonia.

O'Connor Hospital - O'Connor Hospital (OCH) is a 358 licensed bed acute care facility offering a full range of inpatient and outpatient medical, surgical and specialty programs to residents of Santa Clara County. It was founded in 1889 as one of the first hospitals in the county. OCH has grown significantly over the past five years in both its inpatient volume and its Emergency Department visits. Along with these volume increases other ancillary and clinical departments like imaging, lab, pharmacy, and respiratory have seen growth as well.

St. Louise Regional Hospital - Since 1989, St. Louise Regional Hospital (SLRH) has been caring for the residents in Santa Clara and San Benito Counties, offering a wide range of inpatient and outpatient medical specialties. SLRH has 93 beds, is a Designated Primary Stroke Center, and is the only acute care hospital in the area. Located in Gilroy, SLRH maintains a CALSTAR 2 emergency helicopter base on the premises.

Regional Medical Center – Regional Medical Center (RMC) is a 258-bed hospital that is the main emergency healthcare provider for East San José, treating a wide range of critical and life‑threatening conditions for more than 60 years. Since the SCVH integration of RMC effective 4/1/25, RMC has expanded the critical services including Level II trauma, Thrombectomy capable Stroke Center and STEMI care, and has been seeing an increased number of emergency visits and inpatient volume.

Learn more about Santa Clara Valley Healthcare: https://www.scvh.org/home and follow us on: LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/company/county-of-santa-clara/

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• Establishes and maintains standards of food production and service, sanitation, safety, and security;
  
• Compiles and utilizes pertinent operational data to improve efficiency and quality of food service;
  
• Develops specifications for the procurement of food, equipment and supplies;
  
• Establishes the number of persons to be served and computes the quantity of food to be purchased, insuring that individual portions conform to dietetic standards of the hospital or institution;
  
• Inspects food preparation and serving areas, equipment, and storage facilities and observes the appearance and personal habits of food service staff to insure conformance to sanitation standards and public health regulations;
  
• Prepares work schedules and makes assignments through subordinate supervisors to food services staff;
  
• Assists in selection of subordinate personnel and directs their orientation and training;
  
• Recommends, initiates, and approves a variety of personnel actions (e.g., transfers, promotions, separations) in accord with Merit System Rules and institutional policies;
  
• Reviews technical journals and publications and confers with food industry representatives concerning new developments in food packing and processing, related equipment, nutritional concepts and selects among them to recommend for adoption into the institution's food service program;
  
• Prepares reports on number and types of meals prepared and costs of raw food and labor;
  
• Maintains inventories and records on all hospital kitchen equipment and supplies, personnel data, recipes, and work schedules;
  
• Maintains effective verbal and written communications and public relations, inter- and intradepartmentally;
  
• Develops short and long-range departmental plans and programs consistent with departmental and organizational policies;
  
• Relieves the Director in his/her absence;
  
• Assists in preparing the departmental budget; and
  
• Performs other related work as required.

Training, education and work experience in a large institutional food services program sufficient to enable a candidate to demonstrate possession of the following knowledges and abilities:

Experience Note:

The level of knowledge and ability reflected in this standard would normally be achieved through attainment of a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a major in foods and nutrition, food service administration, or a related field and at least three years of increasingly responsible experience in a hospital or major food service program including at least one year of supervisory experience. A master's degree in a related field may be substituted for one year's experience.

Knowledge of:

• The practice, organization, techniques and current trends in institutional food service production, serving and administration;
  
• Institutional kitchen equipment and its operation;
  
• Basic principles of nutrition;
  
• Local, state and federal regulations governing food service operations;
  
• Basic principles of organization and specifically hospitals for some positions;
  
• Inventory control procedures;
  
• Principles of supervision and training;
  
• Budget preparation;
  
• Working knowledge of computer application to food service is desirable.

Ability to:

• Train, direct and supervise a staff engaged in preparing and serving food and maintaining an institutional kitchen;
  
• Estimate the number of persons to be served and compute the necessary amount of food to be ordered in order to meet dietetic standards;
  
• Prepare menus and portion specifications according to sound nutritional principles and dietetic standards;
  
• Establish and maintain a quality control program for preparation of foods;
  
• Monitor food preparation and serving areas, equipment, storage facilities and personal habits of food service staff for conformance to health regulations and sanitation standards;
  
• Compile data, maintain inventories on supplies and equipment and write reports;
  
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with departmental and subordinate staff, patients, and the general public.