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Serving Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Product Manager, Ads (Live Ad Serving)

Los Gatos, CA ยท On-site

  • Medical

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Identify ads management and serving needs unique to Live events due to high unpredictability, massive traffic spikes, and simultaneous global delivery. * Take a holistic yield management approach ...

Product Manager, Ads (Live Ad Serving)

Los Gatos, CA ยท On-site

  • Medical

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Identify ads management and serving needs unique to Live events due to high unpredictability, massive traffic spikes, and simultaneous global delivery. * Take a holistic yield management approach ...

Product Manager, Ads (Live Ad Serving)

Los Gatos, CA ยท On-site

  • Medical

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Identify ads management and serving needs unique to Live events due to high unpredictability, massive traffic spikes, and simultaneous global delivery. * Take a holistic yield management approach ...

Showing results 21-40

Serving information

See California salary details

$5

$15

$30

How much do serving jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 19, 2026, the average hourly pay for serving in California is $15.09, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $10.19 and $17.07 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is serving?

Serving jobs typically refer to positions in the food and beverage industry where individuals are responsible for taking orders, delivering food and drinks, and providing customer service in restaurants, cafes, bars, and similar establishments. Servers are often the main point of contact between customers and the business, ensuring a pleasant dining experience. These roles require good communication skills, the ability to multitask, and a friendly attitude. Tips often make up a significant portion of a server's income, making customer satisfaction particularly important.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a server?

To thrive as a Server, you need strong customer service skills, basic math abilities, and usually a high school diploma or equivalent. Familiarity with point-of-sale (POS) systems and knowledge of food safety standards are commonly required. Outstanding communication, multitasking, and problem-solving skills help servers deliver a positive dining experience. These skills and qualities are crucial for ensuring customer satisfaction, efficient service, and smooth restaurant operations.

What are some common challenges servers face during busy shifts and how can they effectively manage them?

During peak hours, servers often juggle multiple tables, special requests, and time-sensitive orders, which can be stressful. Effective strategies include staying organized, communicating clearly with both the kitchen and fellow servers, and prioritizing tasks to ensure prompt service. Developing strong multitasking skills and remaining calm under pressure are also essential. Many restaurants use team-based approaches, so supporting colleagues and asking for help when needed can make busy shifts more manageable.

What is the difference between Serving vs Waitstaff?

AspectServingWaitstaff
CredentialsNo formal certifications typically requiredNo formal certifications typically required
Work EnvironmentRestaurants, cafes, catering eventsRestaurants, cafes, catering events
Industry UsageCommonly used in hospitality and food serviceCommonly used in hospitality and food service
Search & ComparisonOften searched as ServingOften searched as Waitstaff

Serving and Waitstaff are terms used interchangeably in the food service industry. Both roles involve taking orders, serving food and beverages, and ensuring customer satisfaction in restaurants and cafes. While 'Serving' is a broader term, 'Waitstaff' specifically refers to the staff members performing these duties. The responsibilities, work environment, and industry usage are very similar, making these terms often interchangeable in job searches and industry discussions.

How can I become a serving with no experience?

To become a server with no experience, focus on developing good communication and customer service skills, and consider applying at entry-level restaurants or cafes that offer on-the-job training. Having a friendly attitude and a willingness to learn can help you secure a position, even without prior experience. Some establishments may require a food handler's permit or basic knowledge of POS systems, which can be obtained quickly.

What is a serving job called?

A serving job is commonly called a waiter or waitress position, where individuals take orders, serve food and beverages, and provide customer service in restaurants or cafes. It often requires good communication skills, a friendly attitude, and sometimes a food handler's certification. The role may involve shift work, tips, and working in a fast-paced environment.

What are the most commonly searched types of Serving jobs in California?

The most popular types of Serving jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Serving jobs?

Cities in California with the most Serving job openings:

Infographic showing various Serving job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 83% Full Time, 15% Part Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 73% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 26% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $31,391 per year, or $15.1 per hour.

Staff Software Engineer, Foundational Model Serving

Databricks

San Francisco, CA โ€ข On-site

Full-time

Re-posted 29 days ago


Job description

At Databricks, we are passionate about enabling data teams to solve the world's toughest problems - from making the next mode of transportation a reality to accelerating the development of medical breakthroughs. We do this by building and running the world's best data and AI infrastructure platform so our customers can use deep data insights to improve their business.ย 

Foundation Model Serving is the API Product for hosting and serving frontier AI model inference for open source models like Llama, Qwen, and GPT OSS as well as proprietary models like Claude and OpenAI GPT. For this role, no prior ML or AI experience is necessary. We're looking for engineers who have owned high scale operational sensitive systems like customer facing APIs, Edge Gateways, ML Inference, or similar services and have an interest in getting deep building LLM APIs and runtimes at scale.

As a Staff Engineer, you'll play a critical role in shaping both the product experience and core infrastructure. You will design and build systems that enable high-throughput, low-latency inference on GPU workloads with frontier models, influence architectural direction, and collaborate closely across platform, product, infrastructure, and research teams to deliver a world-class foundation model API product.

The impact you will have:

  • Design and implement core systems and APIs that power Databricks Foundation Model Serving, ensuring scalability, reliability, and operational excellence.
  • Partner with product and engineering leadership to define the technical roadmap and long-term architecture for serving workloads.
  • Drive architectural decisions and trade-offs to optimize performance, throughput, autoscaling, and operational efficiency for GPU serving workloads.
  • Contribute directly to key components across the serving infrastructure - from working in systems like vLLM and SGLang to creating token based rate limiters and optimizers - ensuring smooth and efficient operations at scale.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with product, platform, and research teams to translate customer needs into reliable and performant systems.
  • Establish best practices for code quality, testing, and operational readiness, and mentor other engineers through design reviews and technical guidance.
  • Represent the team in cross-organizational technical discussions and influence Databricks' broader AI platform strategy.

What we look for:

  • 10+ years of experience building and operating large-scale distributed systems.
  • Experience leading high-scale operationally sensitive backend systems.
  • A track record of up-leveling teams engineering excellence.
  • Strong foundation in algorithms, data structures, and system design as applied to large-scale, low-latency serving systems.
  • Proven ability to deliver technically complex, high-impact initiatives that create measurable customer or business value.
  • Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate across teams in fast-moving environments.
  • Strategic and product-oriented mindset with the ability to align technical execution with long-term vision.
  • Passion for mentoring, growing engineers, and fostering technical excellence.