Chef Manager

QUEST FOOD MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLC; Dixon Township (IL); On-site; USD 60,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Quest Food Management Services LLC is hiring a Chef Manager for Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, IL. The role oversees cafeteria and catering operations, leads staff, and ensures safety and quality across all meals.

Ideal candidates bring 3+ years in food service management, strong leadership, budgeting, and knowledge of HACCP. This on-site position offers competitive pay and opportunities for growth within Quest’s nutrition and guest experience initiatives.

Qualifications

• Three years of experience in food service management.
• Experience in developing and managing budgets.
• Experience in food safety leadership within a food service or restaurant environment.
• Experience in building and leading a high performing team.
• Proficient in MS Office.
• Strong knowledge of the food service and hospitality industry.
• Requires extensive hours at times and frequent local travel.
• Responsible for meeting and maintaining state and local certification requirements (Food Service Manager).

Responsibilities

• Lead the cafeteria and catering operations to ensure quality and safety.
• Train and develop staff; identify next level leaders for growth.
• Oversee safety, sanitation, and HACCP adherence across the account.
• Manage inventory, budgets, and vendor relations to support operations.
• Develop food experiences, menus, concepts, and branding for Quest.
• Support sales and marketing efforts for client retention and growth.
• Maintain high standards of customer service and guest experience.
• Provide leadership in nutrition, sustainability, and program initiatives.

Skills

Team leadership

Budget management

Food safety leadership

Client relations

Hospitality industry knowledge

Communication

Workload management

Tools

MS Office

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Chef Manager

Full Time Management Sauk Valley Community College, Dixon, IL, US

Salary Range: $60,000.00 To $65,000.00 Annually

Balance -Quest fosters a fun, supportive environment that puts people first and strives for both culinary excellence and enduring relationships. Our flexible work opportunities encourage a healthy life balance for all of our valued team members.

Meaning -Quest believes that every aspect of what we do has significance, and therefore, our food is fresh and made from scratch, using high quality and responsibly sourced ingredients. We nourish our communities with wholesome meals and through our genuine and personal connections.

Recognition- Quest provides competitive compensation and benefits and celebrates the fulfillment of our collective values at all levels of the organization. We support professional growth through training, development and access to highly visible leadership.

Position Summary

The Chef Manager position will assist in overseeing the cafeteria and catering at unit. The Chef Manager position requires experience in the food service industry as well as client relations and leadership skills, and basic accounting practices.

The Chef Manager position will assist in training and development of the staff, so that next level leaders are identified, groomed, and placed in positions fitting their skills and abilities, as Quest to continues to grow. This will be achieved by team leadership, skill development, 30/60/90 reviews and career path with timelines.

The Chef Manager will lead the team in order to effectively manage all safety and sanitation as it pertains to the account. As a leader on the Quest team, the Chef Manager will lead by example and maintain a professional and reputable work environment by enforcing policy and best practices that brings out a positive employment brand. This position is responsible for leading the Quest nutrition and guest experience efforts, providing vision, leadership and strategic guidance to the company in these areas. Ensures that Quest vision, values and founding principles are effectively communicated and practiced. Manages assigned company location and team members.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Cascades the vision of Quest Food Management Services ensuring the Quest vision, values and founding principles are effectively communicated, understood and practiced.
• Demonstrates commitment to Quest vision, values and missions through actions on a daily basis.
• Adhering to all Corporate deadlines in regard to Mealtime, Invoices, Payroll and EOM
• Continually measure customer satisfaction levels through feedback, so that any issues are resolved immediately.
• Identify and groom next level personnel to grow with company. Develop career paths including training schedules and timeframes.
• Purchases inventory levels of cafeteria and catering service.
• Manage signage and implement Quest promotions and marketing schemes that are rolled out each month
• Manage staff to include selection, work allocation, training, coaching and mentoring, problem resolution, performance evaluation and feedback, and corrective action.
• Lead development of the food experience offered by Quest, including developing Quest's food "brand" via recipes, menus, concepts, and merchandising.
• Lead development of systems and processes to ensure all food experiences are operationally and financially executable.
• Champion and advance Quest's nutritional standards in recipe, menu, and brand development.
• Provide expertise in nutrition and wellness throughout Quest, including nutrition counseling for customers, operational advice and guidance regarding dietary needs, and nutrition and allergen information sharing.
• Support Quest's purchasing efforts to ensure product selection is aligned with food experience.
• Lead Quest's food safety and sanitation efforts, ensuring every meal is served with the highest levels of attention to safety for our guests.
• Provide leadership in Quest's corporate marketing and sales strategies.
• Serve as Quest's internal subject matter expert on sustainability, identifying ways for Quest to partner with clients to deliver onsite sustainability solutions and participate in industry best practices regarding sustainability.
• Provide hands-on support as needed for special events and coverage for gaps in management presence at the account level.
• Provide support in sales and marketing efforts for account retention and acquisition.
• Maintain Quest high standards with customer service and exceeding our client's expectations.
• Consistently thrive to introduce new and exciting concepts to keep the account fresh and exciting.
• Maintain all SOP standards.
• Maintain all HACCP standards.

Job Requirements/Specifications

Education and Experience: The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Required:

• Three years of experience in food service management
• Experience in developing and managing budgets
• Experience in food safety leadership within a food service or restaurant environment
• Experience in building and leading a high performing team
• Proficient in MS Office
• Strong knowledge of the food service and hospitality industry
• Requires extensive hours at times and frequent local travel
• Responsible for meeting and maintaining state and local certification requirements (Food Service Manager)

Essential Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactory. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

• Demonstrated commitment to Quest vision, values and mission through actions on a daily basis
• Ability to maintain professionalism and a positive attitude in the workplace
• Demonstrated skill with developing long-term strategic plans and lead/participate in short-term operational implementation (ability to be both strategic and tactical)
• Keen analytic, organization and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated ability to consistently communicate a clear understanding of internal and external customer expectations and adapt as appropriate to exceed their needs
• Proven ability to focus attention on determining what can be done to make progress
• Proven skill to anticipates the needs of coworkers and proactively assists them to meet a common goal

Language Skills

• Ability to read, write and speak English

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a team member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

• Specific vision requirements include the ability to see at close range, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus
• While performing the duties of this job, the team member is regularly required to talk and hear
• Frequently required to stand, walk, sit, kneel, bend, use hands to feel, and reach with hands and arms
• Regularly lift and/or move up to 25 pounds
• Exposure to odors, noise, heat, steam, in/out walk-in freezer, cleaning chemicals and detergent
• Fine hand manipulation (keyboarding, knife skills)

Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those team member encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

• Noise level is low to moderate

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. The team member must provide medical evidence for reasonable accommodation

I have read and understand this explanation and job description. Quest business is continuously evolving to meet the needs of our customers - you can expect, anticipate, and assume that your job duties will evolve accordingly as well.