How to hire a food service coordinator

How to hire a food service coordinator, step by step

Here's a step-by-step food service coordinator hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a food service coordinator job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new food service coordinator
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a food service coordinator do?

Post a food service coordinator job for free, promote it for a fee

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your food service coordinator job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a food service coordinator for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A food service coordinator's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, food service coordinators from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of food service coordinators and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Food Service Coordinator	Description	Hourly rate
   Food Service Coordinator	Food preparation workers perform many routine tasks under the direction of cooks, chefs, or food service managers. Food preparation workers prepare cold foods, slice meat, peel and cut vegetables, brew coffee or tea, and perform many other food service tasks.	$11-20
   Pastry Chef	Pastry chefs are culinary artists specializing in the creation of desserts, bread, and sweets. They order supplies and ingredients for the restaurant, aside from creating, decorating, and presenting pastries... Show more	$12-37
   Deli Clerk	A deli clerk is responsible for providing healthy food recommendations to the customers, assisting them with their inquiries, and providing special offers. Deli clerks' duties include maintaining the highest sanitation procedures within the working area, updating the customers with the products' promotions, updating displays regularly, researching the latest market trends for product recommendations, and adhering to the company's safety standards and regulations... Show more	$11-20

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Food Preparation
   • Customer Service
   • Food Handling
   • Meal Preparation
   • Food Safety
   • Kitchen Equipment
   • ServSafe
   • Patients
   • Cleanliness
   • Cash Handling
   • Sanitation Standards
   • Federal Guidelines
   • USDA
   • Order Food

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage and coordinate the workload of the release team members and are responsible for organizing and hosting all production release windows.
   • Enhance and enrich HACCP knowledge and practices.
   • Record each meal recieve into the POS system.
   • Work with staff to provide culinary and nutritional teaching to club members.
   • Perform food samples and laboratory testing, and prepare corresponding reports following HACCP guidelines.
   • Monitor patients diets and patient satisfaction.

   More food service coordinator duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the food service coordinator job description is a good way to get more applicants. A food service coordinator salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a food service coordinator in Arkansas may be lower than in Rhode Island, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level food service coordinator. Additionally, a food service coordinator with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average food service coordinator salary

   $15.43hourly

   $32,085 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level food service coordinator salary

   $23,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average food service coordinator salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$40,098	$19
   2	Oregon	$39,913	$19
   3	Washington	$39,417	$19
   4	Massachusetts	$39,098	$19
   5	Minnesota	$37,359	$18
   6	New York	$37,014	$18
   7	New Jersey	$36,611	$18
   8	Colorado	$36,130	$17
   9	Iowa	$34,442	$17
   10	Utah	$32,538	$16
   11	Wisconsin	$32,329	$16
   12	Illinois	$31,667	$15
   13	Pennsylvania	$30,724	$15
   14	Ohio	$30,644	$15
   15	North Carolina	$27,472	$13
   16	Oklahoma	$25,170	$12
   17	Florida	$24,621	$12
   18	Arkansas	$23,371	$11
   19	Georgia	$23,062	$11
   20	Tennessee	$21,692	$10

   Average food service coordinator salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Ashland MA Police	$46,005	$22.12
   2	Iowa Department of Transportation	$45,696	$21.97
   3	The Culinary Institute of America	$44,211	$21.26	3
   4	University of Wisconsin System	$39,233	$18.86	3
   5	Portland State University	$39,065	$18.78
   6	NBCUniversal	$38,371	$18.45	7
   7	HEI Hotels & Resorts	$36,679	$17.63	14
   8	Hyatt Hotels	$36,177	$17.39	84
   9	Town & Country Markets	$36,091	$17.35	6
   10	Western Oregon University	$36,066	$17.34	3
   11	Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts	$36,009	$17.31	15
   12	Target	$35,989	$17.30	411
   13	Fairmont Schools	$35,793	$17.21	8
   14	Mandarin Oriental	$35,563	$17.10	6
   15	The State of Oregon	$35,421	$17.03	2
   16	Grandville Public Schools	$35,235	$16.94	4
   17	Minneapolis Public Schools	$35,104	$16.88	1
   18	Rosewood Hotels & Resorts	$34,699	$16.68	5
   19	Montage Hotels & Resorts	$34,626	$16.65	18
   20	BayCare Health System	$34,623	$16.65	11

4. Writing a food service coordinator job description

   A food service coordinator job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a food service coordinator job description:

   Food service coordinator job description example

   Road Ranger is GROWING!! We are Hiring Immediately! Are you looking for Full Time or Part Time work? We have positions available! We offer benefits for our FULL and PART-TIME employees.
   Join the Road Ranger family and see how far your drive can take you!
   
   At Road Ranger, we aim to provide drivers with the warm hospitality, top tier fuel, quality food, and essential products they need along their journey. We owe our success to our friendly, driven employees who thrive in our fast-paced environment. To reward their hard work, we offer our employees a wide variety of competitive benefits to support their health and wealth, such as:
   
   - Health, Dental, & Vision Insurance
   
   - Weekly Pay
   
   - Bonus Potential
   
   - 401(k)
   
   - Life Insurance
   
   - Paid Vacation
   
   - Paid Maternity/Paternity Leave
   
   About our Subway - Food Service Coordinator:
   
   Our Subway - Food Service Coordinators do more than simply complete paperwork and place orders. As the face of Subway, you are to provide and ensure fast and friendly customer service, creating a fun and positive work environment, hiring and leading a top group of Subway employees, dedicated to serving up fresh-made, delicious sandwiches and other offerings for our hungry customers. In addition to preparing food, this role is responsible for providing fast and friendly customer service, operating the point-of-sale system, safeguarding cash and inventory, maintaining proper food safety standards, and ensuring the cleanliness of the Subway area. This position is engaging, gives you a lot of variety in your day, and prepares you for more responsibility along your Subway/ Road Ranger journey.
   
   The ideal Subway - Food Service Coordinator has 1 plus years of restaurant management experience, is a friendly, hard-working, and reliable leader who enjoys engaging with customers, employees, vendors and helping make a difference in someone's day. If you possess these qualities, you are already one step closer to a successful career in the Road Ranger family.
   
   Do you have what it takes to be a Ranger? Apply today!
   
   #RRHP
   
   Road Ranger is a proud equal opportunity employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunities, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status or civil partnership/union status, veteran status, citizenship, pregnancy, genetic information, physical or mental disability, or any other status or characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.
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   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right food service coordinator for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your food service coordinator job on Zippia to find and recruit food service coordinator candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting food service coordinators requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new food service coordinator

   Once you have selected a candidate for the food service coordinator position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new food service coordinator first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a food service coordinator?