School Food Operations Specialist (CA)

Chef Ann Foundation; Los Angeles (CA); Remote; USD 65,100 - 86,100; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

403(b) retirement plan with a match

Paid time off

Job summary

A nonprofit organization focused on school food is seeking a School Food Operations Specialist to provide technical assistance and support to districts in California. This full-time remote role requires a strong background in scratch-cook operations and travel up to 50%. The ideal candidate should have experience in school food service and a passion for improving childhood nutrition. Competitive compensation and benefits are offered.

Qualifications

• At least four years of experience in a scratch-cook environment.
• Ability to travel locally and nationally.
• Valid driver's license required.
• Food Manager Certificate must be acquired within 90 days.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational expertise for school food programs.
• Assist districts with technical assistance for scratch cooking.
• Develop assessment reports for districts.
• Support trainings and workshops for school food operators.

Skills

Experience in scratch-cook food operations

Knowledge of USDA regulations

Communication skills

Technical expertise in food service

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Culinary, Nutrition, Food Service

Job description

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This range is provided by Chef Ann Foundation. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

$65,100.00/yr - $86,100.00/yr

Full-time Remote, Limited Service through December 2026.

This role is open to California residents only.

Travel: Travel for this position could be up to 50% of the time

About the Chef Ann Foundation

Founded in 2009, the Chef Ann Foundation (CAF) believes that all children should have equal access to fresh, healthy, delicious food providing them the foundation to thrive and meet their true potential. We ensure that school food professionals have the resources, funding and support they need to provide cook-from-scratch meals that support the health of children and our planet. To date, we’ve reached over 16,000 schools and over 4.4 million children in all 50 states with our school food programming.

Job Description

The Chef Ann Foundation (CAF) is looking for a School Food Operations Specialist to assist in key areas within our programs. This is a full-time position working on our School Food Operations team and in partnership with our Programs team, school food contractors, and school district partners. This position will report directly to one of CAF’s Sr. School Food Operations Specialists. This position requires local and national travel. The candidate must possess and maintain a current, valid driver's license in their state of residence. Access to a personal vehicle for local travel is preferred. Car rentals may be allowed if cost-effective and approved by a direct supervisor. Candidates needing to rent vehicles for travel must be at least 25 years old.

The ideal candidate will have at least four (4) years’ experience working in a scratch-cook school food operation (in a hands-on capacity), an understanding of what schools need to serve healthier food in a scratch-cook environment, and a passion for supporting districts nationwide in cooking more food from scratch. The ideal candidate will provide support to school districts in CAF’s five key areas of school food operations: food, finance, facilities, human resources, and marketing. This position will primarily work on CA Healthy School Food Pathway.

• Healthy School Food Pathway (HSFP) is a work-based learning experience that aims to prepare individuals for job opportunities in healthy, scratch-cooked school food programs. The HSFP program focuses on supporting workforce readiness and professional growth for new, incumbent, and displaced school food operators.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Expertise

• Answers technical and operational questions regarding USDA regulations, procurement, school food operations, etc.;
• Provides onsite and virtual operational expertise to support the Healthy School Food Pathway program;Reviews all operational content associated with district work and provide feedback on recommendations for districts and technical assistance;
• Attends meetings as needed with funders and stakeholders to answer operational questions;
• Provides districts with technical assistance (both in-person and virtual) in support of increased scratch cooking and focused on CAF’s five key areas of school food operations: food, finance, facilities, human resources, and marketing;
• Supports food service directors with the educational components of the Healthy School Food Pathway program.

Programs Support

• Supports the development of assessment reports to support technical assistance provided to districts;
• Provides onsite training including, but not limited to, scratch cooking, recipe development, and local procurement for districts;
• Assists in relationship development with potential, new, and existing host districts for the Healthy School Food Pathway program;
• Represents CAF in trade-based channels, conferences, and collaboratives;
• Works with the Ops team to complete implementation tasks with districts that contract with CAF;
• Ensures that the districts stay engaged and are moving through key program milestones;
• Leads and/or participates in virtual learning sessions for Healthy School Food Pathway and other CAF professional development programs;
• Coordinates schedules, travel, and district outreach strategy with the California School Food Operations team;
• Works with the districts and CAF Marketing Team to highlight program results in districts’ communities and nationally;
• Develops and complete presentations for webinars, conferences, and other public presentation opportunities that are focused on specific areas of school food operations;
• Ensures CAF initiatives are managed at the highest level and represent the organization’s commitment to quality, result-driven programming;
• Stay current on emerging trends, factors, and regulations that influence the school food landscape, particularly in California; reflect this knowledge in the programming;
• Other duties within the scope of this position.

Position Requirements

• Four (4) years of college or equivalent advanced training to qualify for a Bachelor’s Degree with a relevant major: Culinary, Nutrition, Food Service;
• Minimum of four (4) years of experience in school food service with preference for those operating in a scratch-cook operation;
• Requires the ability to travel locally and nationally;
• Must possess and maintain a current, valid driver's license in their state of residence;
• Food Manager Certificate: must be acquired within 90 days of initial employment.

Preferred Education, Formal Training, and Experience

• Demonstrated experience in understanding and the ability to develop fiscal budgets and modeling for school food programs;
• Demonstrated experience in understanding menu planning and K-12 recipe/menu software as it relates to ingredient-based, cook-from-scratch meal programs;
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge of K-12 procurement, including RFPs, purchasing cooperatives, and inventory management.
• A passion for food systems and a strong interest in childhood health and wellness;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills;
• Flexible mindset and innovative thinker;
• Willingness to engage in continuous learning and training.

Compensation

Compensation ranges between $65,100 - $86,100 per year and will be commensurate with the candidate’s previous experience and credentials. The Chef Ann Foundation is a great place to work. It provides its staff with a competitive benefits package, including medical, pharmacy, dental, vision, short-term disability, long-term disability, group life insurance, accident insurance, critical illness insurance, hospital indemnity, 403(b) retirement plan with a match, holidays & paid time off. We are a fully remote national organization whose headquarters are located in Boulder, CO, with team members spread across the US. This position is remote and can be based anywhere within California.

Posting will close on August 20, 2025.

Anticipated position start date is September 30, 2025.

At the Chef Ann Foundation, our work to ensure access to fresh, healthy school food for all is built on the idea of equity. We support and celebrate differences; our team and community are stronger with every new voice. CAF is proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace.

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Associate

Employment type

• Employment type

  Temporary

Job function

• Job function

  Management

• Industries

  Non-profit Organizations

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