Catering Manager - Helpings Cafe & Catering

Job Title: Catering Manager
Supervisor: Assistant Director of Culinary Enterprises
Classification: Exempt
Hiring Salary Range: $62,000 - $65,000

About UMOM New Day Centers:

Founded in 1964, UMOM is Arizona's largest provider of services for families experiencing homelessness. Our mission is to end family homelessness by restoring hope and rebuilding lives. With an annual operating budget of $20 million dollars, UMOM provides shelter, supportive services, and housing programs to families and individuals experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County. UMOM serves over 15,000 unique individuals across all our services annually, including those families receiving support at the Family Housing Hub, Maricopa County's family coordinated entry system.

Position Description:

The Helpings Café and Catering Manager provides leadership, technical skill, and day-to-day management of the catering business in support of UMOM's social enterprise mission. This role serves as a hands-on Working Chef, actively engaged in production while leading staff, operations, and service execution. The Manager works alongside the team, leading by example and setting the standard for quality, sanitation, organization, and customer service. This role maintains clear ownership of business performance, ensuring operational efficiency and achievement of financial goals. While supporting broader culinary enterprise initiatives as needed, the primary focus of this role is the successful execution and growth of the catering business.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manages the day-to-day operations of Helpings Catering, ensuring alignment with business goals while developing systems and processes that improve efficiency, consistency, and scalability
• Serves as a hands-on leader in production and service, working alongside staff daily to model standards and drive execution
• Supervises, trains, and coaches staff; provides performance feedback and accountability
• Collaborates with the Assistant Director of Culinary Enterprises and Social Enterprise Specialist to align operations, training, and business performance
• Serves as a subject matter expert in emerging food trends, collaborating with the Assistant Director of Culinary Enterprises to keep catering menus fresh, relevant, and responsive to customer preferences
• Leads recipe development, standardization, and costing to ensure quality, consistency, and profitability
• Leads the maintenance and organization of catering and kitchen equipment, optimizing workflow, minimizing downtime, and ensuring operational readiness
• Leads all catering events from planning through execution, ensuring quality and customer satisfaction
• Directly oversees front and back of house catering operations, ensuring readiness, execution, and service standards
• Develops and manages employee schedules aligned with labor cost targets, reducing overtime through strategic and flexible workforce planning.
• Owns catering business performance, including revenue, labor, food cost, and profitability, leveraging data and trend analysis to inform decisions and drive continuous improvement 
• Exercises sound judgment in daily operational decisions to support service and efficiency
• Establishes and maintains food quality, sanitation, and workflow standards
• Creates structured, hands-on learning opportunities and provides ongoing feedback to support skill development and job readiness for Homegrown participants 
• Ensures all catering orders are executed efficiently, accurately, and on time
• Reviews & places orders, inventory performance, and vendor relationships for quality and cost control
• Ensures compliance with company policies, health regulations, and food safety standards through regular audits and proactive risk management
• Creates structured, hands-on learning opportunities and provides ongoing feedback to support skill development and job readiness for Homegrown participants 
• Drives continuous improvement across catering operations, balancing business performance, culinary excellence, and social impact
• Represents UMOM professionally and delivers a high level of customer service in all interactions
• Performs other duties as assigned

Qualification and Competency Requirements:

Education and Experience

• High school diploma or GED equivalent, preferred
• Culinary degree or certification preferred
• Minimum of five years in a fast-paced kitchen environment
• Experience in catering and team leadership preferred
• Experience with inventory process and procedures preferred

Computer skills

• Proficiency with applications including Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, Teams and Outlook
• Previous experience with electronic food inventory and ordering system strongly preferred

Compliance

• ServSafe Manager Certification or the ability to obtain one
• Valid Level One Fingerprint Clearance Card or the ability to obtain one
• Ability to clear the Central Registry Screening from the Department of Child Safety & Adult Protective Services.
• Ability to comply with and pass all required background check and drug screening requirements, including but not limited to pre-employment and random drug screening as required/requested.
• Valid AZ Driver's License and a driving record that falls within UMOM's policy
• Car insurance coverage
• This position is classified as a safety sensitive position.

Physical activities and working conditions

The physical demands and working conditions described here are representative, but not exhaustive, of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. This position is very active and requires standing, moving, bending, stooping, lifting, and reaching all day. The duties of this job require regular exposure to kitchen conditions including heat, cold, humidity, wet, smoke, and loud noises.

Additional Attributes

• Demonstrates a strong commitment to embracing and actively supporting the unique culture and values of UMOM
• Exhibits high proficiency in written and verbal communication, ensuring clarity, professionalism, and effectiveness
• Maintains strong attention to detail while effectively managing multiple priorities and shifting seamlessly between tasks
• Exercises sound independent judgment, taking full ownership of decisions and outcomes
• Applies system-level thinking, understanding how decisions and actions impact the broader organization
• Balances the ability to work independently with being a collaborative and engaged team member
• Effectively organizes work, prioritizes responsibilities, meets deadlines, and delegates appropriately to drive results
• Embraces change, risk, and uncertainty with resilience and a solutions-oriented mindset
• Builds strong relationships in a fast-paced, collaborative environment that values diverse perspectives, with a commitment to advancing UMOM's transition into a more data-driven organization

Work Schedule:

This full-time position typically works 5 days each week (40 hours) with 2 consecutive days off. Schedule is driven by business demand and catering events. Flexibility is required, including mornings, evenings, weekends, and holidays. Business needs to determine schedule and availability. Schedules are subject to change based on operational needs. The Manager is expected to be present and actively leading during peak service periods.

Other Duties:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Salary : $62,000 - $65,000