Director - Production Operations

The hiring salary for this position is $100,000.

The CIA offers a substantial benefits package that includes medical coverage available at no cost to qualifying employees, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, short and long term disability insurance, retirement savings plan with high employer contributions, a generous paid time off program, and more!

The Director – Production Operations provides operational leadership for the full portfolio of events, conferences, meetings, and experiences hosted at the Culinary Institute of America (“CIA”) Copia, as well as Consumer Businesses activity at the CIA’s Greystone campus. The Director leads the Production Operations team and partners across CIA departments to ensure every activation held at Copia and Greystone, including special events, culinary programming, guest experiences, institutional gatherings, and hosted conferences, is delivered with operational excellence, financial discipline, and outstanding hospitality.

While team members bring specialized depth in particular program types, the Director has full latitude to assign, reassign, and cross-deploy Associate Directors and their teams across any program type or location based on business need, ensuring Production Operations functions as one integrated team rather than a set of fixed specialties.

• Leads the operational planning and execution of the full range of events, meetings, and experiences hosted at CIA Copia and Consumer Businesses activity at Greystone.
• Establishes operational priorities, project timelines, and resource allocation across multiple concurrent programs across both sites.
• Provides leadership throughout all phases of event production, from concept development through post-event evaluation, in partnership with the Associate Directors
  - Production Operations and the Production Operations team.
• Directs the assignment of Associate Directors and their teams across special events, conferences, and other Copia and Greystone based programs, matching skill and specialization to business need while building versatility across the team over time.
• Builds a unified, cross-functional Production Operations culture in which specialization is a starting strength, not a fixed lane, actively developing team members' ability to lead across program types.
• Ensures programs are executed with exceptional quality, hospitality, safety, and attention to detail, consistent with the CIA brand.
• Serves as the operational lead during on-site execution, providing leadership, decision-making, and issue resolution.
• Leads, mentors, and develops the Production Operations team, fostering accountability, collaboration, professional growth, and continuous improvement.
• Develops and manages operating budgets for Copia and Greystone based Consumer Businesses programs in partnership with the General Manager, Copia. Monitors financial performance throughout the planning lifecycle, identifying risks and opportunities while maintaining fiscal responsibility.
• Negotiates vendor agreements and manages expenditures in accordance with CIA policies and approved budgets.
• Leads pre-event planning and logistics infrastructure for all Copia and Greystone programs, including registration support, purchasing and equipment ordering, vendor and production scheduling, shipping and receiving, signage, audiovisual coordination, and culinary logistics and staffing planning.
• Partners closely with Food Enthusiast Programming, Marketing, and other Consumer Businesses teams to translate program objectives into successful operational execution.
• Coordinates operational planning meetings and ensures clear communication across all cross-functional teams supporting Copia and Greystone events.
• Supp…