Rob Bobbitt

Director of Dining Services at Watermark Retirement Communities

Rob Bobbitt is the current Director of Dining Services at Watermark Retirement Communities. Rob has over 17 years of experience in the food service industry, with a focus on senior living communities.

Rob began their career as an Adjunct Faculty member at Northern Virginia Community College, where they taught for two years. Rob then transitioned to Sunrise Senior Living, where they served as Senior Director of Hospitality for two years. In this role, they were responsible for supporting 153 communities with two regional hospitality directors and national acquisition activities through due diligence operations visits. During their time at Sunrise, they also successfully supported the integration of both Marriott and EdenCare acquisitions.

In August 2005, Rob joined Erickson Living as Vice President, Operations, Dining. In this role, they led the Erickson dining and retail enterprise through a team of eight subject matter experts. The dining enterprise included 18 continuing care retirement communities serving over 20,000 residents and 10 million meals annually. Rob's responsibilities included overall quality, process improvements, resident satisfaction, procurement services and financial performance of the dining enterprise. Rob also supported the design and development of new community dining and retail concepts.

After five years at Erickson Living, Rob transitioned to their current role as Director of Dining Services at Watermark Retirement Communities in June 2010. In this role, they are responsible for overseeing all aspects of the dining program for Watermark’s 23 retirement communities across the United States.

Rob Bobbitt received a BS degree in Business Management with a concentration in Hotel Restaurant Management from James Madison University. Rob also has an Associate of Arts and Sciences (A.A.S.) degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management from Northern Virginia Community College. In addition, they have a certification from the National Restaurant Association in Instructor & ServSafe Food Safety Manager Certification.

They are on a team with Aras Erekul - National Director of Integrative Well-being, Mike Burkhart - Director of Human Resources, and Jack Herklotz - Director of Information Technology. Their manager is Karen Mlawsky, Chief Operating Officer.

Timeline

  • Director of Dining Services

    Current role

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