Food & Nutrition Services Manager

MaineGeneral Medical Center; Augusta (ME); On-site; USD 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

MaineGeneral Health is seeking an experienced Food & Nutrition Services Manager to provide strategic and operational leadership for all food and nutrition service functions within a healthcare setting. You will oversee daily operations, workforce planning, and quality improvement initiatives while fostering engagement and service excellence for patients, residents, visitors, and staff.

The role emphasizes developing people, improving processes, and maintaining high standards of dining

Qualifications

• One year of proven leadership experience in food service, hospitality, healthcare nutrition services, or a related operational environment required; healthcare food service leadership experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success recruiting, developing, engaging, and retaining high-performing teams.
• Strong experience in employee relations, performance management, coaching, conflict resolution, and organizational leadership.
• Knowledge of food service operations, budgeting, workforce management, regulatory compliance, and quality improvement principles.
• Ability to analyze performance data and use metrics to drive operational excellence and employee engagement outcomes.
• Strong communication, relationship-building, and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively across departments and with Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, and operational leaders to address staffing challenges, support employee relations, drive engagement initiatives, and achieve organizational objectives.
• A collaborative leadership style with the ability to influence, inspire, and develop others.
• Food service management experience in a healthcare environment preferred.
• ServSafe certification preferred or obtained within six months of hire.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for all food and nutrition service functions, ensuring daily operations align with departmental goals, organizational priorities, and exceptional customer service standards.
• Build, lead, and sustain a high-performing team through recruitment, onboarding, coaching, mentoring, performance management, succession planning, and employee development initiatives.
• Foster a positive, inclusive, and accountable workplace culture that promotes engagement, professional growth, recognition, collaboration, and retention while addressing employee relations concerns.
• Lead workforce planning efforts by overseeing staffing, scheduling, payroll administration, productivity, and labor management to ensure efficient and effective operations.
• Develop, implement, and monitor departmental goals, operational metrics, and continuous quality improvement initiatives that support the organization’s strategic plan and vision.
• Partner with organizational leaders to identify opportunities to improve service quality, patient satisfaction, employee engagement, operational efficiency, and departmental performance.
• Collaborate with Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, and MaineGeneral leaders to support workforce planning and staffing needs.
• Oversee departmental budgets, monitor financial performance, and ensure responsible resource stewardship while achieving objectives.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, food safety, sanitation, infection prevention, and organizational standards.
• Establish and maintain relationships with vendors, suppliers, and local farmers to secure high-quality products and enhance dining experiences.
• Oversee inventory, equipment, and supply management for operational readiness.

Skills

Leadership experience

Employee development

Strategic leadership

Communication

Education

Associate’s degree in a relevant field

Job description

Job Summary:

MaineGeneral Health is seeking an experienced, people-focused leader to join our team as a Food & Nutrition Services Manager. This role is ideal for a dynamic professional who is passionate about developing high-performing teams, delivering exceptional customer service, and leading operational excellence within a complex healthcare food service environment. As the Food & Nutrition Services Manager, you will provide strategic and operational leadership for food and nutrition services, overseeing daily operations, workforce planning, quality improvement initiatives, and regulatory compliance. You will build and sustain a culture of engagement, accountability, and service excellence while ensuring patients, residents, visitors, and staff receive high-quality dining experiences. The ideal candidate is a visible and approachable leader who enjoys developing people, improving processes, strengthening employee engagement and retention, and creating an environment where team members are empowered to succeed.

Job Description:

Schedule Hours vary based on operational needs. Occasional weekends, holidays, and off-shift availability may be required to support department operations.

What You’ll Do

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for all food and nutrition service functions, ensuring daily operations align with departmental goals, organizational priorities, and exceptional customer service standards.
• Build, lead, and sustain a high-performing team through effective recruitment, onboarding, coaching, mentoring, performance management, succession planning, and employee development initiatives.
• Foster a positive, inclusive, and accountable workplace culture that promotes employee engagement, professional growth, recognition, collaboration, and retention while addressing employee relations concerns in a timely and effective manner.
• Lead workforce planning efforts by overseeing staffing, scheduling, payroll administration, productivity, and labor management to ensure efficient and effective operations.
• Develop, implement, and monitor departmental goals, operational metrics, and continuous quality improvement initiatives that support the organization’s strategic plan and vision.
• Partner with organizational leaders to identify opportunities to improve service quality, patient satisfaction, employee engagement, operational efficiency, and departmental performance.
• Collaborate closely with Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, and leaders across MaineGeneral to support workforce planning, recruitment efforts, employee engagement initiatives, employee relations matters, and departmental staffing needs.
• Oversee departmental budgets, monitor financial performance, and ensure responsible resource stewardship while achieving operational and quality objectives.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable regulatory, food safety, sanitation, infection prevention, and organizational standards.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with vendors, suppliers, and local farmers to secure high-quality products, support responsible purchasing practices, and enhance the dining experience.
• Oversee inventory, equipment, and supply management to ensure operational readiness and efficient utilization of departmental resources.
• Champion a culture of service excellence that delivers nutritious, high-quality meals and exceptional customer experiences for patients, residents, visitors, and staff.

What We’re Looking For

• One year of proven leadership experience in food service, hospitality, healthcare nutrition services, or a related operational environment required; healthcare food service leadership experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success recruiting, developing, engaging, and retaining high-performing teams.
• Strong experience in employee relations, performance management, coaching, conflict resolution, and organizational leadership.
• Knowledge of food service operations, budgeting, workforce management, regulatory compliance, and quality improvement principles.
• Ability to analyze performance data and use metrics to drive operational excellence and employee engagement outcomes.
• Strong communication, relationship-building, and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively across departments and with Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, and operational leaders to address staffing challenges, support employee relations, drive engagement initiatives, and achieve organizational objectives.
• A collaborative leadership style with the ability to influence, inspire, and develop others.
• Food service management experience in a healthcare environment preferred.
• ServSafe certification preferred or obtained within six months of hire.
• Associate’s degree in a relevant field required.

Why This Role Matters

Food and nutrition services play a critical role in the overall experience of our patients, residents, visitors, and team members. This position has the opportunity to shape not only the quality of food service operations but also the culture and engagement of a large and diverse workforce. Success in this role means building a highly engaged team, improving retention, developing future leaders, and creating an environment where employees feel valued, supported, and connected to our mission. Through operational excellence, strong leadership, and a commitment to quality, the Food & Nutrition Services Manager helps ensure every meal served reflects MaineGeneral Health's commitment to exceptional care and service.

The salary range shown reflects the base salary for this position. Individual compensation is determined based on factors such as experience, qualifications, skills, and market considerations.

Schedule and Employment Details

Scheduled Weekly Hours: 40 Job Exempt: Yes

Benefits

Supporting all aspects of our employees' wellness - physical, emotional and financial - is a critical component of being a great place to work. With the wide range of benefits and programs available, employees have the resources they need to be well at every stage of life and plan for the future.

Physical Wellness: We offer quality health, dental, and vision benefits and wellness programs and resources to provide employees access to resources for a healthy lifestyle and help manage health care costs. Employees have access to industry-leading leave for new parents. A generous earned time plan is offered to all employees - We believe employees need and deserve time away from work to observe holidays, be with family, go on vacation, or simply take care of themselves.

Emotional Wellness: When life gets challenging, employees have access to our Employee Assistance Program for employees and anyone in their household.

Financial Wellness: Access the wages you've already earned before payday with Payactiv, giving you greater flexibility over your finances.

Tuition Reimbursement is available to all employees to further develop skills and career.

We offer eligible employees up to 2% of eligible pay in 403(b) company-matching contributions plus another 2% in the 401(a) retirement income plan.

Three insurance plans are available to protect your family from the sudden loss of income in the event of your death, terminal illness or serious injury from accident.

We offer both short-term and long-term disability insurance to replace a portion of your income if you become disabled and cannot work for a period of time.

Career Mobility: Helping our employees develop their skills and grow their careers is critical to how we retain our talent and sustain our business. We do this by offering our teammates a variety of leadership-supported programs and learning and development resources for every stage of their professional development. We know that our employees are our most valuable resource - they're how we grow our business and care for our community.

Equal Opportunity

Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/Vet/Disability Assistive technologies are available. MaineGeneral participates in E-Verify. In furtherance of MaineGeneral's policy regarding Equal Employment Opportunity, MaineGeneral has developed a written ... The Aff ... Assistive technologies are available. EEO is Law