Executive Catering Chef — VIP & Events Lead

Bon Appétit Management Company; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Life Insurance/ AD

Disability Insurance

Retirement Plan

Paid Time Off

Holiday Time Off (varies by site/state

Commuter Benefits

Employee Assistance Program

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

Applications are accepted on anongoing

Job summary

Bon Appetit is seeking a Catering Chef for Palo Alto, overseeing catering operations in a high-volume corporate dining environment. This hands-on leadership role focuses on event execution, menu development, and ensuring food quality and safety from kitchen to site.

You will mentor culinary staff, manage costs, and collaborate with clients and internal teams to deliver exceptional experiences in fast-paced settings across Palo Alto networks.

Qualifications

• Culinary degree preferred or equivalent professional experience.
• Three to five years of progressive culinary-management experience.
• Significant catering, events, banquet, or hospitality leadership experience.
• High-volume catering and complex event-production experience strongly preferred.
• Strong knowledge of menu development, production planning, BEOs or event specifications, purchasing, inventory, food cost, and labor management.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, sanitation, allergen management, culinary trends, quality, and presentation.
• Corporate dining, hotel, conference center, convention, or large-scale catering experience preferred.
• Strong computer and administrative skills using Microsoft Office, Outlook, email, and applicable catering or event-management systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead all culinary aspects of catering, VIP events, executive functions, conferences, activations, and large-scale special events.
• Maintain a hands-on leadership presence and ensure high standards for food quality, flavor, presentation, timing, consistency, and hospitality from the kitchen through the event site.
• Lead, coach, and develop catering culinary employees through clear expectations, training, feedback, accountability, and opportunities for growth.
• Develop catering menus and culinary experiences that balance creativity, guest expectations, labor, equipment, production capability, transportation, budget, and event logistics.
• Review event details, menus, BEOs or event specifications, production schedules, staffing, equipment, and prep requirements to ensure operational readiness.
• Manage multiple events and priorities while proactively resolving production, staffing, equipment, transportation, ingredient, or service challenges.
• Manage food cost, purchasing, inventory, waste, event expenditures, and product utilization while following approved Bon Appétit purchasing and sustainability standards.
• Maintain and reinforce food-safety, sanitation, allergen, workplace-safety, and audit-readiness standards throughout production, transportation, setup, and event service.
• Maintain a professional, responsive, and hospitality-focused presence when working with clients, executives, VIP guests, event planners, and internal stakeholders.

Skills

Culinary leadership

Event catering

Menu development

Food safety

Education

Culinary degree or equivalent professional experience

Tools

Microsoft Office

Outlook

Job description

Bon Appetit is seeking a Catering Chef for Palo Alto, overseeing catering operations in a high-volume corporate dining environment. This hands-on leadership role focuses on event execution, menu development, and ensuring food quality and safety from kitchen to site.

You will mentor culinary staff, manage costs, and collaborate with clients and internal teams to deliver exceptional experiences in fast-paced settings across Palo Alto networks.