Catering Director jobs

Regional Operations Director - Education Catering

Location: Regionally across the West Midlands and adjoining areas

Salary: Competitive Salary and Car Allowance

Educaterers is a successful school catering provider, delivering high-quality meals and services to schools across the Midlands and surrounding areas. As part of The Lunchtime Group, we combine specialist education catering expertise with strong, long-standing partnerships with our schools, creating positive lunchtime experiences for pupils every day.

Lead. Inspire. Make a Difference.

We're looking for an exceptional Regional Operations Director to lead a portfolio of around 150 schools across the West Midlands and adjoining areas. This is a senior leadership opportunity for a strategic, people-focused leader who can inspire high-performing teams, build trusted client relationships and deliver operational and commercial excellence.

With full accountability for the operational, financial and commercial success of the region, you'll lead a team of Operations Managers and build trusted partnerships with school leaders, ensuring every contract delivers outstanding outcomes.

Creating a culture of ownership, accountability and continuous improvement will be central to your success. You'll balance strategic direction with visible leadership, coaching and developing your teams while driving innovation and identifying opportunities for sustainable growth.

You'll take ownership of regional financial performance, using your commercial insight and operational expertise to drive profitable growth, maximise contract performance and deliver effective budgeting, forecasting and cost control.

This is an opportunity to shape the future of our education catering business, leading a high-performing region where empowered teams, valued client partnerships, consistently high standards and effective cross-company collaboration create lasting success for our schools and the communities they serve.

About You

We're looking for someone who brings:

• Significant senior operational leadership experience within education catering, contract catering or multi-site food service operations.
• A proven track record of leading large, geographically dispersed operations and delivering consistent operational excellence.
• Strong commercial and financial expertise, with experience managing substantial P&L responsibilities and driving sustainable business performance.
• Demonstrable success in building lasting client relationships, retaining contracts and engaging a wide range of stakeholders.
• A passion for developing high-performing operational teams, creating a culture of accountability, engagement and continuous improvement.
• Excellent analytical, decision-making and problem-solving skills, with the ability to balance strategic thinking and operational delivery.
• Outstanding communication and influencing skills, with the credibility to build trusted relationships at every level.
• A genuine passion for delivering exceptional food and service that enhances the experience of pupils, schools and their communities.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and car allowance
• Pension and benefits
• Professional development and career progression opportunities.
• The opportunity to lead high-performing teams and influence business growth.
• The chance to make a meaningful impact across our portfolio of schools and the lives of thousands of pupils every day.

Work Location: Hybrid remote in West Midlands