Food Prep Lead — Lead College Kitchen & Student Cooks

Seattle Colleges; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 45,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive Pay

Promotional Opportunities

Medical & Retirement plans

Paid Sick and Vacation Leave

Transportation benefits

Tuition Waivers

Wellness Plan

EAP

Job summary

Seattle Colleges is seeking a Food Prep Lead to provide centralized food-production support for the Retail Operations within the Hospitality department. The role ensures quality, safety, and availability of menu items across multiple outlets.

The position is in-person, typically Monday–Friday, 30 hours/week, and eligible for benefits. WFSE union representation applies, with a union shop agreement in place.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED.
• ServSafe Certification or Washington State Food Handler’s Card.
• CPR/AED certification within the first 30 days of hire.
• Two years of professional food‑production experience or a college degree in culinary arts, hospitality, or a related field.
• Experience with high-volume food preparation, grab‑and‑go production, catering, or retail food‑service operations.

Responsibilities

• Plans and completes food production and replenishment for Alki Café and the South Seattle Culinary Convenience Store, including breakfast items, sandwiches, and other fresh grab-and-go products.
• Prepares food, cheese and pairing components for the Northwest Wine Academy; desserts and specialty items for the Garden Center; and catering orders when events are scheduled.
• Develops weekly and daily production plans based on sales, pars, scheduled events, available student labor, product availability, and anticipated demand.
• Executes and scales recipes while maintaining standards for quality, quantity, portioning, presentation, labeling, dating, and first-in, first-out rotation.
• Monitors product quality and availability across departments and adjusts production based on sales, waste, and changing operational needs.
• Provides day-to-day direction, technical guidance, and hands‑on support to student prep cooks, particularly when production volume exceeds student capacity.
• Completes food inventory, ordering, receiving, storage, and rotation while supporting appropriate pars and cost control.
• Completes required temperature monitoring and documentation and ensures compliance with food‑safety, sanitation, and allergen‑control standards.
• Maintains clean, organized, and production‑ready kitchen, storage, and work areas, including routine deep cleaning and end‑of‑week production‑space reset.
• Coordinates core production early in the week; Café and Convenience Store replenishment throughout the week; Wine Academy and Garden Center production later in the week; and major production, catering, inventory, ordering, and cleaning activities on Fridays.
• Performs additional duties as assigned.

Skills

High School Diploma

ServSafe Certification

CPR/AED Certification

Food Production Experience

Culinary Arts Degree

Education

Culinary Arts Degree

Job description

Seattle Colleges is seeking a Food Prep Lead to provide centralized food-production support for the Retail Operations within the Hospitality department. The role ensures quality, safety, and availability of menu items across multiple outlets.

The position is in-person, typically Monday–Friday, 30 hours/week, and eligible for benefits. WFSE union representation applies, with a union shop agreement in place.