FOOD SERVICE MANAGER / HEAD CHEF
Camp Wightman
Griswold, Connecticut
Pay:
- $25–$30 per hour during the year
- $1,000–$1,200 per week during the summer
- Compensation depends on experience
Schedule:
- Year-round, part-time/per diem during retreats and conferences
- Full-time seasonal during the summer camp season
- Evening, weekend, and extended-day availability required during busy periods
Benefits:
- Optional summer housing may be available
- This position does not currently include benefits
Reports to: Executive Director
ABOUT CAMP WIGHTMAN
Camp Wightman is a year-round Christian camp and conference center in Griswold, Connecticut. We host summer camps, retreats, conferences, and gatherings that help children, youth, adults, and families grow through community, creation, and a life of meaning and purpose.
Our work centers dignity, hospitality, grace, belonging, safety, and clear expectations. We want every person who comes to Camp Wightman to feel welcomed, cared for, and respected.
Food plays an important role in that experience. Meals help set the rhythm of camp, bring people together, and create memories. Our goal is to serve delicious, wholesome, quality food made with fresh ingredients. Meals should be age appropriate, culturally thoughtful, and responsive to the needs of the people we serve.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Food Service Manager/Head Chef leads food service during the summer camp season and supports retreat and conference food service throughout the year.
This position plans menus, orders food and supplies, manages inventory, prepares and serves meals, supervises kitchen staff, maintains food safety standards, and works closely with camp leadership to support the overall guest and camper experience.
This is a hands-on leadership role. The Food Service Manager/Head Chef must be able to cook, organize production, lead a team, solve problems, and stay calm when plans or meal counts change.
The right candidate will bring strong kitchen skills, emotional maturity, flexibility, and respect for clear roles and responsibilities.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
Kitchen Operations
- Lead daily kitchen and dining room operations during summer camp and assigned retreat or conference events
- Prepare and serve high-quality meals on time and in sufficient quantities
- Organize production, preparation, service, and cleanup
- Adjust plans when counts, schedules, deliveries, or dietary needs change
- Create a kitchen environment that is calm, respectful, efficient, and team focused
- Help ensure that meals support the camp schedule and overall guest experience
Menu Planning, Purchasing, and Inventory
- Plan menus in collaboration with the Executive Director and other designated camp leaders
- Develop menus that meet guest needs and achieve established food-cost targets
- Plan reasonable accommodations for common allergies and dietary restrictions
- Order food, beverages, paper goods, cleaning supplies, and other kitchen materials
- Track inventory and maintain accurate stock levels
- Rotate products, store food safely, and reduce waste
- Communicate with vendors about deliveries, shortages, substitutions, and pricing
Staff Leadership and Training
- Lead, train, and direct seasonal kitchen staff and other assigned support staff
- Set clear expectations for preparation, sanitation, service, cleanup, attendance, and professionalism
- Assign daily kitchen responsibilities and monitor completion
- Give feedback and correct problems directly and respectfully
- Model healthy adult leadership by remaining calm, clear, accountable, and respectful
- Help young staff members and volunteers learn safe and effective kitchen practices
Food Safety and Cleanliness
- Maintain a clean, sanitary, and organized kitchen, dining room, and food-storage environment
- Follow and enforce food handling, sanitation, allergen, temperature-control, cleaning, and storage procedures
- Maintain required food safety records
- Identify equipment problems and communicate repair needs promptly
- Support camp-wide health, safety, and emergency procedures
- Participate in required staff training and emergency response as directed
Collaboration and Camp Culture
- Work closely with the Executive Director and other camp leaders on schedules, meal counts, dietary needs, staffing, and event logistics
- Communicate needs, concerns, and proposed changes promptly
- Serve as a positive role model for campers, staff, guests, and volunteers
- Treat people with dignity, even during stressful situations
- Correct mistakes without humiliation, yelling, or personal attacks
- Help create a camp culture built on belonging, safety, fun, clarity, and respect
ROLE CLARITY
The Food Service Manager/Head Chef leads the kitchen and dining room workflow. This position works as part of the larger camp leadership structure.
- The Executive Director approves staffing levels, additional staffing needs, budgets, and major purchases
- The Food Service Manager/Head Chef manages daily kitchen operations and directs assigned staff while they are working in the kitchen
- The Food Service Manager/Head Chef does not independently recruit, schedule, or reassign employees from other departments
- Program decisions, employee discipline outside the kitchen, and camp-wide operational decisions belong to designated camp leadership
- Concerns, ideas, staffing requests, and operational needs should be brought directly to the Executive Director
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
Hospitality
You understand that food is part of the camper and guest experience. You create meals and meal spaces that feel welcoming, organized, and thoughtful.
Planning and Organization
You plan ahead, track meal counts and dietary needs, order accurately, and keep the kitchen ready for the next meal or event.
Execution Under Pressure
You remain steady during rushes, delays, staffing challenges, and last-minute changes. You solve problems without creating chaos or blaming others.
Team Leadership
You give clear direction, train people well, and hold staff accountable while treating them with respect.
Emotional Maturity
You receive feedback, manage frustration, address conflict directly, and communicate professionally.
Collaboration
You work well with camp leadership, respect established roles, and communicate through the appropriate channels.
Safety and Standards
You treat cleanliness, food safety, timing, consistency, and adequate meal quantities as non-negotiable.
Mission Alignment
You can work effectively in a Christian camp environment that values dignity, belonging, freedom of conscience, and healthy adult role-model leadership.
QUALIFICATIONS
We welcome applicants with varied professional backgrounds. Demonstrated ability matters more to us than one specific credential path.
Required Qualifications
- Experience cooking in a high-volume kitchen, camp, school, conference center, restaurant, catering operation, institution, or similar environment
- Experience planning menus, ordering food, managing inventory, and controlling waste
- Experience leading or supervising kitchen employees, seasonal staff, support staff, or volunteers
- Knowledge of food safety, sanitation, temperature control, and allergy awareness
- Ability to prepare consistent, high-quality meals for groups
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with changing counts and priorities
- Strong communication and organizational skills
- Ability to work respectfully with children, youth, adults, volunteers, and camp leaders
- Availability for evenings, weekends, early mornings, and extended days during summer camp and retreat periods
- Ability to pass required background checks
- Ability to complete required camp and safety training
Preferred Qualifications
- ServSafe Manager or similar food safety certification
- Experience in camp, school, conference center, retreat center, institutional, or ministry food service
- Experience supervising seasonal staff or young adults
- Experience preparing meals for common allergies and dietary restrictions
- Experience developing menus within a defined food budget
PHYSICAL AND WORK ENVIRONMENT REQUIREMENTS
This position requires working in a hot, busy commercial kitchen environment.
The employee must be able to:
- Stand and walk for extended periods
- Bend, reach, carry, push, and pull kitchen equipment and supplies
- Routinely lift and carry up to 25 pounds
- Occasionally lift and carry up to 50 pounds
- Work safely around hot surfaces, sharp equipment, food allergens, and cleaning products
- Maintain regular and punctual attendance
- Respond appropriately during emergencies
Camp Wightman provides reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities unless doing so would create an undue hardship.
WHAT IS REWARDING ABOUT THIS JOB
- You will shape one of the most memorable parts of camp life
- You will have room to bring ideas, improve systems, and strengthen the kitchen
- You will work in a setting that values hospitality, purpose, community, and fun
- You will help create a steady and welcoming environment for campers, staff, retreat guests, and volunteers
- You will experience variety across summer camp, retreats, conferences, and special events
WHAT IS CHALLENGING ABOUT THIS JOB
- Summer camp and large retreat weekends can move quickly and require long days
- Meal counts, dietary needs, schedules, and staffing can change
- Kitchen work is highly visible. Late, insufficient, or disorganized meals affect the entire camp
- You must maintain high standards while working with a limited team and budget
- You must lead confidently while respecting the responsibilities of other camp leaders
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT
Camp Wightman is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
We make employment decisions based on qualifications, job-related skills, performance, and organizational needs. We do not discriminate based on any characteristic protected by applicable law.
Applicants who need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process should let us know.
Camp Wightman is a Christian camp and conference center. Employees work in an environment shaped by the camp’s mission, values, and community standards. We welcome people from many backgrounds and do not require belief to belong or to be treated with dignity and respect.
Pay: $22.00 - $28.00 per hour
Work Location: In person
