Stanford Sierra Camp is a full-service conference center/alumni family camp located near the entrance of Desolation Wilderness at Fallen Leaf Lake in South Lake Tahoe, CA.  Stanford Sierra Camp is owned and operated by the Stanford Alumni Association. The property can house up to 300 guests and 95 staff, and offers a full range of recreational activities, meeting facilities, and food services.  General information on the Stanford Alumni Association - Sierra Programs is available at or .

POSITION SUMMARY: Manages the food service operation of Stanford Sierra Camp and prepares a broad range of food items, maintaining excellent food quality and production, efficiency in high-volume food production, as well as in high-end gourmet meal preparation. Manages menu development and creation, food preparation and dining room service. Plans menus and food services for group events and conferences. Provides leadership, management, and training for all dining room and kitchen staff.  Interacts with guests to maintain excellent guest relations and exceptional guest satisfaction with the food service. Responsible for budget preparation and control, purchasing, inventory and spoilage control, sanitation, safety, and other food service administrative functions.  Supervises the Executive Sous Chef, Pastry Chef, AM & PM Sous Chefs, and the Dining Room Manager. Reports to the Camp Director; functions with a high degree of independence, receiving general managerial direction with periodic and annual review of overall achievement of financial and operational goals.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manages all aspects of food service operations for alumni summer camp and conference seasons, as well as for Camp staff year-round, employing and supervising a team of four chefs, a dining room manager, two dining room assistants and a kitchen staff consisting of approximately 12-13 regularly-assigned seasonal employees; directs the work of up to 20 other seasonal employees who rotate through the kitchen for varying periods of time.
• Directly supervises sous chefs, pastry chef, dining room manager and regularly-assigned seasonal staff; provides leadership, direction and training for all food service employees, working closely with seasonal staff directors who has primary supervisory responsibility for seasonal staff on rotational assignment.
• Prepares and participates in preparation of a variety of food items, including high-end gourmet items requiring a high degree of creativity and advanced culinary expertise; observes food being prepared, and inspects and tastes food to ensure the highest standards of quality and presentation; ensures food is safely stored and used with a minimum of waste and spoilage. Overall, approximately 50% of this position involves administrative tasks and 50% of this positions involves food preparation which may include personally preparing high-end gourmet items and other foods requiring the highest level of culinary expertise; the chef is often engaged in supervisory and administrative tasks and guest relations at the same time as they are preparing food.
• Facilitates a successful, energetic culinary and food service team through leadership and training; ensures all staff are trained in the various food service functions including food handling, preparation, presentation, clean-up, and the safe use of utensils, equipment and machinery; conducts training and supervises training activities.
• Works under extremely tight seasonal start-up deadlines with simultaneous arrival of a large and often inexperienced seasonal staff for each of the three seasons of operation. This requires management, coordination and training under very challenging and time-intensive conditions.
• Responsible for maintaining excellent food quality and production efficiency in high volume production and in preparation of gourmet items for conferences and other groups who expect the highest level of food quality and service, including formal gourmet dining plate service as well as gourmet buffets; plans and approves recipes, menus and events.
• Production volume: winter season, non-operational from mid-November to mid-April annual, manages food production of 40 meals per day for staff only. Spring and fall seasons, manages food production for 345 – 765 meals per day for staff and guests. Summer season, manages food production for roughly 1200 meals per day.
• Develops menus and coordinates all food service activities for conference season groups such as business and academic conferences, weddings and other groups, working in collaboration with the conference sales and marketing director and group representatives; develops and proposes creative and cost-effective alternatives to help ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction.
• Responsible for maintaining excellent guest relations through training and supervision of staff in their guest interactions, and by personal example; takes initiative to interact regularly with guests in order to maintain exceptional customer satisfaction with the food service; develops creative alternatives for food preparation and presentation to enhance customer understanding and satisfaction and provide for an exceptional dining experience.
• Performs and supervises performance of various administrative functions such as equipment and supplies purchasing, inventory and food spoilage management, budget development and control, operational performance reports, employee scheduling and timekeeping, etc. In 2024 the food services budget was $1.4M.
• Participates with Camp Director in establishing financial and operational goals and is responsible for taking action to meet established goals and standards.
• Coordinates and plans with other department heads on an on-going basis.
• Responsible for ensuring compliance with health, safety and sanitation policies, procedures and standards.
• Responsible for working with El Dorado county health inspectors. Participating in the random health inspection audits that occur each year. Proactively setup appointment If possible. Responsible for resolving any areas identified during audit in a timely manner.
• Demonstrated experience engaging and motivating groups of diverse individuals.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:  Position requires a combination of education and experience at least equivalent to a Degree in Culinary Arts from an accredited program (or time equivalent) plus 5 - 10 years progressive and advanced culinary experience. A majority of the experience must be at the supervisory and management level, and must demonstrate successful and creative management of high-volume food production, and an advanced proficiency in planning and preparation of creative gourmet menu items for buffet as well as formal dining. Must be proficient in all areas of food preparation including meat cutting, pastry, baking and garde manager, and be able to cook a wide range of gourmet foods from a variety of cuisines. Superior supervisory and interpersonal communication skills are required; prefer experience involving  responsibility for managing customer relations in a high-expectation dining environment . Must be proficient in Word and Excel applications. Strong experience in staff orientation and training very desirable.  Valid driver’s license required to drive Camp vehicles.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:  Frequently lifts, carries, and moves up to approximately 50 # of supplies, equipment, and materials. Must be able to walk, bend, stoop and reach to obtain and carry food, equipment and supplies from storage to preparation areas, including areas outside the kitchen and outdoors. Must have manual dexterity and coordination sufficient to perform all food preparation functions. Vision, taste and smell must be sufficiently acute to determine correct outcomes of recipes and make highly refined judgements of food quality and presentation. Must also be able to supervise and perform food preparation outside the kitchen (e.g., outdoor barbecue; demonstration cooking).

COMPENSATION PACKAGE : This is an exempt management position with excellent benefits which includes paid time off (vacation, sick, & holiday pay), a 10% 401k employer contribution after a 1 year waiting and eligibility period, 100% employer paid medical, dental, vision, life insurance and long-term disability for the employee only. Additional spouse/dependent coverage can be elected at the employee's expense. Meals are provided on-site. Additional fringe benefits include offering of a flexible spending account, an annual personal development training allowance, professional training, and free mental health therapy sessions.