District Chef

District Chef in K-12 Food Service

Bring flavor to the frontlines - become a District Chef in K-12 food service! Are you a passionate chef who wants to inspire teams and create meals that truly matter? As a District Chef, you'll design menus, lead culinary training, and elevate school food across an entire region. This role blends creativity with impact, giving you the chance to mentor cooks, shape food programs, and bring bold, nutritious flavors to students every day.

Position summary

The District Chef plays a critical role in the planning and execution of school meal programs. This includes creating balanced menus, developing recipes, ensuring food safety standards, and training kitchen teams. The position serves as a hands-on leader, helping maintain high culinary standards while supporting operations across multiple schools.

Key responsibilities

Prepare and cook food according to standardized recipes and production records

Create new recipes using commodity and purchased ingredients

Conduct taste tests and chef demonstrations with students and staff

Design cost-effective, appealing, and nutritionally balanced student menus

Enter menus into the nutritional analysis program

Place food and supply orders while monitoring cost control

Train kitchen staff on food safety, HACCP, cooking techniques, and presentation

Collaborate with cafeteria managers to ensure meal quality

Follow all local health department and company safety regulations

Supervise and evaluate kitchen team members

Submit reports as assigned and ensure timely compliance

Support other duties as assigned to improve culinary operations

Qualifications

High school diploma or GED required

Associate's degree in culinary arts or related bachelor's degree strongly preferred

3+ years of experience in kitchen/back-of-house operations

Prior school food service experience strongly desired

Knowledge of budgeting and food cost control required

Strong culinary skills with hands-on leadership experience

Food safety certification (or food handler's card within 2 weeks of hire) required

Must be able to pass a background check, fingerprinting, and MVR audit

Clear, professional communication skills

Proficiency with Microsoft Office and basic computer systems

Must be respectful, inclusive, and able to work with diverse communities

Basic cooking and cleaning abilities required

Physical & work environment requirements

Must be able to stand for long periods (up to 5 hours)

Regular bending, lifting (up to 50 lbs), reaching, and moving required

Regularly uses hands and must be able to hear and communicate clearly

Must be able to work a full-time schedule, occasionally including 6-7 day workweeks

Typical workweek is 50-60 hours

Moderate noise levels; computer and phone use required

Travel to schools and company meetings may be required

We ask that candidates complete a Predictive Index (PI) assessment to learn more about your working style and should take about 5-10 minutes to complete.

We are an equal opportunity employer, gender/minority/veterans/disabled and participates with E-verify employment eligibility program.