Culinary Team
University of Michigan
Recruiting for a Culinary Director
The University of Michigan created a brand-new Culinary Director role to support its rapidly expanding dining operations and evolving strategic direction. As the highest-level culinary position on campus, this leader would shape the university’s entire culinary vision, oversee innovation, serve as the public face of Michigan Dining, and guide program growth across a complex operation that includes:
- 26,000 meals served daily in residential dining halls
- 18 retail locations
- 4 additional outlets
- A total of 31 dining operations campus-wide
The Challenge
With several internal candidates expressing interest, Michigan sought an external partner to ensure a fair, transparent, and unbiased search process. The goal was to build a large, diverse, and inclusive candidate pool that extended beyond higher education into corporate culinary, hospitality, and large-scale foodservice leadership.
This role required a seasoned culinary executive who could blend operational excellence, sustainability, menu innovation, and strategic leadership at one of the largest and most respected universities in the country.
The Solution
Another Source partnered with the University of Michigan to design a comprehensive sourcing strategy that cast a wide national net, prioritized fairness, and spotlighted the role’s strategic importance. Our approach included:
- Highlighting the opportunity to establish the culinary direction and identity for a world-class dining program
- Communicating the visibility of the role as the senior culinary voice for a campus serving tens of thousands daily
- Engaging diverse talent across higher education, hospitality groups, corporate dining, large event operations, and culinary leadership networks
- Ensuring an equitable process that complemented internal interest while expanding the external talent pipeline
To meet the university’s expectations for diversity, transparency, and nationwide reach, our team conducted:
- Outreach to 219 prospects via LinkedIn
- Outreach to 39 prospects via Google
- Robust candidate screening and skills alignment
All outreach, screening, and presentation were completed within our 30-day engagement timeline.
The Result
Another Source delivered a strong, highly qualified, and diverse candidate slate that reflected both the breadth and depth required for this newly created role. The final outcomes included:
- A total of 258 sourced prospects
- 9 candidates presented to the hiring committee
- A pool representing executive chefs, corporate culinary leaders, university dining professionals, and innovators in large-scale foodservice
The university was able to evaluate talent from multiple industry sectors, ensuring a fair and transparent process and positioning Michigan Dining to select a leader capable of driving culinary strategy, menu development, sustainability initiatives, and operational excellence across its 31 dining locations.
This search established a strong model for future executive culinary recruitment at the University of Michigan and demonstrated Another Source’s ability to identify top talent for highly specialized, large-scale food operations.