Wisconsin Union Chief Operating Officer
Listed on 2026-09-05
-
Management
Operations Management, Project & Program Management, Hotel Management, General Management
Current Employees:
If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.
Job Category:
Limited
Employment Type:Regular
Job Profile:Student Union Director (Inst)
Job Summary:Reporting to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs/Wisconsin Union Executive Director, this position provides strategic leadership for the Wisconsin Union’s dining and food services operations, facilities operations, event services and support operations, and the Wiscard office.
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is part of the executive team for one of the nation’s largest and most complex university union systems. This role provides strategic leadership for multi-facility operations, diverse self-operated business portfolios, large-scale capital planning, and a large multicultural workforce. The COO ensures all programs, services, and facilities are safe, clean, accessible, and financially sustainable for millions of annual visitors.
As a strategic leader in university auxiliary services, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) demonstrates keen entrepreneurial and business acumen, excellent financial management, and inspiring leadership in customer service and hospitality. Further, the COO is expected to comprehensively manage and lead the major revenue generating departments to help create the necessary resources to support the Wisconsin Union departments focused on student and community programming, its overall mission, and its administration.
The COO also provides strategic direction in the management of Wisconsin Union facilities to help ensure the Union meets it mission of fostering an environment where every individual can build meaningful connections, grow both personally and professionally, experience a deep sense of belonging, and help ensure the Union lives up to its vision of being the place on campus where lifetime memories are made.
To this end, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer are (1) the Director of Dining and Hospitality, who oversees the retail dining, catering, culinary and food services supply chain operations; (2) the Director of Facilities, who oversees building services, maintenance, and event services and support, corporate sponsorship program; and (3) the Director of Wiscard Services, who oversees the campus card program and the point of sale system that supports most retail and catering operations on campus.
Key
Job Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership -Directly supervises the Director of Dining & Hospitality, Director of Facilities, and the Director of Wiscard Services. Provides broad strategic leadership, operational oversight, and overall financial management for these Wisconsin Union divisions: dining; facilities and events; the Wiscard office.
Strategic Management and Projects -For these units of the Wisconsin Union, directs strategic planning initiatives and establish objectives to ensure appropriate use of financial, administrative and staffing resources, and alignment with the strategic plan.
External Communication - Serves as the liaison to internal and external stakeholder groups providing organizational information pertaining to dining, facilities, Union event services, and the Wiscard office.
Business and Financial Management - Provides strategic oversight of the budgeting, forecasting, benchmarking, cost benefit and breakeven analyses for dining, food services and catering operations, and the events services and production operations. Oversees an overall budget of approximately $38 million. Coordinates the presentation of these divisional budgets in the annual budgeting processes. Works with Wisconsin Union marketing department to obtain the support needed to meet the revenue goals related to the dining, events, corporate sponsor ships and Wiscard operations.
Monitor and analyze sales and financial data and continuously improve financial performance of the dining and events operations.
Security and Safety - Ensures the appropriate operations, safety and security of Union facilities, event services, maintenance, and equipment. Ensures compliance with policy, law, and regulation pertaining to…
(If this job is in fact in your jurisdiction, then you may be using a Proxy or VPN to access this site, and to progress further, you should change your connectivity to another mobile device or PC).