Director, Food Services

Salary range

The salary range for this position is CAD $57.83 - $83.13 / hour
Why Fraser Health?

Fraser Health (FH) is responsible for the delivery of hospital and community-based health services to over 1.9 million people in 20 diverse communities from Burnaby to Fraser Canyon on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish and Nlaka’pamux Nations. The Fraser region is home to 32 First Nations communities and 6 Métis Chartered communities. Our team of nearly 48,000 staff, medical staff and volunteers is dedicated to serving our patients, families and communities to deliver on our vision: better health, best in health care.

The Director, Food Services is responsible for food operational excellence spanning across Fraser Health, and will provide subject matter expertise to continually promote and facilitate excellence in communication internally, and to customers and vendors. The Director will create and mentor a high functioning integrated team, and will promote collaboration and continuous development in a supportive and respectful environment. Frontline customer service, engagement, and maintaining sound relations will be key to this Director’s success, as the main liaison between stakeholders and retail vendors. The Director will assess and implement service improvements with new products, techniques and technologies that allow for a variety of sustainable, long-term food models appropriate to different populations. Leading transformational operational projects, consistent with the food operational strategic plan, will allow the Director to demonstrate their advanced ability to foster an innovative and inspiring vision in food services.

Conflict resolution and the ability to negotiate effectively will be important skills for the Director, as well as sound business acumen with internal and external stakeholders throughout high profile endeavours. Working alongside Food and Dietitian Services Leaders, the Director will implement quality and safety measures, while monitoring client satisfaction and ensuring service performance standards are meeting and exceeding expectations.

The ideal candidate has an in-depth background in food quality improvement and policy at a management level and will be prepared to lead and advocate for system-wide quality improvement across all in-house patient and retail food services. The Director will cultivate and encourage a safe space for staff to develop and grow by promoting staff involvement in decision-making and recommendations in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect.

The Director, Food Services is accountable for:

• Leading food operational excellence through implementing strategy around innovative, cost-effective food service delivery models that continue to meet customer and vendor needs;
• Developing and fostering positive working relationships with various stakeholder groups and consistently prioritizing excellence in communication;
• Utilizing quality and safety measurements, as well as monitoring and reporting systems to establish client satisfaction and identify deficiencies, to meet the expectation of existing and evolving initiatives;
• Consistently emphasizing and practicing the importance of frontline customer engagement with the goal of learning what service improvements, including products and technologies, would be most beneficial in heightening the level of customer service being provided.

The successful candidate will have:

• A Master's degree in a related field;
• 7-10 years of progressively more responsible roles within a support services area, including recent, related experience in Food Quality Improvement and Food Policy;
• Registered Dietitian (RD) or Certified Nutrition Manager (CNM), or eligible certification with Canadian Society of Nutrition Management (CSNM) as required; or
• An equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

If you have any questions, or are interested in learning more about this rewarding opportunity with Fraser Health, please email the Executive and Senior Leadership Acquisition team at executive.recruitment@fraserhealth.ca.

Fraser Health values diversity in the work force and strives to maintain an environment of Respect, Caring & Trust. Fraser Health’s hiring practices aspire to ensure all individuals are treated in an inclusive, equitable, and culturally safe manner.

Detailed Overview

Supporting the Vision, Values, Purpose and Commitments of Fraser Health including service delivery that is centered around patients/clients/residents and families:

Reporting to the Regional Director, Food Services, the Director is responsible and accountable for the provision of leadership and staff management, planning and coordination of all services across designated facilities across the health authority. These services include all in-house patient, retail food services, and contracted retail food services as applicable to the portfolio. The Director is also responsible and accountable for subject matter expertise and leadership, particularly regarding appropriate policies and service standards, creating and leading key operational projects and supporting Managers with Food Operations knowledge development and food operations issues management.

The Director is responsible for creating and maintaining a high functioning integrated team that effectively incorporates subject matter expertise, and the planning and coordination of all services within the health authority, ensuring appropriate policies and service standards are in place to ensure compliance to nutrition standards and applicable regulations and acts. Together with the BISS colleagues, the Director is responsible for building and maintaining exceptional customer and vendor relations that deliver consistent performance to commonly required standards. The Director anticipates major changes that impact services, develops short and long term plans for the portfolio and implements mitigating strategies. As a senior member of the Food Services leadership team, the incumbent is expected to participate in a respectful and productive manner, provide and accept thoughtful counsel and advice, and fully support decisions made by this team. Reporting to the Director are the Regional Managers, Managers and Coordinators, and others as appropriate.

Responsibilities

General

1. Leads cost effective food operational excellence across the health authority.
2. Works with BISS and other stakeholders to implement initiatives to enhance food service standardization, quality, productivity and innovative service delivery.
3. Continually provides support and respectful challenge to ensure effective decision making in all areas.
4. Leads others toward the achievement of the department's goals through effective communication of the program's vision, coordination of resources, priority advancement, consistent policy implementation, and promotion of collaboration and commitment.
5. Promotes and facilitates excellence in communication in keeping with customer service philosophy and good business practices.
6. Oversees response and resolution of service related problems within the portfolio.
7. Develops and encourages staff, and promotes staff involvement in the making of recommendations.
8. Recruits and manages assigned staff in accordance with professional standards, performance expectations and current legislated/contractual obligations.

Strategic

1. Ensures consistency with the food operational strategic plan of the Lower Mainland health organizations.
2. In partnership with Food Services leadership colleagues and BISS stakeholders across the lower mainland, establishes priorities for operational food service, food policies, procedures and budgets; formulates and recommends annual goals and objectives; ensures consistency with industry and provincial standards, and accreditation bodies.
3. Leads initiatives such as strategic food and dietetic policy, including adoption of best practices, to better integrate and streamline services across health authorities, optimize quality, & maximize productivity and cost efficiencies.
4. Initiatives being lead will comply with BISS project management processes with an emphasis on timely completion to the schedule commitment.
5. Develops strategic plans for food and dietetic operations services which address sustainable, long-term patient/resident, retail food models appropriate to different populations, and contributes as appropriate to environmental services plan that enhances recycle, reuse and reduction.

Customer and Vendor Relations

1. Ensures localized customer service and frontline customer engagement.
2. Ensures the operational and strategic liaison between key stakeholders and retail vendors.
3. Meets regularly with customers to create and maintain sound relations, review performance, manage escalated issues, and ensure service obligations are met.
4. Explores opportunities to introduce efficiencies and service improvements through the use of new products, techniques, technologies and/or other channels.

Quality and Measurement

1. Working with Food Services and BISS leadership, creates and utilizes appropriate Key Performance Indicators for food operations services and leads & participates in food quality improvement processes.
2. Ensures that appropriate quality and safety measures are in place and compatible with industry and provincial standards and accreditation bodies.
3. In partnership with BISS, establishes a client satisfaction monitoring and reporting systems for all designated facilities to identify and follow-up on deficiencies in all food service areas, monitor service performance of all support services to meet the expectations of evolving and existing initiatives to ensure effective resource allocation.

Administration

1. The Strategic and Financial plans will comprise key components of accountability in the Director's performance plan.
2. Responsible for the application of various collective agreements; provides advice and services as a labour relations resource to direct reports; facilitates problem solving and decision making pertaining to various labour relations workplace issues; and works collaboratively with Human Resources staff accessing their advice and support as appropriate.
3. Participates in establishing fiscal priorities and resource allocation for food operations services; coordinates budget development, capital equipment requests; monitors expenditures within established budgets; tracks key performance targets; identifies efficiencies and promotes optimal use of resources; contributes to making recommendations on current and future program/service adjustments.
4. Participates on various committees, teams and tasks groups; as appropriate represents the Lower Mainland on committees at the local, regional and/or provincial level.
5. Ensures that the Regional Director and other senior management as appropriate is informed of and aware of significant events and/or activities within all internally operated shared services.
6. Carries out responsibilities in accordance with health and safety requirements. Immediately reports unsafe situations by notifying supervisor or other appropriate personnel.
7. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

Master's Degree in a related field, plus a minimum of seven (7) to ten (10) years of progressively more responsible roles which include one or more within a support services area, or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience. Recent, related experience in Food Quality Improvement and Food Policy at a management level or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience will be a key asset.

Registered Dietitian or Certified Nutrition Manager (CNM) or eligible for certification with Canadian Society of Nutrition Management (CSNM) required.

Skills and Abilities

Demonstrates the LEADS capabilities of Leads Self, Engages Others, Achieves Results, Develops Coalitions and supports Systems Transformation.

Professional/Technical Capabilities

• Demonstrated ability to effectively lead, engage, negotiate and plan for the implementation and sustainment of quality and services and operations for clients, staff, leaders, and stakeholders.
• In-depth knowledge of healthcare policies complemented by operations leadership experience.
• Ability to actively lead, facilitate and support the use of information in support of system-wide quality improvement projects and initiatives.
• Fosters collaboration and effective working relationships with stakeholders that promote cooperative goals and contribute to an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect.
• Inspires a shared vision and aligns performance goals and objectives for team and individuals to ensure match with strategy while maintaining group cohesiveness, motivation, commitment and effectiveness.
• Applies superior conflict management skills and expertise to persuade and negotiate effectively to lead and implement change and/or resolve issues/disputes.
• Uses sound business acumen to develop and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with internal and external stakeholders throughout high profile endeavours.
• Demonstrates ability to problem-solve with a global perspective in order to incorporate the organization's systems and strategies when developing viable solutions to problems.
• Physical ability to perform the duties of the position.

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