Chef de Cuisine

Chef de Cuisine

Busy Bees Cafe & Catering | Capitola, CA

Salary: $90,000–$115,000 DOE Performance Bonus Up to $5,000 in First-Year Retention Bonuses

Help Lead the Next Chapter of an Award-Winning Business

Busy Bees Cafe & Catering is a family-owned scratch kitchen proudly serving Santa Cruz County. We have been voted Best Caterer four consecutive years and are known for exceptional breakfast and lunch, award-winning catering, house-made breads and pastries, and genuine hospitality.

As we continue to grow and expand our operations, we're looking for an exceptional Chef de Cuisine to become a key member of our leadership team.

This is not a position for someone simply looking for another chef job.

We're looking for an experienced leader who can confidently step into an established operation, lead a

talented team, maintain exceptional standards, and help us build the future of Busy Bees.

About the Role

As Chef de Cuisine, you will oversee all kitchen operations for both our café and award-winning catering division.

You will be responsible for leading the kitchen team, hiring and developing employees, maintaining food quality, managing labor and food costs, improving systems, and ensuring every guest receives the level of food and service Busy Bees has become known for.

You'll work closely with ownership to learn our business, but we are looking for someone who already

knows how to lead a successful kitchen.

Responsibilities

• Lead all day-to-day kitchen operations.
• Recruit, hire, train, coach, and develop kitchen staff.
• Build schedules and manage labor efficiently.
• Manage inventory, purchasing, food cost, and waste.
• Ensure consistent execution for both café service and catering.
• Maintain outstanding food quality and presentation.
• Uphold the highest standards of cleanliness, organization, and food safety.
• Continue improving kitchen systems and operational efficiency.
• Foster a culture of accountability, teamwork, professionalism, and respect.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have:

• Proven experience leading a high-volume scratch kitchen.
• Strong leadership and team-building skills.
• Experience hiring, training, and managing employees.
• Excellent organization and communication skills.
• Experience managing food cost, labor, and inventory.
• The ability to remain calm and organized under pressure.
• A positive attitude and a genuine desire to build a strong team.
• Experience with catering operations is a significant plus.

What We Offer

• $90,000–$115,000 annual salary based on experience.
• Performance bonus opportunities.
• $2,500 retention bonus after six months.
• Additional $2,500 retention bonus after one year.
• Mostly daytime schedule with a healthier work-life balance than many restaurant kitchens.
• Paid vacation.
• Family meal.
• Opportunity to lead an award-winning scratch kitchen.
• Newly expanded facility designed for continued growth.
• A stable, family-owned company with an outstanding reputation.
• A leadership role where your ideas, experience, and initiative truly matter.

A Message From the Owners

We know great kitchens don't happen by accident—they're built by great people.

We've spent years building Busy Bees into a business our team and our community are proud of. As we continue to grow, we're looking for someone who wants to be more than an employee. We're looking for a leader who wants to build an exceptional kitchen, develop a great team, and help shape the future of our company.

We'll teach you how Busy Bees operates.

We're looking for someone who already knows how to build and lead an outstanding kitchen.

If you're the kind of chef who naturally takes ownership, leads by example, cares about people as much as food, and wants to build something you're proud of, we'd love to meet you.

Paid working interview required for final candidates.