School Dining Chef Manager — Lead Culinary & Wellness

Compass Group USA; Cedar Grove (NJ); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Flik Independent School Dining, part of Compass Group USA, seeks a Chef Manager to lead culinary and food service operations for a school dining program. You will drive high standards of food quality, safety, sustainability, and guest satisfaction through hands-on leadership and strategic administration.

The ideal candidate combines scratch cooking with seasonal sourcing, strong P&L skills, and the ability to mentor and manage both culinary and front-of-house teams to deliver exceptional

Qualifications

• 3+ years of culinary management experience in contract foodservice, fine dining, or high-volume settings.
• Strong understanding of P&L management and experience in a contract-managed service environment preferred.
• Proven experience in menu development, production planning, cost control, and inventory management.
• Extensive knowledge of culinary trends, sustainability practices, and food safety regulations.
• Exhibitions cooking knowledge and guest interaction in a customer-focused setting.

Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of culinary operations, including production, menu planning, food preparation, presentation and sanitation.
• Oversee full food service operations: inventory control, ordering, receiving and vendor relationships.
• Ensure compliance with HACCP standards and health regulations.
• Collaborate on student-centered menu development using local, sustainable ingredients.
• Maintain P&L accountability and manage food/labor costs and forecasting.
• Lead hiring, onboarding, scheduling and performance management for frontline staff.
• Train and coach teams to uphold service standards and culinary quality.
• Maintain cleanliness, signage, menu displays and pricing accuracy.

Skills

Culinary management

P&L management

Menu development

Production planning

Cost control

Inventory management

Team leadership

Food safety

MS Office

Guest interaction

Education

Culinary degree or equivalent

ServSafe Certification preferred

Tools

Microsoft Excel

MS Office Suite

Job description

Flik Independent School Dining, part of Compass Group USA, seeks a Chef Manager to lead culinary and food service operations for a school dining program. You will drive high standards of food quality, safety, sustainability, and guest satisfaction through hands-on leadership and strategic administration.

The ideal candidate combines scratch cooking with seasonal sourcing, strong P&L skills, and the ability to mentor and manage both culinary and front-of-house teams to deliver exceptional