JetBlue Airways

Manager Onboard Culinary Programs

JetBlue Airways • $114K — $170K *
Long Island City, NY 11101In-Person
Food & Beverages
5 - 7 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, Hospitality Management, or related discipline; OR equivalent experience.
  • Five years of experience in culinary operations or food service management.
  • Three years managing vendor or partner relationships in operationally complex environments.
  • Strong knowledge of food safety and compliance standards (HACCP or equivalent).
  • Proven ability to design scalable processes and systems across multiple locations.
  • Experience in building and maintaining partner relationships, with a capacity to influence.
  • Availability for 70% domestic and international travel.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the Onboard Culinary Programs team, establishing priorities and workflows.
  • Oversee menu specifications and recipes for timing and accuracy.
  • Develop crew guides for portioning and service procedures, collaborating for effective inflight execution.
  • Manage relationships with catering partners on food quality and safety standards.
  • Ensure compliance with food safety regulations and audit processes.
  • Translate concepts into actionable onboard culinary programs with new partners.
  • Create dashboards to monitor performance metrics in the catering network.

Benefits

  • Healthcare benefits and a 401(k) plan with company match.
  • Access to free space available travel on JetBlue.
  • Short-term and long-term disability coverage.
  • Basic life insurance and crewmember stock purchase plan.
  • Flexibility to work hybrid between office and travel environments.
Full Job Description
Manager Onboard Culinary Programs

Position Summary:

The Manager Onboard Culinary Programs serves as JetBlue's strategic culinary lead and primary point of contact for all catering business partners across the system, ensuring food quality, operational consistency, and brand alignment across onboard dining programs. This role combines strategic program leadership with hands-on culinary oversight to drive menu specification accuracy, food safety compliance, pricing alignment, and partner performance across JetBlue's global catering network.

Reporting to the Senior Manager Onboard Experience Product Development, the Manager owns the end-to-end lifecycle of culinary programs, from menu specification and business partner onboarding through compliance monitoring and performance optimization. The role establishes scalable processes and project management systems that enable the team to work efficiently, supporting JetBlue's growth while protecting the high-quality dining experience that sets the brand apart.

The Manager also acts as JetBlue's culinary subject matter expert in RFP processes, cross-functional initiatives, and new business partner negotiations, ensuring requirements are clearly defined and successfully executed. This position requires strong culinary literacy, operational discipline, and the ability to build sustainable systems that balance food quality, cost, and crew execution, with a leadership style that demonstrates JetBlue's values of Safety, Caring, Integrity, Passion, and Fun.

Essential Responsibilities:
  • Lead the Onboard Culinary Programs team, setting clear priorities, workflows, and expectations to deliver safe, reliable, and brand-aligned Onboard dining programs
  • Own menu specifications and recipes within Product Development, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and timely release to Catering Standards, Catering Operations, Catering Business Partners and all other stakeholders as required
  • Create and maintain crew guides that outline plating, portioning, and service procedures. Partner with Inflight Service Delivery to confirm guides can be executed inflight, and with Catering Standards to ensure pack plans align with galley realities
  • Serve as JetBlue's primary culinary point of contact for all catering partners across the system, managing relationships across menu specifications, food quality, food safety, pricing, and performance
  • Oversee JetBlue's onboard food safety and compliance framework
  • Own audit cadence, corrective actions, incident response, and Audit program maintenance, ensuring standards are met across the network
  • Create and manage high-level dashboards, so crewleader and leadership can quickly ascertain the health and performance of our fresh food catering network
  • Ensure proposed dish pricing from caterers are within budget, and manage accordingly to deliver financial goals
  • Act as culinary and food safety subject matter expert for RFPs and SLAs, ensuring all culinary and food safety requirements are captured, clearly defined, and executable
  • Lead onboarding of new culinary partners with the Onboard Experience Product Development team, translating concepts into workable onboard culinary programs
  • Align menu changes with budget targets and collaborate with Finance and catering partners to ensure accurate pricing and cost control
  • Build scalable systems, calendars, and change-control routines to improve accuracy, communication, and visibility across teams
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with Catering Standards, Catering Ops, Service Delivery, Compliance, Finance, and, as needed, Brand, Marketing, Social, and Corporate Communications to deliver programs that work end-to-end
  • Represent the Culinary Programs team in cross-functional meetings, ensuring culinary requirements are embedded into decisions and outcomes
  • Provide leadership, guidance, and development for a team of analysts, fostering accountability, process discipline, and continuous improvement
  • Other duties as assigned

Minimum Experience and Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's Degree in Culinary Arts, Food Science, Hospitality Management, or related discipline; OR demonstrated capability to perform job responsibilities with a combination of a High School Diploma/GED and at least four (4) years of previous related work experience
  • Five (5) years of experience in culinary operations, food service management, or hospitality program management with demonstrated leadership responsibilities
  • Three (3) years of experience managing vendor or partner relationships in a regulated or operationally complex environment
  • Strong knowledge of food safety and compliance standards (HACCP or equivalent)
  • Demonstrated ability to design and implement processes, systems, or programs that scale across multiple locations
  • Experience building and maintaining partner relationships, with proven ability to influence without direct authority
  • Available for domestic and international overnight travel, with frequency to be determined (70%)
  • Must pass a pre-employment drug test
  • Must be legally eligible to work in the country in which the position is located
  • Authorization to work in the US is required. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship

Preferred Experience and Qualifications:
  • Culinary degree from an accredited institution or advanced professional culinary training
  • Experience in airline food & beverage, contract catering, or multi-unit hospitality operations with a focus on branded or differentiated dining programs
  • Familiarity with RFP processes, vendor negotiations, and service-level agreements
  • Strong financial acumen, including menu pricing alignment, cost analysis, and budget management
  • ServSafe Manager certification or equivalent food safety credential
  • Project management certification (e.g., PMP or equivalent)
  • Experience building or scaling culinary programs that balance brand vision, operational feasibility, and cost control
  • Bilingual English/Spanish preferred; additional languages such as French or Dutch are a plus to support JetBlue's European catering partners

Crewmember Expectations:
  • Regular attendance and punctuality
  • Potential need to work flexible hours and be available to respond on short notice
  • Able to maintain a professional appearance
  • When working or traveling on JetBlue flights, and if time permits, all capable crewmembers are asked to assist with light cleaning of the aircraft
  • Must be an appropriate organizational fit for the JetBlue culture, that is, exhibit the JetBlue values of Safety, Caring, Integrity, Passion, and Fun
  • Must fulfill safety accountabilities as prescribed by JetBlue's Safety Management System (SMS)
  • Promote JetBlue's #1 value of Safety as a Safety Ambassador, supporting JetBlue's SMS components, Safety Policy, and behavioral standards
  • Identify safety and security concerns, issues, incidents, or hazards that should be reported and report them whenever possible and by any means necessary, including JetBlue's confidential reporting systems (Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) or Safety Action Report (SAR))
  • Responsible for adhering to all applicable laws, regulations (FAA, OSHA, DOT, etc.) and Company policies, procedures, and risk controls
  • Uphold JetBlue's safety performance metric goals and understand how they relate to duties and responsibilities.
  • The use of ChatGPT or any other automated tool during the interview process will disqualify a candidate from being considered for the position.

Equipment:
  • Computer and other office equipment

Work Environment:
  • Traditional office environment with frequent travel to airport facilities and catering kitchens
  • Regular exposure to commercial kitchen settings, including hot and cold storage areas, food preparation spaces, and equipment environments
  • Airport and aircraft settings with associated noise levels, movement, and operational activity
  • Flexibility to work extended hours during menu changeovers, program launches, and operational disruptions

Physical Effort:
  • Generally not required, or up to 10 pounds occasionally, 0 pounds frequently (Sedentary)

Compensation:
  • The base pay range for this position is between $114,000.00 and $170,000.00 per year. Base pay is one component of JetBlue's total compensation package, which may also include performance bonuses, restricted stock units, as well as access to healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan and company match, crewmember stock purchase plan, short-term and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, free space available travel on JetBlue, and more.


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About JetBlue Airways

JetBlue is a customer service channel for Major United States Airline based in Queens, New York. It is a passenger airline that operates primarily on point-to-point routes with its fleet of 120 Airbus A320 aircraft and 49 EMBRAER 190 aircraft. As of December 31, 2011, it served 70 destinations in 22 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico and 12 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. Most of JetBlue flights have as an origin or destination New York or one of its other focus cities: Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Orlando or San Juan, Puerto Rico. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated an average of 700 daily flights. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired eight take-off and landing slots at each of New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Washington D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport. The Company’s operations primarily consist of transporting passengers on its aircraft with domestic United States operations, including Puerto Rico, which accounted for 85% of its capacity in 2011.

JetBlue Airways Careers

There has never been a more exciting time to explore job opportunities at JetBlue Airways, a leading company in the aviation industry known for its innovation, strong culture, and commitment to diversity and leadership development. Work You’ll Do Join JetBlue Airways' dynamic team to help redefine the future of air travel with a focus on customer service excellence and operational efficiency. At JetBlue, you will be part of a culture that values diversity, leadership, and professional growth. Transform your career and the airline industry with JetBlue’s commitment to innovation and excellence. Lead from a unique position in the marketplace, where your skills in technology, customer service, and team collaboration are highly valued. Work with a dedicated team of professionals who are passionate about creating an outstanding travel experience. Collaborate with industry leaders and benefit from a culture that supports career advancement and professional development. Introducing the JetBlue Professional Growth and Development Initiative We are building a market-leading team to master the challenges of the modern aviation industry. At JetBlue, you will find a supportive environment where career growth and learning are encouraged through comprehensive training and leadership development programs. Do Innovative Work Join a team that is at the forefront of the aviation industry, where you can apply your skills in a variety of roles, from pilot and cabin crew positions to engineering and customer support. JetBlue offers a wide range of job opportunities that allow you to innovate and excel. Be Part of a Great Team Work on a wide range of projects and utilize the latest technology in aviation. Harness the unparalleled capabilities of a team that values integrity, teamwork, and mutual respect. Future-Proof Your Career Advance your career with JetBlue Airways, where your ambition can take you to new heights. Enjoy near-limitless opportunities to grow professionally, supported by unmatched training, development, and certification support. Explore JetBlue’s internship programs offer a unique insight into the workings of one of the most innovative airlines in the industry. These programs provide hands-on experience and are a stepping stone to full-time employment. The JetBlue Experience Our combined service capabilities, commitment to innovation, and a diverse and inclusive workplace help employees thrive and lead in their careers. At JetBlue, we are dedicated to nurturing a professional environment where every team member can succeed. Stay Connected Join Our Team Search open positions that match your skills and interests. We look for passionate, curious, creative, and solution-driven team players. Explore the various employment paths JetBlue Airways offers, from customer service to pilot positions. SEARCH JETBLUE JOBS Keep Up to Date Stay ahead with career tips, insider perspectives, and industry-leading insights you can put to use today—all from the people who work here. READ CAREERS BLOG Job Alert Emails Personalize your subscription to receive job alerts, latest news, and insider tips tailored to your preferences. Discover the exciting and rewarding career opportunities that await at JetBlue Airways.
Learn more about JetBlue Airways
Size
19,304 employees
Market Cap
$2 billion
Industry
Aerospace & Defense
Net Income
-$1.3 billion
Founded
1999
5 Year Trend
-1.7%
Revenue
$2.9 billion
NASDAQ
JBLU
* Ladders Estimates

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