Director of Hospitality

Special Instructions to Applicants:All interested applicants should attach a resume in the Supporting Documents section of the application preferably in a PDF format to avoid any formatting issues.

About Rice:

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston Texas Rice University is ranked among the nations top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio and a residential college system which supports students intellectually emotionally and culturally through social events intramural sports student plays lectures series courses and student government. Developing close-knit diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rices culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name RICE Responsibility Integrity Community and Excellence.

Position Summary:

The Director oversees a $20M residential dining operation and leads the implementation of revenue-generating initiatives across residential dining retail catering athletics and summer conference programs. This role is accountable for optimizing conference margins improving per-capita yield and maximizing year-round asset utilization while maintaining Rices standards for service excellence and access.

Summer conference and seasonal programs are a core revenue pillar within the hospitality portfolio generating approximately $2.5M in annualized revenue with direct accountability for pricing strategy labor efficiency and contribution margin performance.

Business development and expansion of new hospitality portfolios are core responsibilities of this role with accountability for identifying launching and scaling new revenue-generating programs across retail catering athletics executive dining and emerging service models. This includes building sustainable pipelines evaluating market demand and developing operating models that deliver margin-positive growth while aligning with institutional priorities and long-term financial sustainability.

The Director of Hospitality leads a dynamic and growing portfolio of dining services that includes:

• Residential Dining across multiple serveries
• Retail and Community Dining including faculty/staff operations
• Business School and Athletics Performance Nutrition programs
• Campus-Wide Catering and Premium Events
• Innovation Ventures such as premium vending digital ordering and hybrid meal models

This executive-level role blends strategy innovation operations and engagement to elevate Rice Dining into a nationally recognized model for student-centered hospitality. As Rice expands its residential academic and athletic facilities this position ensures dining services scale with agility excellence and care.

Ideal Candidate Statement:

The ideal candidate is a strategic hospitality leader who combines strong operational expertise with the ability to think and act at an enterprise level. They have a proven track record of driving innovation growing revenue and leading high-performing teams through change in complex environments. This individual builds trusted partnerships translates vision into scalable results and is committed to elevating hospitality as a key part of the institutional experience.

Workplace Requirements:

• Must be able to lift and carry up to 50 pounds several times each day.
• Requires walking or standing up to eight hours per day. Other physical requirements of the job include the ability to bend/crouch/or kneel lift see reach climb and balance.
• Must be able to detect scents and discern flavors. Daily duties will include working with a variety of commercial kitchen equipment including but not limited to: slicers ovens gas ranges/grills. Temperature extremes may be experienced when working within walk-in refrigerators and freezers.
• Weekly schedule will vary and will include working evenings weekends and holidays - Must be available to work any shift required.

Workplace Location:

This position is exclusively on-site necessitating all duties to be performed in-person. PerRice policy 440 work arrangements may be subject to change.

This role is classified as an Essential On-Campus Position requiring on-site presence to effectively carry out its vital functions. During emergencies or crises the employee is required to report to campus as directed to ensure continuity of critical operations and must remain accessible to leadership to fulfill responsibilities necessary for maintaining institutional functions.

Hiring Range: Commensurate based on education and experience

*Exempt (salaried) positions underFLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelors degree in hospitality Business Administration or a related field required
• Five or more (5) years of progressive leadership in food service operations including executive dining catering or campus dining environments
• Demonstrated success leading innovation service transformation or program expansion in a complex organization

Skills:

• Deep expertise instrategic dining operations especially in higher education or large-scale institutional environments
• Strongfinancial acumenwith experience in P&L oversight cost control and revenue growth
• Proven ability to leadhigh-performing diverse teamsthrough change
• Demonstratedinnovative thinkingand ability to implement creative solutions that improve service sustainability or student engagement
• Skilled in developing and maintainingstrategic partnershipsacross departments schools and vendors
• Strong understanding ofperformance nutritioncatering logistics andconcession service models
• Commitment toequal access and excellence with customer-centric service

Preferences:

• Masters degree (MBA MHA or equivalent) preferred; candidates with a masters degree will be strongly preferred for their advanced strategic business and leadership training

Essential Functions:

Strategic & Operational Leadership

• Lead the AVPs vision and execution of a dining program that adapts to institutional growth student needs and evolving food trends
• Serve as the principal advisor to senior leadership on dining strategy tied to capital projects and enrollment
• Benchmark Rice Dining against national leaders and oversee high-performing scalable operations

Business & Financial Oversight

• Establish annual revenue and contribution margin targets for summer conference dining programs; monitor performance against forecast and implement corrective actions as needed to protect margins.
• Partner with Conference Services to develop scalable dining packages per-diem models and premium service tiers that balance guest experience with financial performance.
• Develop manage and optimize budgets for residential retail catering athletics and emerging ventures
• Identify opportunities for revenue generation and cost efficiency
• Lead business development for new and expanding hospitality portfolios including identification evaluation and launch of revenue-generating programs across retail catering athletics executive dining and emerging service models.
• Establish financial targets pricing strategies and operating models for new hospitality initiatives with accountability for margin performance and long-term financial sustainability.

Innovation & Engagement

• Champion service model transformation digital tools and real-time feedback integration
• Launch strategic initiatives including new meal plans premium vending and expanded catering
• Collaborate with students and staff to co-create inclusive and engaging dining experiences

Talent Development & Culture

• Recruit mentor and retain a high-performing culinary and operations team
• Drive a culture of hospitality professionalism and continuous improvement
• Implement programs such as ACF Certification to support culinary development

Sustainability & Compliance

• Align operations with Rices climate action plan and zero waste goals
• Ensure compliance with food safety allergen management and regulatory standards

Rice University HR Benefits: Mission and Values: Mission and Values Rice University

Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and welcoming the fullness of diversity into our candidate pools. Rice considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race color religion age sex sexual orientation gender identity national or ethnic origin genetic information disability or protected veteran status. Rice also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. If an applicant requires a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process please get in touch with Rice Universitys Human Resources Office via email at for support.

If you have any additional questions please email us at . Thank you for your interest in employment with Rice University.