Director of Centralized Catering Operations

Bon Appetit

Location: Mountain View, CA

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday

Salary: $150,000 - $175,000

Other Forms of Compensation: Comprehensive benefits package, bonus eligible

Our Passion is Food!

At Bon Appetit Management Company we are committed to two things, great food and outstanding service! At Bon Appetit you won't find our managers referring to a corporate recipe book or our chefs microwaving the lunch special. We do not have standardized recipes or central commissaries, instead, our chefs and managers are expected to stay abreast of current culinary trends and bring cutting edge food into their cafes. We are a restaurant company that operates in contract food service. That means you will have the freedom to be creative, take risks, and truly shine. We are committed to our staff growing, trying new things, and learning all that they can. Our rapid growth and breadth of accounts translates into exciting opportunities for our people!

Job Summary

The Director of Centralized Catering Operations is an essential senior leadership role reporting to the VP of Catering. This role is established to oversee, stabilize, and elevate our regional centralized catering operations- the primary engine producing the majority of our volume and our greatest opportunity for operational discipline and resource optimization. Focused primarily on last-mile logistics, assembly, staging, and dispatch rather than direct kitchen oversight, this leader partners closely with the Executive Chef team to ensure production schedules are strictly maintained, and organizational rigor exists across all handoffs. Rather than expecting this leader to solve deficits on paper, we require a trusted partner to master schedule and volume variability and optimize available resources.

Crucially, a central mandate of this role is overcoming the perception that high-volume catering has become largely transactional. Although we serve food at a massive scale, genuine hospitality must remain at the very core of what we do. This leader will develop and coach both operational leadership and frontline staff to be deeply grounded in hospitality, ensuring that every delivery, guest interaction, and service touchpoint reflects warmth, attentiveness, and care. The ideal candidate balances hands-on floor presence in logistics with 30,000-foot strategic vision, challenging the status quo and questioning the 'why' behind legacy practices. Metrics-focused, organized, and tech-progressive with working knowledge of AI tools, this leader makes decisive business decisions while leading with deep empathy to motivate and align a high-performing team.

Job Description

Operational Rigor, Process Improvement

• Drive end-to-end operational rigor across last-mile logistics, packing, staging, and dispatch operations, establishing clear SOPs that guarantee timing, safety, and consistency; partner closely with the Executive Chef team to ensure production schedules are kept and organizational discipline exists across all culinary handoffs
• Balance altitude with intention: know precisely when to roll up your sleeves on the floor to troubleshoot logistics and dispatch bottlenecks and when to elevate to the 30,000-foot level to analyze systemic workflows and drive structural change
• Master schedule and volume variability: analyze regional ordering trends and lead-time patterns to design agile production schedules that absorb volume surges without operational friction or burnout
• Challenge the status quo: rigorously question legacy methods, challenge the "why" behind current production cadences, and instill a culture of root-cause problem-solving and continuous iteration across all shifts
• Partner with transportation, fleet logistics, and catering teams to ensure seamless dispatch, precise delivery windows, and rigorous temperature/safety chain compliance

Metrics, Resource Optimization, Strategic Planning

• Establish, operationalize, and review core operational metrics and KPIs, including labor efficiency per volume output, shift capacity thresholds, throughput rates, and food yield percentages
• Bring quantitative rigor to resource allocation: optimize shift staffing structures, equipment utilization, and overtime controls against actual volume curves and production forecasts
• Develop long-range strategic operational plans and volume capacity models, collaborating with regional sales, culinary leads, and event planners to proactively align resources ahead of peak periods
• Serve as an objective, trusted business partner to regional operations and finance leadership, identifying operational cost drivers and unlocking sustainable efficiencies without compromising culinary standards

Technology, AI, Systems Innovation

• Cultivate a tech-progressive operational culture, driving full adoption and optimization of catering platforms, digital inventory systems, and automated production tools
• Leverage AI tools and data analytics as active resources for predictive demand forecasting, intelligent labor scheduling, waste tracking, and workflow automation
• Continuously research and pilot innovative culinary technologies, ergonomic kitchen equipment, and sustainable packaging solutions that reduce physical strain and boost team productivity

Hospitality Culture, Client Experience, People Leadership

• De-transactionalize the catering experience: actively transform client and guest perceptions by embedding hospitality into every phase of last-mile delivery, setup, and on-site interaction, ensuring high volume never diminishes attentiveness, presentation, or personal care
• Develop hospitality-grounded teams: coach, train, and mentor both operational leadership and frontline associates to master the art of guest interaction, actively listening and demonstrating genuine hospitality at every touchpoint
• Mentor, develop, and inspire supervisory and frontline staff, creating transparent career progression pathways, cross-training opportunities, and ongoing skills development
• Communicate strategic business priorities with clarity and purpose, translating overarching program objectives into meaningful daily priorities that frontline teams can execute with pride
• Build collaborative partnerships across regional food program leads, ECs, workplace managers, and vendor partners to ensure unified operational alignment

Job Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum 8-10+ years of progressive operations management experience leading high-volume last-mile logistics, centralized catering staging/dispatch, commissary distribution hubs, or multi-unit hospitality logistics.
• Proven track record of instilling operational rigor, implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and successfully managing complex schedule and volume variability.
• Demonstrated dual-altitude capability: proven track record of hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves floor presence combined with 30,000-foot strategic vision and workflow redesign expertise.
• Strong analytical and metrics orientation, with demonstrated experience establishing operational KPIs, labor models, capacity planning benchmarks, and performance dashboards.
• Tech-progressive acumen with demonstrated experience leveraging modern digital platforms and working knowledge of AI tools and predictive analytics as practical operational resources.
• Exceptional leadership presence with high emotional intelligence (EQ); proven track record of developing both leadership and frontline staff to be grounded in hospitality, transforming transactional service into authentic guest connection while motivating a diverse workforce.
• Fearless approach to continuous improvement: demonstrated history of challenging the status quo constructively, asking the critical "why," and transforming legacy operations.
• Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management, Culinary Arts, Business Administration, Operations Engineering, or equivalent practical leadership experience.
• ServSafe Manager Certification (or ability to obtain upon hire).

Apply to Bon Appetit today!

Bon Appetit is a member of Compass Group USA.

Click here to Learn More about the Compass Story

Associates at Bon Appetit are offered many fantastic benefits.

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Life Insurance/ AD
• Disability Insurance
• Retirement Plan
• Paid Time Off
• Holiday Time Off (varies by site/state)
• Associate Shopping Program
• Health and Wellness Programs
• Discount Marketplace
• Identity Theft Protection
• Pet Insurance
• Commuter Benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
• Paid Parental Leave
• Personal Leave

Associates may also be eligible for paid and/or unpaid time off benefits in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. For positions in Washington State, Maryland, or to be performed Remotely, click here or copy/paste the link below for paid time off benefits information.

https://www.compass-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023_WageTransparency_BAMCO.pdf

Compass Group is an equal opportunity employer. At Compass, we are committed to treating all Applicants and Associates fairly based on their abilities, achievements, and experience without regard to race, national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other classification protected by law.

Qualified candidates must be able to perform the essential functions of this position satisfactorily with or without a reasonable accommodation. Disclaimer: this job post is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all essential responsibilities, skills, tasks, or requirements associated with this position. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the position posted, the Company reserves the right to modify or change the essential functions of the job based on business necessity. We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with a criminal history (including relevant driving history), in a manner consistent with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the New York Fair Chance Act.

Certain positions may require Florida Level 2 background screening. Details: https://info.flclearinghouse.com/

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Bon Appetit maintains a drug-free workplace.

Req ID: 1588764

Bon Appetit

Allison Murphy