Assistant Director, Campus Services

Position Summary

UAE Nationals are encouraged to apply

New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) seeks to appoint an Assistant Director, Campus Services (Dining).

The Assistant Director (AD) has overall responsibility for leading NYUAD’s external use obligations required by the Campus User Agreement. The AD is also responsible to align the campus’ “hospitality and commercial businesses”, in the areas of NYU Dining, Catering, The Torch Club and Vending services, Community use, and commercial services) with the University’s strategic initiatives and the strategic plan of the division. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to: the development of commercial plans; policies and procedures for the operations; development and supervision of the management team; prudent management of a $6+ million budget; development and implementation of strategic objectives; oversight of major renovation and maintenance; and upkeep of over 4 facilities and locations. Direct quality control of food and services and maintain housing occupancy rates at agreed upon KPIs. Collaborate with key university stakeholders (Vice Chancellor’s Office, Office of Student Affairs, Public Safety, on all matters regarding the operations, events and client’s expectations and community dining.

Moreover, the incumbent is responsible for taking the lead on selecting appropriate commercial entities to operate within the NYUAD campus to generate revenue. The role will also serve as a contract liaison for the service provider and the liaison within other University departments and committees. The role will assess service provider’s performance related to overall community experience to determine operational adjustments, improvements, quality enhancements and cost savings. The incumbent is responsible for operationalizing campus activation plans in conjunction with NYUAD’s government partners.

The role will establish and maintain rapport, communication and engagement with students, community members and stakeholders including the University’s government partner while implementing initiatives and enhancements related to dining and hospitality.

In addition the post holder will play a critical role in business continuity and the Incident Management Team (IMT).

Key Responsibilities:

Provide overall direction and supervision of the University’s food & beverage outlets, on-campus catering services. Directs NYUAD’s contracted service provider to ensure that mutual objectives, KPIs, and the provider’s contractual obligations for dining, housing, and hospitality services at the University are met. Serve as a contract liaison for the service provider to the NYUAD community. Establish and maintain rapport with key stakeholders and community members through active participation in and/or chairing various relevant committees. Initiate and manage stakeholder and community member involvement in dining and housing improvements and initiatives, which include ways in which the vendor can activate the campus to meet the community’s needs. Develop and execute improvements and enhancements to dining services. Collaborate with members of the faculty, students, and staff on the direction of dining and campus services to understand their needs, and what works best with the communities. Direct and lead NYUAD Community Use Activities as described in section 10 of the Campus User Agreement. Create revenue-generating opportunities on campus and work closely in the area of business development and execution with government partners to meet activation targets and revenue goals. Ensure NYUAD obligations in the Campus User Agreement regarding external use are complied with. Oversee joint governance of community use/campus activation in coordination with DARO. Create actionable plans based upon the joint campus activation working group. The AD is specifically for the following: Maintain the community use plan and provide required reports to our government partners Oversee the management of the community use calendar Lead the community use governance process Work with key university stakeholders to develop and expand community use plans that support the desire for the campus to be used by the broader community while maintaining the primacy of NYUAD’s academic mission Work with University Events to support internal university events and manage use conflicts through the joint governance process Develop overall campus strategy to align on campus events and overall interests to promote business development and coordination and increase campus activation for internal and external communities Work with service providers they are operating with the service parameters including but not limited to food safety, health and hygiene standards, safety protocol, service levels, and sustainability. Ensure overall consistency and high quality across the operations; assist in menu planning based on factors such as market trends, student preferences and nutritional considerations; ensure service provider is continuously developing menus in accordance with consumer tastes, on-trend ingredients, nutritional needs, cultural variety and budgetary constraints. Work with the Risk team to improve quality assurance plans. Direct and ensure the service provider’s compliance with all relevant regulatory requirements, trade and commercial license requirements and contractual obligations. Coordinate the efforts of external auditors to ensure compliance with contractual, business and performance commitments. Ensure compliance with the University’s policies, procedures and Supplier Code of Conduct.  Assume leadership roles for crisis management including prevention planning, incident management, resolution as a member of the Incident Management Team and Emergency Services Team. Work with both teams to prepare, manage and direct critical response activities during crises to protect human life, prevent/minimize property damage and restore normal operations. Direct and act as point of contact for Business Continuity Plan for Dining. Work on any other projects as assigned by the department. Conduct on a regular and periodic basis business reviews, surveys, inspections, observations and data analysis to determine operational adjustments, improvements and areas for cost savings. Direct the support service contracts for hardware and software systems owned by the University and operated by the service provider to deliver campus dining services and campus activation.

Required Education:

Bachelor’s Degree

Required Experience:

Minimum of 7 years related experience within a food, beverage, hospitality and housing services environment  Ability to assess technical needs Excellent communication, interpersonal, and client relations skills Strong leadership, excellent communication skills (verbal & written), interpersonal & customer service skills Experience within the hospitality sector and/ or contract management Experience in business and commercial development In depth knowledge of housing and dining operations Knowledge of relevant regulatory requirements Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with stakeholders, service providers and community members Experience in budget preparation and monitoring Strong management and leadership skills Conflict resolution skills Demonstrated ability to work under pressure, multi-task conflicting demands, meet deadlines and work independently Demonstrated ability to deal with sensitive situations with thoughtfulness, discretion and diplomacy Demonstrated ability to prepare high-level reports, budget 

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