Senior Dining Manager

Appointment: Regular, full-time (1.0 FTE) position. 

Work Location: 
This position is based in Tacoma, WA, and is an on-campus role only. 

Please note that we generally do not sponsor applicants for work visas for staff positions. Therefore, we generally require applicants for staff positions to be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

Position Summary: 

Provides strategic and operational leadership for all aspects of The Diner, the University's residential dining facility located in Wheelock Student Center. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, The Diner is committed to delivering an exceptional dining experience that emphasizes high-quality and accommodates a wide range of dietary preferences, medical dietary restrictions, and food allergies. Supporting up to 3,000 guest transactions daily, The Diner plays a vital role in fostering campus community and student success.

The Senior Manager is responsible for the safe, efficient, and customer-focused operation of this high-volume dining program, providing leadership and oversight for managers, supervisors, regular staff, and student employees. This position establishes operational priorities, develops and mentors leaders, ensures compliance with food safety, allergen management, and regulatory standards, and drives continuous improvement in service quality, operational efficiency, employee engagement, and guest satisfaction. The position ensures all operations align with Dining & Event Services (DES) standards, philosophy, and strategic goals.

This is a full-time, year-round position. Work schedules vary based on operational needs and include evenings, weekends, holidays, and other hours as necessary to ensure uninterrupted dining services.

Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities: 

• Oversees the daily operations of The Diner, ensuring high-quality service, food safety, sanitation, and compliance with University and departmental standards.

• Supervises, develops, and evaluates managers, supervisors, regular staff, and student employees through hiring, training, coaching, and performance management.

• Ensures compliance with food safety, HACCP, allergen management, and sanitation standards.

• Manages staffing, scheduling, and operational coverage for all meal periods.

• Promotes a welcoming, guest-focused dining experience and resolves customer concerns.

• Fosters teamwork, accountability, and effective communication while addressing operational and personnel issues.

• Collaborates with campus partners to support daily operations, special events, and continuous improvement.

• Leads operational improvements, including menu development, merchandising, and service enhancements.

• Provides hands-on operational support and performs other duties as assigned.

• Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervises Dining Service Managers, Supervisors and Regular and Student Staff

• Perform and oversee personnel functions including hiring, performance evaluations, performance management and scheduling

• Assures The Diner staff is doing their jobs adequately

• Manages hours and schedules for all Diner staff members

• Provide timely performance reviews for staff members

• Enforces policies as outlined in the DES Staff Handbook

Qualifications: 

Candidates must be able to explain and/or demonstrate that they possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities to safely perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation.

• Demonstrates time management skills supporting a complex work load; ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects

• Well versed in Microsoft Software Suite

• Ability to pass pre-employment background inquiry and testing, including a physical, drug screening, and strength test

• Must possess a valid Food Worker Card

• Regular and reliable attendance

• Manager¿s ServSafe certificate preferred

• Ability to respectfully work, communicate and provide leadership within a diverse campus community

Education and Experience 

• Two years of progressively responsible management experience in the hospitality, restaurant, food service, or higher education dining industry is required. Experience managing a high-volume restaurant or college/university dining operation is strongly preferred. An equivalent combination of education, training, and directly related experience that demonstrates the required knowledge, skills, and abilities may be considered.

Language Skills

• Must be able to speak clearly, listen attentively, read, write, and understand English

• Ability to communicate with all levels of staff members in various settings, including one-on-one and small groups

• Tact in working with professional peers from other departments and all subordinates

Mathematical Skills

Reasonable skill in computing, reporting and working with numbers as it applies to pricing and cashiering; calculating work schedules and time-cards; estimating production needs.

Reasoning Ability

• Proven strategic planning skills and a customer focused business approach

• Ability to think quickly and accurately, showing initiative and sound judgment

• Ability to communicate operational challenges, with recommended solutions where possible

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Regularly required to stand, walk, and reach with hands and arms

• Frequently required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; talk or hear; and taste or smell

• Regularly required to lift and/or move up to 30 pounds

Compensation and Benefits: 

Career Framework Information:
Job Family: Auxiliary Services
Level: M1
Pay Grade: 6

The anticipated range for this position is $31.00 to $34.00 per hour. Decisions about starting salaries are made based on the extent and relatedness of the candidate's education and experience and on internal equity and market considerations. 

Puget Sound offers a generous benefits package for eligible staff employees, including: 

• Medical, dental, and vision 
• Life insurance and long-term disability 
• Employee Assistance Program 
• Retirement plan options and 403(b) contributions 
• Paid vacation, sick leave, floating holiday, campus holidays and bonus holidays 
• Education benefits, such as full tuition for eligible employees and their families 
• Access to university facilities and entertainment (fitness center, pool, library, concerts, lectures and more!) 

Please note: 
-Positions that work less than .75 FTE (1,560 hours per year) do not qualify for long-term disability or education benefits.
-Positions that work less than .50 FTE (1,040 hours per year) will accrue paid sick leave but are not eligible for additional benefits.
-Temporary positions that work at least .50 FTE (1,040 hours per year) will be eligible for benefits. 

This position is non-exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

For more information on Puget Sound's non-exempt staff benefits package, visit: Summary of 2026 Benefits for Staff Members in Non-Exempt Positions.pdf - Google Drive

For the Campus Holiday and Bonus Day Schedule, visit: https://www.pugetsound.edu/human-resources

Application Deadline: 
Review of applications will begin immediately. Search and selection procedures will be closed when a sufficient number of qualified candidates have been identified. 

Required Documents: 

• Resume
• Letter of Interest 
• 3 Professional References (At least 2 supervisors)

Applications submitted without the required attachments will not be considered. 

All offers of employment are contingent on successful completion of all required background checks. 

University Diversity Statement

We Acknowledge:

• The richness of commonalities and differences we share as a university community.
• The intrinsic worth of all who work and study here.
• The investigation and reflection enhance that education upon multiple perspectives.

We Aspire:

• To create respect for and appreciation of all persons as a key characteristic of our campus community.
• To increase the diversity of all parts of our university community through a commitment to diversity in our recruitment and retention efforts.
• To foster a spirit of openness to active engagement among all members of our campus community.

We Act:

• To achieve an environment that welcomes and supports diversity.
• To ensure full educational opportunity for all who teach and learn here.
• To prepare citizen-leaders effectively for a pluralistic world.

Puget Sound is committed to an environment that welcomes and supports diversity. We seek diversity of identity, thought, perspective, and background in our students, faculty, and staff. To learn more please visit: https://pugetsound.edu/about-puget-sound-0/mission-core-values/institutional-equity-diversity 

The University of Puget Sound is an equal opportunity employer.