Swarthmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility. Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to inclusive excellence and nondiscrimination in its educational program and employment practices and encourages candidates who will further advance the goal of fostering a diverse and inclusive community. As one of the nation’s finest institutions of higher learning, Swarthmore College is global in outlook and draws students from around the nation and world. The 425‐acre campus is a designated arboretum, complete with gardens, rolling lawns, a creek, wooded hills, and hiking trails in the Crum Woods.

Who We Are:

Swarthmore Dining is dedicated to serving our community with nutritious and satisfying food in a welcoming environment every day. Our mission is to offer a diverse menu that features high-quality ingredients, emphasizing locally grown and sustainably produced products whenever possible. We are committed to inclusive dining by ensuring vegetarian, vegan, and accommodations for dietary restrictions are always available. As a self-operated dining program encompassing Residential Dining, we pride ourselves on providing a work-life balance that is often difficult to find in the restaurant industry. Join us at Swarthmore Dining to be a part of a vibrant community committed to quality, sustainability, and exceptional service in a state-of-the-art kitchen setting.

The opportunity:

The Culinary Production and Supply Manager is responsible for food, inventory, equipment, and ordering supplies; using seasonal products and utilizing current food trends. Collaborates with the Executive Sous Chef along with the Associate Director and Executive Chef in menu concept development, special event planning, writing seasonal and custom menus. Plans and develops menus with the culinary team, and provides them with new recipes and products. Maintains food costs, opportunity food purchases to save money for the operating budget, inventory controls and works within financial targets as specified by the board operations budget.

Interacts with Residential Managers on food displays to ensure the highest quality of food production, standards, presentations, and techniques. Orders and schedules deliveries of all food, beverage and disposable products to meet the menu cycle. Maintains the highest levels of food safety, sanitation and cleanliness in all production areas. Processes payroll; receives invoices, takes inventory, and monitors staff productivity.

Maintains all records of production, inventory, food costs and standardized recipes in the menu management system for residential dining and catering. Maintains all nutritional information for the department and works with the Associate Director and Executive Chef to ensure products align with special diet requests.

Participates in hiring, training, development, and the supervision of the production staff. Manage the stock and delivery team. This includes hiring, training, scheduling and writing performance assessments.

Essential Responsibilities

• Manages budgets for ordering and inventory control.
• Manages vendor Group purchasing organization and buying agreements
• Records all production in Menu Management system
• Maintains inventory and par levels and performs inventory for residential dining.
• Responsible for stock rotation of products and equipment.
• Management of equipment assets and inventory of products for all operations in dining.
• Inventory to be performed on a daily, weekly and monthly basis as needed.
• Maintains recipe software production database in menu management system
• Orders all food, beverage, small wares, cleaning supplies, paper supplies and equipment for the dining services program.
• Continually researches new vendors with a focus on local and sustainable food products.
• Work with the Sustainability Office on sustainability initiatives.
• Maintains excellent vendor relationships.
• Manages and bids for all services and equipment to ensure best pricing for the Dining Services program.
• Creates RFI's, RFQ’s, and RFP’s in coordination with College Purchasing Office and works with the office manager on reconciliation of procured statements
• Oversees the staff and the production of commissary.
• Oversees the stock and delivery teams and ensures stock is properly put away in storage areas and follows HAACP.
• Design, implement and coordinate ongoing food production throughout the dining services program, while establishing and maintaining consistent quality of food programs.
• Develop production for management and staff with keeping in mind food handling procedures, safety and sanitation, cooking methods, product presentation, proper use of equipment, and utilization of leftovers.
• In collaboration with the Executive Sous Chef and Associate Director and Executive Chef, creates standardized recipes with food quality, nutrition, presentation, and operational objectives while maintaining budgeted food and labor costs.
• Forecasts events for production and purchase food for production items.
• Identify new menu items and help to maintain inventory and C Board software remains up to date.
• Maintains allergen information on all food purchases.
• Work with Associate Director and Executive Chef on special diets and specialty foods for accommodations.
• Works with managers for purchases of new equipment and maintains records of equipment purchases and inventory of small wares and equipment.

Additional Responsibilities

• Work with the catering manager on functions to provide production support and guidance for events.
• Reads, interprets, updates and follows standardized recipes. Monitors the accuracy of the recipes as they are used.
• Assists with supervision and training of department production staff.
• Assists the management team in the development of new menus and recipes. Provides feedback on use of new products.
• Participates in continuing education.
• Ensures high quality food production by ensuring that kitchen staff is following production guidelines properly.
• Ensures a clean, safe and sanitary environment for customers and employees along with reporting and rectifying safety hazards.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Directly supervises the work of the Stock and Delivery Associates.
• Effectively performs the following:
• Organize workflow and ensure staff understand their duties or delegated tasks.
• Provide and develop training opportunities. Create and conduct staff performance evaluations.
• Communicate key issues and information to staff.
• Provide fair, constructive, and timely feedback.
• In partnership with Human Resources, follow disciplinary procedures as established in accordance with the employee handbook.
• Manage time keeping for the team, assuring accuracy and approving employee time. Use the Time and Attendance system to enter vacation time, sick time and approve time.
• Participate in supervisory training opportunities.
• Maintain a safe, diverse, and inclusive work environment.

What you bring:

Required Qualifications

• Associate’s Degree in Culinary with three or more years of related experience in a high-volume establishment, or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience.
• Serv-safe Certification
• Valid Driver’s License
• Ability to drive a box truck.
• Demonstrated experience in managing food and labor costs.
• Strong problem-solving ability and a commitment to providing excellent customer service in a diverse community.
• Proven record of teamwork, collaboration, and partnership with various operations, services, colleagues, and programs.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, email, recipe software, and inventory systems.
• Experience in budget development, financial systems, and operating budget management.
• Experience with human resource management skills, including the selection, training, supervision, and evaluation of nonexempt staff.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in culinary, food service administration, institutional management, nutrition, dietetics or related area.
• Four or more years of progressively more responsible supervisory and administrative experience in a high-volume food service operation that offers a varying daily menu.

Working Conditions:

• Fast paced, high volume environment.
• Seven-day operation, including nights and weekends.
• Must be able to adapt to ever-changing demands of college dining services.
• Must work in inclement and severe weather conditions.
• Could be noisy.
• Floors could be wet and slippery.
• A diverse team with varied backgrounds and learning abilities.

Physical Demands:

• Ability to lift and carry objects weighing up to 25 lbs.
• Ability to carry heavy objects in close quarters and on stairs.
• Ability to carry objects for extended periods of time
• Ability to perform kneeling, bending, squatting motions for extended times.
• Ability to work in kitchen conditions with long periods of standing

What You Will Get:

You’ll work at one of the world's most renowned liberal arts Colleges, with incredible benefits, a stunning 420-acre campus, and a collaborative work environment. Join a team of passionate, creative people who work hard and have fun supporting the College students, faculty, and staff.

We want to hear from you if you are excited about this role! For full consideration, submit applications with an uploaded resume by January 19, 2026. Applications received after this date may be reviewed on a rolling basis until the job has been filled.

The market range for this position is $75,000-$85,000 per year, which represents the College’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range at the time of posting. The salary offered is determined based on factors including, but not limited to, experience and education of the final selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal salary equity considerations, and available market information.

PA Criminal Clearance Required

Swarthmore College requires a PA Criminal background check for all staff positions prior to the start of employment.

MVR Clearance Required by Position

Due to operating a College owned motor vehicle while performing essential job responsibilities for this position, a motor vehicle report (MVR) clearance is required prior to the start of employment.

Preview our Benefits Flyer. We offer benefit plans starting at zero cost! Upon benefit eligibility, the College contributes 10% of an employee’s salary to their retirement account. Employees are 100% vested in their accounts on the date participation begins.

2026 Swarthmore Benefits Guidebook

Retirement Plans

Tuition Grant Program

Tuition Reimbursement Program

Paid Time Off (Staff)

Holiday Schedule

Swarthmore College is committed to creating a culture of respect and inclusion so that every member of our community feels a sense of belonging. We actively seek and welcome candidates with diverse perspectives and experiences, exceptional qualifications, and a demonstrable commitment to a more inclusive society and world. Swarthmore College is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate based on any identity or characteristic protected by law or College Policy.