Sr. Executive Chef, Catering

Senior Executive Chef, Catering

Lead culinary excellence at scale with Michigan Dining. As a Senior Executive Chef, Catering, you'll shape menus, develop talented teams, and oversee high-volume catering operations serving thousands each week-while enjoying the stability, benefits, and work-life balance of a career at the University of Michigan.

Department Summary: Michigan Dining comprises eighteen on-campus cafes and markets, ten residential dining halls, a line of Blue to Go foods, the Campus Bakeshop, and the Michigan Catering unit. Our 700 professional and 1,600 student employees are committed to creative, healthy, and nutritious foods, international cuisines, and sustainability throughout all dining operations.

Position Summary: Manage all culinary operations for one or more facilities or programs and serve more than 25,000 meals per week. Lead the unit culinary team to provide culinary excellence, training, recipe review, and overall menu management. Works as a lead contributor to the development of new and seasonal menus in collaboration with culinary leadership across all units. Provide daily direction and guidance of culinary staff and culinary operations, and coordinates efforts to deliver services to a diverse clientele. Provides training for the staff, keeping them current with culinary skills and procedures. Manage large-scale special events for Residential Dining guests, in addition to daily operations.

You will report to Michigan Dining's Culinary Assistant Director.

You will work onsite in Ann Arbor, MI. Hours are flexible and vary based on business needs and will include nights/weekends, as needed.

Responsibilities*

• Manages and oversees all culinary operations for one or more facility
• Establish and accelerate changes to menus, recipes and cooking methods; and lead to improve food quality, attractiveness and efficient preparation.
• Oversee menu, food preparation, presentation, portioning and plating design.
• Work together with the campus executive chef for catering to improve and standardize recipes, and to develop new recipes.
• In collaboration with the campus executive chef, you will train the culinary staff in cooking and serving methods, presentation, and portion control. You will exhibit a hands-on approach to develop staff, working with employees while demonstrating a commitment to their individual growth.
• Exercise administrative guidance over chef leads, chefs, chef assistants, cooks, bakers, and other food service staff including student employees engaged in culinary operations.
• Be a leader for employees while promoting teamwork and employee morale.
• Ensure compliance with all state and county health department and safety regulations.
• Transport food and culinary equipment to and from events.
• Coordinate with front-of-house chefs and culinary assistants regarding their arrival, departure times, and on-site responsibilities for events.

Required Qualifications*

• Degree in Culinary Arts from an accredited culinary school or apprenticeship program or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience as a chef in a high-volume, high-quality operation with a variety of concepts or catering and banquet experience.
• Must have a current Driver's License issued within the United States, Canada or an International License that is translated into English and complete the Motor Vehicle Record Check following the University of Michigan policy.

Why Work at Michigan?

In addition to a career filled with purpose and opportunity, The University of Michigan offers a comprehensive benefits package to help you stay well, protect yourself and your family and plan for a secure future. Benefits include:

• Generous time off
• A retirement plan that provides two-for-one matching contributions with immediate vesting
• Many choices for comprehensive health insurance
• Life insurance
• Long-term disability coverage
• Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care expense

Additional Information

This role may have reporting obligations under Title IX and Clery.

Authorization to work in the U.S. is a precondition of employment and applicants for this position will not be sponsored for work visas.

Salary may vary depending on qualifications, experience, and education of the selected candidate.

Relocation will not be offered for this role.

Application Deadline

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.

U-M EEO Statement

The University of Michigan is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.