Food Service Worker Lead

Job Summary

Central Washington University is recruiting a Food Service Worker Lead to join our SURC Kitchen team in Ellensburg, Washington. This role is an important member of our team as they enhance the vision for the University. The role is a 10.5-month cyclic campus-based position, which means you get to see the lives you are impacting. We're offering a salary, depending on experience, from $40,032 - $53,136 annually plus the awesome CWU benefits.

Who we are:

We are a team of individuals committed to Changing Students' Lives. No matter what job, each of us plays a part in supporting and empowering our students to fulfill their dreams.  

Working in higher education provides career growth and career choice. Think of a university campus like a mini city, operating across 380 acres. You'll find diverse academics, libraries, athletics and sporting events, full service and quick serve dining, conferences and events from small to large, recreation centers, housing, health services, police and public safety for the campus population of ~8,300 students.

Central Washington University has been named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Top Producing Institution for the 2022-2023 academic year.  In addition, for seven out of eight years, CWU was a recipient of the prestigious Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. RentCafe has also named CWU #13 of the Top 20 Best College Towns in the U.S. in 2025. 

Come join us on our journey to encourage, inspire, and create spaces where all identities thrive on campus.

Tour our campus in Ellensburg here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjdhOegDa9A

What we offer:

Our investment in you begins the day you join our team, a healthy and successful future for you is important to us. We offer medical, dental, life and disability insurance, retirement and optional savings plans, tuition assistance for you and your dependents, discounts across town, an employee assistance program for individualized counseling, and a wellness incentive program. Learn more: Benefits, Perks, and Leave and Total Rewards Calculator. 

The Role:

A Food Service Worker Lead (FSWL) oversees the work of team members and plays a hands-on role in guiding, directing, and training staff and student workers. This position is responsible for ensuring the professional preparation of food and ensuring all aspects of stations/concepts are ready for service. Leading food production, assisting with meal prep for the following day, enforcing proper food storage procedures, and maintaining a clean and sanitary work environment.

The FSWL is responsible for preparing all dishes according to recipes and standards, with accountability for: 

• Ensure compliance with recipes, proper execution of dishes, and adherence to food safety standards
• Prepare all menu items to meet company standards for flavor, presentation, and aroma
• Taste all dishes to ensure proper flavor profiles
• Guide kitchen staff and assist in their training and development
• Perform a full range of responsibilities in both Back of House (BOH) and Front of House (FOH) operations

In alignment with Central Washington University's vision, mission, and values, CWU Dining Services plays a key role in supporting these principles while also upholding our department's own vision, mission, and values. Our vision is to be a key campus partner in promoting the growth of our community through shared culinary and educational experiences. As a member of Dining Services, you will be directly involved in these efforts and are expected to embody both the university, and department, vision, mission, and values in your work. All employees are expected to uphold and contribute to CWU's vision, mission, and values, fostering a culture of student success and institutional excellence.

Job Duties

Training, Menu Management & Essential Functions:
- Ensures the successful and timely execution of the menu and culinary direction provided by the Unit Leadership.
- Prepares menu selections for customers according to established production standards and specific recipes.
- Supervises student staff.
- Regularly assigns tasks, instructs, and checks work of student employees and temporary employees. 
- Assigns and checks work and provides training. May provide feedback to supervisor to assist with work assignments and job performance.
- Properly sets up and uses equipment for production. Cleans and sanitizes equipment once production is completed.
- Reads, interprets, and follows standardized recipes. Adjusts weights and measurement of ingredients to match quantity produced. Stages necessary ingredients for production.
- Reads, interprets, and follows production guidelines produced by the menu management software system (Computrition). Fill out all production guides for assigned shift. Make sure all amounts prepared, consumed and leftovers are recorded on appropriate lines of production reports.
- Answers questions on recipes interpretations and explains established kitchen/production procedures.
- Ensures the availability of fresh and properly garnished products for customer selection at all times. Decides on alternative menu selection if production requires additional food items.
- Visually inspects and tastes food products before and during meals to ensure quality.
- Adjust recipes to volume of demand.
- Ensure food products are properly garnished and displayed at all times.
- Uses mixers, ovens, choppers, steamers, grills (gas and electric), broiler, fryers, and warmers.
- Supports department mission of serving exceptional food to the campus community.
- Interprets and explains established kitchen and production procedures. Initiates needed corrections on recipes and production guides.
- Make sure each employee is fully trained on each piece of equipment used in the kitchen. Set up equipment as necessary.
- Ensures the performance of duties such as racking frozen products for proper tempering, cleaning work areas and preparing food for the next shift or next day.
- Make sure production is within reasonable limits to keep leftovers to a minimum.
- Ensure leftover food production is properly labeled, stored, and incorporated into menus to eliminate food waste and extended storage.
- Ensure a safe work environment. Report safety hazards immediately.
- Coordinates preparation of special dietary meal needs.
- Ensures correct serving and portion sizes are served and monitored.
- Advice regarding specific need for non-menu items not ordered through Computrition. Record inventory on monthly reports. Assist in rotating products in storage areas.
- Assist with inventory as assigned by the Unit Manager.
- Participates in the physical counting in storage locations. Straightens up storage area, mark cases, boxes, and bags for efficient inventory.
- Assist with transporting daily food orders to proper storage location after delivery from the warehouse or vendors as needed.
- Orders needed items on a daily, weekly and/or monthly basis.
- Has a general understanding of nutritional values and allergy awareness.
- Performs more detailed cleaning of work area during non-operational time.
- Leading, directing and training the culinary staff including student food workers 

Operations & Customer Service:
- Open/close processes for applicable shift.
- Operate point of sale system, keying in sales, taking payments and account for receipts at the end of the work shift. 
- Receive customer orders, answering questions about ingredients, recipes, and pricing. 
- Gather, assemble, package, and serve menu items to customer order.

Other Functions:
- Assists in working and setting up for special events on or off campus as needed.
- Supervises student employees in the absence of the Service Supervisor.
- Report safety issues and equipment malfunctions to the supervisor. 

- Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum 1 year of food service experience in a high-volume setting (such as a cafeteria, restaurant, or institutional dining).
• Solid understanding of food preparation techniques, portion control, and recipe compliance.
• Familiarity with food safety regulations (HACCP, ServSafe practices, etc.).
• Ability to operate commercial kitchen equipment (ovens, slicers, fryers, etc.).
• Demonstrated ability and/or experience collaboratively with students, and/or colleagues to foster a supportive and effective learning and work environment. 
• OR applicable combination of education and/or experience which demonstrates the ability to perform essential functions of the position.

Special conditions of employment: 

• Must have or be able to obtain a WA. State Food Handlers permit within 30 days of the initial hire date.
• Must be able to obtain SERVSAFE Certification within 6 months of the initial hire date. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a supervisory or lead role within a high-volume food service environment (university, hospital, military, or large cafeteria setting)
• Formal culinary training or coursework from an accredited culinary school or vocational program
• Experience with food cost awareness, managing food waste, and production yields
• Familiarity with university dining operations, including experience working with student staff who rotate shifts approximately every 3 hours, and the ability to adapt to fluctuating academic schedules
• Strong time management and organizational skills.
• Effective verbal communication skills to give direction and relay information to staff and supervisors.
• Ability to work independently and make sound decisions during service hours.
• Experience with special dietary needs (e.g., vegan, gluten-free, allergen management)
• Proficiency with kitchen management systems or POS/inventory software (like CBORD, Computrition, or similar)
• Strong interpersonal and mentoring skills, especially in training student workers or onboarding new staff
• Ability to read, understand, and scale standardized recipes and production sheets
• Experience with Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Demonstrated participation in programs designed to promote student success.
• A record of promoting institutional excellence in the work environment. 
• Experience or interest in mentoring students from a variety of backgrounds.

Competencies

• Accountability/Dependability: Accepts responsibility for quality of own work; acknowledges and corrects mistakes. Shows up on time, meets standards, deadlines, and work schedules.
• Judgement: Makes timely, informed decisions. Analyzes options and determines appropriate course of action.
• Teamwork: Promotes cooperation and mutual support to achieve goals. Encourages participation and mutual support.
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Responds positively to changing business needs and responsibilities. Adapts approach and methods to achieve results; recovers quickly from setbacks and finds alternatives.
• Commitment to Belonging: Values the uniqueness of every individual and fosters an environment where everyone feels respected and empowered to thrive.

Don't meet every single requirement? At CWU, we're committed to creating a welcoming and genuine workplace. If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification, we still encourage you to apply. This could be the opportunity you're looking for!

Pay, Benefits, & Work Schedule

Salary: This position is based on the range 37 of the Washington State Classification Listing, which has a minimum annual salary of $40,032 and maximum annual salary of $53,136. In accordance with RCW 49.58.110, the above salary reflects the full salary range for this position. Individual placement within the range is based on the candidate's current experience, education, skills, and abilities related to the position. 

Schedule/Appointment: Varies / 10.5-month cyclic / WFSE Bargaining Unit 1

Working Conditions: Work is performed primarily indoors, at times in hot/cold/noisy/wet areas with some exposure to hazardous equipment and products. Working in temperatures from 0 degrees (freezer) to 350+ degrees (around cooking equipment) is common. Work requires walking and standing (often in a stationary position) for most of each shift. Bending/climbing/carrying/pulling/pushing/lifting associated with loading/unloading of supplies and preparation, plating and serving of food is required. Occasional overtime is required, and shift work may be required. Additional physical requirements of the position include Pushing utility carts, and hand carts with up to 150 lbs. of supplies around to various workstations; correctly lifting 35lbs. individually from the floor or shelf locations to heights of 48' so products can be poured into smaller containers or put on worktables. The Dining Service's mission is to provide exceptional food services to the campus community. All staff are expected to work in support of this mission in every function they perform. All staff are expected to work in support of the department's continuous quality improvement program, so service and products are properly handled, prepared, garnished/merchandised, and served to our customers. There is some exposure to hazardous equipment and products found in kitchen environments. Work will be in a kitchen or restaurant setting. Work requires the ability to use both hands for production work. Staff members are hired with the understanding that they may be scheduled to work throughout the week including nights, weekends, and holidays.

Benefits: CWU offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical and dental insurance, retirement and optional savings plans, life and disability insurance, along with vacation and sick leave plans depending on employment classification. For additional information please visit Benefits, Perks, and LeaveandTotal Rewards Calculator. 

An employee of CWU may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program if the employee has student loans. To learn more, visit: https://ofm.wa.gov/state-human-resources/public-service-loan-forgiveness-program.

How To Apply

To apply for this position, you must complete the on-line application and attach: 

• Resume including work history, education, training; and
   
• Contact information for three professional references.

Screening Begins: February 9, 2026

**Priority will be given to applications received by the screening date. Incomplete applications may not be considered.