CHEF | Catering - Charlie's Cafe - Pendergast School, Phoenix, AZ

Catering Chef

Charlie's Caf at Pendergast Elementary School District in Phoenix, AZ, is seeking a dynamic Catering Chef to lead a thriving caf and strong catering program. This is an exciting opportunity for a culinary professional who enjoys creating exceptional food experiences, from daily caf service to elevated board dinners, golf brunches, and special events. With large annual catering volume, a consistent summer catering business, and primarily daytime hours, this role offers the perfect blend of creativity, leadership, and work-life balance.

The Catering Chef oversees all culinary operations for the caf and catering program, ensuring outstanding food quality, presentation, customer service, and financial performance. In addition to planning and executing catering events, you'll lead and support a small team of caf associates, helping to create an exceptional experience for daily caf guests while maintaining food safety, inventory, and operational standards. If you're a hands-on chef who thrives on hospitality, innovation, customer service satisfaction and building client relationships through great food, we'd love to hear from you.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides frontline culinary resources and support.
• Assists with food cost control, menu planning, purchasing, and ensures food quality guidelines are followed.
• Assists with planning and creating menus.
• Produces and executes catering events.
• Rolls out new culinary programs in conjunction with marketing and culinary team.
• Assists with managing cost controls and control expenditures for the account.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• 2+ years of culinary management experience.
• Experience in restaurants, hotels, corporate dining, education, military, health care, and/or related food service operations.
• Hands-on chef experience is required.
• Extensive catering experience is required.
• High volume batch cooking and complex food service operations experience is preferred.
• Comprehensive knowledge of food and catering trends with a focus on quality, production, sanitation, food cost controls, and presentation.
• ServSafe Certification is preferred.
• Computer skills and knowledge of MS Office products including Excel.

Chartwells K-12 maintains a drug-free workplace. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Associates at Chartwells K-12 are offered many fantastic benefits including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan, paid time off, holiday time off, associate shopping program, health and wellness programs, discount marketplace, identity theft protection, pet insurance, commuter benefits, employee assistance program, flexible spending accounts, paid parental leave, and personal leave.