Culinary Lead

Sweetgreen is a national restaurant brand dedicated to building healthier communities by connecting people to real food. Founded in 2007, Sweetgreen has reimagined fast food through a commitment to fresh, flavorful meals that emphasize relationships with farmers and local communities. Sweetgreen operates fast casual restaurants across the United States that prioritize sustainable sourcing, nutritional excellence, and thoughtful preparation. The company culture supports growth and development within its team members, offering clear career pathways ranging from entry-level team roles to management. Joining Sweetgreen means you are investing in a future that prioritizes food, people, and meaningful purpose within innovative restaurant settings.

The Culinary Lead, also known internally as the Kitchen Lead, is a critical role within the Sweetgreen restaurant ecosystem. This position requires deep expertise in food quality, ensuring that every dish prepared meets Sweetgreen's high standards for flavor, food safety, and presentation. Unlike traditional kitchen leadership roles, this position is not responsible for people management tasks like scheduling or performance reviews, but rather is focused entirely on culinary craft and kitchen execution. The Culinary Lead is the food quality expert on shift, responsible for prepping and cooking hot food using knives, ovens, and kitchen tools, but without the use of fryers or grills. This role involves real-time coaching of teammates to improve food prep and cooking skills, managing prep timing to meet volume demands smoothly, and collaborating closely with shift leaders and managers to uphold cleanliness, safety, and operational excellence.

This position offers the chance to lead by example in a fast-paced, high-volume kitchen environment that emphasizes health-forward food preparation methods without the traditional complexities of grill or fryer usage. The Culinary Lead role is an excellent match for those who love kitchen work, take pride in consistency and food quality, and enjoy helping others grow their culinary skills. Sweetgreen offers competitive wages, tips where applicable, and benefit options including medical, dental, vision, paid time off, and parental leave. Importantly, this role represents a key step on the path to becoming a Shift Leader or General Manager within 2-3 years for motivated individuals. Sweetgreen fosters an inclusive workplace where diverse identities and backgrounds are equally valued, reinforcing equitable access to career growth and team belonging. By joining Sweetgreen as a Culinary Lead, you become part of a movement dedicated to redefining fast food by serving real, wholesome meals and supporting healthier communities through your culinary leadership and dedication to quality.