Pastry Chef

Compass Group•Santa Monica, CA

25d•$80,000 - $85,000

About The Position

Bon Appetit Management Company is hiring a Pastry Chef to lead day-to-day baking and pastry operations for Pepperdine University. The role delivers desserts, artisan breads, pastries, and specialty baked goods across residential dining, retail café operations, catering events, and executive hospitality functions. It oversees the university’s baking and pastry program, including high-profile catered events and VIP executive dining experiences. The Pastry Chef leads a team that includes a Sous Chef Baker and is responsible for menu innovation, production excellence, training, and operational execution. This role offers an opportunity for a creative, entrepreneurial culinary professional to develop elevated guest experiences within a collegiate dining environment. The stated salary is $80,000–$85,000. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Requirements

Hands-on pastry chef, baker, or dessert production experience.
Experience overseeing bakery, pastry, café, catering, or large-scale foodservice operations.
Strong knowledge of baking techniques, pastry arts, artisan breads, desserts, cakes, confections, and current industry trends.
Experience with menu development, recipe creation, ordering, inventory management, and production planning.
Comprehensive knowledge of food quality, sanitation, food safety systems, and cost controls.
Ability to lead, train, coach, and develop culinary team members.

Nice To Haves

Three or more years of pastry, baking, or culinary leadership experience.
Experience in higher education dining, restaurants, hotels, resorts, bakeries, corporate dining, or related hospitality environments.
Extensive catering and banquet dessert production experience.
High-volume batch production and complex foodservice operations experience.
ServSafe Certification.

Responsibilities

Manage day-to-day baking and pastry operations across campus dining venues.
Lead, coach, schedule, and oversee the Sous Chef Baker and pastry production team.
Plan, prepare, and execute desserts, pastries, artisan breads, cookies, cakes, and specialty baked goods.
Develop and execute innovative dessert, pastry, and bakery menus aligned with seasonal trends, customer preferences, and university initiatives.
Oversee the baking and pastry program across retail café operations, catered events, and VIP executive hospitality spaces.
Lead pastry production for catered functions, special events, commencement activities, donor events, and executive-level gatherings.
Assist with menu planning, recipe development, and implementation of new pastry concepts and offerings.
Manage purchasing, inventory, ordering, and receiving of pastry ingredients, smallwares, and related supplies.
Develop and maintain standardized recipes and production procedures to ensure quality, consistency, and operational efficiency.
Monitor food costs, labor costs, and departmental expenses while maintaining quality standards.
Ensure compliance with food safety, sanitation, HACCP, and company guidelines.
Train, mentor, and develop culinary team members in pastry techniques, presentation standards, production methods, and food safety practices.
Collaborate with culinary leadership and marketing teams to roll out culinary programs, promotions, and seasonal offerings.
Maintain high standards of food quality, presentation, customer service, and guest satisfaction.
Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

Medical
Dental
Vision
Life Insurance/AD
Disability Insurance
Retirement Plan
Paid Time Off
Holiday Time Off (varies by site/state)
Associate Shopping Program
Health and Wellness Programs
Discount Marketplace
Identity Theft Protection
Pet Insurance
Commuter Benefits
Employee Assistance Program
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
Paid Parental Leave
Personal Leave
Additional paid and/or unpaid time off may be available in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.