Director - Food Enthusiast Programs

The anticipated hiring range for this position is $100,000 to $120,000. Hiring offers will be determined based on the final candidate’s qualifications and experience.  The recruiter can share more information about what the anticipated hiring rate/salary would be based upon your specific qualifications during the selection process. 

The CIA offers a substantial benefits package that includes medical coverage available at no cost to qualifying employees, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, short and long term disability insurance, retirement savings plan with high employer contributions, a generous paid time off program, and more!

As the benefits package at the CIA results in a significant value above the base hiring salary for this position, we encourage you to apply so that our recruiters can share more information with you about the benefits of working for the CIA.

 POSITION SUMMARY 

The Director of Food Enthusiast Programs is responsible for the overall management and performance of consumer-facing educational programs across all Culinary Institute of America (“CIA”) campuses. This includes classes, multi-day consumer conferences, travel programs, and other consumer educational experiences. The position has direct accountability for meeting revenue and P&L targets and actively drives growth in the Food Enthusiast experience and revenue stream, including solidifying CIA's online presence as a core channel for the business. The role operates as part of the Consumer Businesses division as a peer to the Director of Consulting and Workforce Development and holds equal strategic influence and accountability over Shared Services that support both Food Enthusiast Programming and CIA Consulting. Shared Services are organized into multiple areas, including Operations, Academic, and Demand Generation Engine (Sales & Marketing), among others, and may evolve or change over time. From an administrative standpoint, Shared Services headcount is broadly split equally between the Vice President of Consumer Businesses & Chief Experience Officer and the Vice President of Workforce Development and Industry Solutions, while strategic direction and accountability remain shared equally between both. 

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Programming, Calendar and Course Development

• Oversees the creation, facilitation, and ongoing management of the consumer programming calendar across all CIA campuses, including Hyde Park, Napa (Copia), St. Helena (Greystone), and San Antonio, as well as any additional locations and/or campuses.
• Develops new course titles and programming concepts, targeting up to 12 new courses per year, including curriculum brainstorming, design, and calendarization across all campuses.
• Adapts and evolves program delivery formats to meet the needs of working professionals and diverse consumer audiences, moving beyond traditional formats where market demand requires it.
• Monitors class registration levels and adopts enrollment strategies to optimize revenue and participation across all program lines.
• Identifies and manages opportunities for guest chefs, authors, and beverage professionals for public events at all campuses.
• Works in conjunction with the events team and the conference team to develop and capture private and custom revenue opportunities.
• Oversees and continuously improves the quality of all consumer educational programs, ensuring a consistently high level of hospitality and guest experience.

Revenue Growth and Online Presence

• Drives revenue growth strategy for the Food Enthusiast business, with a focus on expanding the consumer base, increasing program frequency, and deepening market penetration across CIA locations.
• Solidifies and grows CIA's online presence as a core channel for Food Enthusiast programming, working with marketing and digital teams to increase visibility, enrollment conversion, and brand reach.
• Identifies and develops consumer experience opportunities with travel, airport, and venue partners to extend the CIA Food Enthusiast brand beyond campus locations.

Financial Management

• Develops annual operating budgets and manages ongoing analysis of budget data, providing critical management information to senior leadership.
• Performs monthly reviews of financial statements to identify and correct problems, and ensures spending remains on target with projected budget allocations.
• Reads and interprets P&L statements and takes direct ownership of revenue targets and margin performance for the Food Enthusiast Program line.

Shared Services

• Holds equal strategic influence and accountability over Shared Services alongside the Director of Consulting and Workforce Development. Shared Services are organized into multiple areas, including Operations, Academic, and Demand Generation Engine (Sales & Marketing), and may evolve over time as business needs change.
• Works collaboratively with the Director of Consulting and Workforce Development and both VP-level leaders to ensure Shared Services resources are allocated equitably and efficiently across Food Enthusiast Programming and Consulting.
• Provides equal input on Shared Services priorities, staffing decisions, and performance standards, with the same standing as the Director of CIA Consulting Client Experience and Workforce Development in all shared governance decisions.

Operations and Cross-Campus Coordination

• Works closely with campus operations teams across all locations to ensure programming needs, including kitchen access, scheduling, and staffing, are met in a timely and coordinated manner.
• Facilitates a productive and collaborative work environment across all campuses to ensure consistent guest experience and effective staff training.
• Coordinates tasks between departments to ensure efficiency; assigns and delegates team responsibilities to support effective programming delivery.
• Works with internal constituents to track, project, and analyze business performance; identifies ways to improve productivity and leverage shared resources.
• Collaborates with the retail, digital, and group experience functions within Consumer Businesses as needed, serving as the primary programming partner without direct ownership of those areas.

Technology and AI Integration

• Leads AI tool adoption within the Food Enthusiast team, including staff training on AI platforms, development of standardized prompts, and implementation of SOPs for consistent and appropriate AI application across the department.
• Incorporates technology and AI tools into workflow to support proposal development, strategic planning, administrative processes, and operational efficiency.

People and Stakeholder Management

• Manages direct and indirect reports across all campuses, including payroll management, recruitment, staffing, scheduling, and annual performance appraisals for multi-campus teams.
• Proactively monitors and manages staff classification, scheduling equity, and benefit consistency across all campus teams to ensure fairness and compliance.
• Provides direction and guidance to all stakeholders associated with consumer programs, including kitchen operations and customer service teams.
• Sets and maintains a high standard of hospitality and customer focus across all touchpoints in the consumer programming experience.
• Any and all other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Culinary Arts, Hospitality, Hotel Administration, or a related field, or significant work experience in lieu thereof.

Experience:

• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressive experience in food and beverage, customer service, or consumer programming environments.
• Minimum of three (3) years of supervisory experience.
• Demonstrated experience in consumer engagement, including social media, influencer programming, and the design, development, and execution of consumer experiences.
• Demonstrated experience in digital marketing or online presence management for a consumer-facing business.
• Demonstrated expertise in driving revenues in excess of $1MM and managing to surplus targets.

PREFERRED QUALIFCATIONS

• Demonstrated expertise in budget management, multi-campus event coordination, and staff supervision.
• Previous management of a multi-location or multi-campus programming team.
• On-site event planning and guest coordination experience.
• Experience developing new course or programs from concept through launch.
• Higher Education work experience.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills; ability to be adaptable, dependable, and manage multiple priorities simultaneously across a geographically distributed team.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver a high level of service responsiveness to internal and external customers, with effective partnership across departments and the ability to determine when situations require escalation.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills. Demonstrated ability in organizational, time management, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills.
• High level of energy and self-motivation; comfortable operating with significant autonomy across multiple campuses.
• Strong proficiency with MS Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Ability to work effectively with scheduling, registration, reporting, and AI-assisted productivity systems.
• Detail-oriented and thorough, with exceptional organizational skills.
• Demonstrated history of improved guest experience with measurable results.
• Ability to read and analyze P&L statements and manage operating budget development with direct revenue accountability.
• Strong knowledge of the food service, wine, and hospitality industry, including both professional and consumer segments.
• Ability to follow and interpret market trends in the food and beverage community.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Must be able to work a flexible schedule including evenings, weekends, and holidays as required by business needs.
• Regular domestic overnight travel required.
• Regular work requires the use of a computer, many times in excess of eight (8) hours per day.