Traveling Chef de Cuisine — High-Volume Leader

Aramark; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 80,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Aramark in Washington, DC is seeking a Traveling Chef de Cuisine based at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

The role travels about 60% of the year to support major events, venue openings, and high-profile client functions, while also providing hands-on culinary leadership at the convention center. You will lead from-scratch production for high-volume banquet and special-event operations, translate menus into production plans, mentor cooks, and maintain Aramark standards across

Qualifications

• Willingness to travel ~60% of the year, including short notice.
• Minimum 3 years of progressive culinary experience in high-volume operations.
• Proven ability to lead cooks and production teams.
• Ability to translate event docs, menus, and timelines into production plans.
• Proficient in food safety, sanitation, and allergen controls.

Responsibilities

• Travel to other accounts and venues to support major events on short notice.
• Step into unfamiliar kitchens and integrate quickly with teams, facilities, menus, equipment, and operating models that differ from the home account.
• Deliver Aramark culinary, food safety, and quality standards consistently regardless of location, and act as a representative of the Convention Center team while on assignment.
• Contribute to the execution of major sporting events and other high-profile experiences under compressed timelines and heavy volume.
• Build working relationships with Aramark chefs, managers, operators, and support teams across accounts, exchange best practices, and bring useful methods back to the Convention Center.
• Provide written handoff and debrief notes after each assignment so lessons and improvements are captured for both the host account and the home team.
• Lead high-volume, from-scratch culinary production across hot and cold food operations while maintaining a visible, active presence in the kitchen.
• Execute and oversee batch cooking, roasting, braising, grilling, sauce production, vegetable cookery, salads, grains, soups, and other scratch-produced components.
• Convert menus, BEO requirements, recipes, and event timelines into practical production plans and service-ready quantities.
• Develop, test, scale, refine, and document recipes for convention-scale execution including allergen information and production notes.
• Partner with the Chef de Cuisine on menu development, tastings, seasonal features, and client requests.
• Supervise, coach, and train cooks and culinary associates in scratch-cooking techniques and sanitation.
• Monitor food quality, yields, waste, substitutions, and product usage throughout production and service.
• Coordinate daily production with purchasing, receiving, stewarding, banquet operations, and other departments.

Skills

Travel 60%

Driver's license

Culinary experience 3+ yrs

From-scratch cooking

Large-scale production

Team leadership

Food safety & HACCP

Reading event documents

Flexible schedule

Education

Culinary degree or equivalent training

Job description

Aramark in Washington, DC is seeking a Traveling Chef de Cuisine based at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

The role travels about 60% of the year to support major events, venue openings, and high-profile client functions, while also providing hands-on culinary leadership at the convention center. You will lead from-scratch production for high-volume banquet and special-event operations, translate menus into production plans, mentor cooks, and maintain Aramark standards across