11 of the Best Types of Culinary Jobs in 2026

Discover some great types of Culinary jobs that are hiring now.

High Paying Culinary Jobs

• Culinary Director

  Salary range: $60,000 - $123,000

  The qualifications that you need to become a culinary director include a degree and extensive experience in a restaurant or other food service business. You can start on this career path by enrolling in a hospitality degree program or attending a culinary institute. You can also gain experience by working in a restaurant. Some employers seek culinary directors who have cooking skills and experience handling the duties of a chef. Others want culinary directors with management abilities and expertise running hospitality businesses. You also need the experience or education to handle administrative responsibilities, such as hiring employees and planning the budget.

• Executive Culinary

  Salary range: $71,500 - $98,500

  The different types of executive jobs include upper- and senior-level management as well as the C-suite—the highest levels of senior management. The C-suite executives have the word “chief” at the beginning of their titles: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) are the most common. Companies with a heavy reliance on information technology may also have a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Other executive jobs include vice president and director of various departments.

• Culinary Coordinator

  Salary range: $40,500 - $69,500

  Coordinators plan and schedule events, programs, or projects. In this position, you can work in a variety of industries, so your duties and the necessary qualifications vary by field. There are project coordinators who work in the construction, manufacturing, and development industries, program coordinators, who typically work in education, community outreach, or non-profit organizations, and numerous other positions that require significant coordination experience. For those who work in labor industries, coordination might include developing timetables and budgets for the ordering and delivery of materials or services, while at a school, an instructional coordinator might prepare an afterschool program curriculum.

• Culinary Manager

  Salary range: $44,000 - $65,000

  The qualifications that you need to become a culinary manager depend on your level of experience in food service or the hospitality industry. You could earn an associate degree or postsecondary certificate in culinary arts, hospitality management, or a related field. Some culinary schools may offer culinary management degrees. You can also work in an entry-level position in a restaurant and learn the culinary management role and required skills through job experience. Depending on the state regulations, you may need to have a manager license or food handler license to operate as a culinary manager.

• Culinary Trainee

  Salary range: $32,000 - $50,500

  The requirements to get a trainee job vary by industry. In some, such as architecture or accounting, you must graduate from an accredited college program before you can begin work. Other industries, such as retail, manufacturing, or telemarketing, may require only a high school diploma or a GED certificate to begin a training program. No matter what profession you are interested in, you should have strong verbal and written communication and an interest in continuing the career.

• Culinary Apprentice

  Salary range: $29,000 - $41,000

  Culinary Apprentice is a more unusual job search query but still may give you interesting job results. Most salaries for Culinary Apprentice jobs pay between $29,000 (25th percentile) and $41,000 (75th percentile) annually. Currently, there are not many open positions nationwide for Culinary Apprentice job searches hiring now on ZipRecruiter. You can take a look at what is available and find similar job searches in this list.

• Culinary Internship

  Salary range: $30,000 - $40,000

  An Internship is a position within your desired field that pays little or no money but offers you the opportunity to gain real-world experience. This may set you apart for your future job search. Generally, Internships are almost expected by employers on an entry-level candidate’s resume. You are much more of an asset to an employer if you have some work experience.

• Culinary Union

  Salary range: $32,000 - $40,000

  For those who work for unions, some of the specific jobs include researchers, organizers, administrators, lawyers, communications workers, and clerical staff. Your duties include entering workplaces to speak with workers and provide them encouragement and support if they are interested in joining a specific union, or to negotiate with employers for better working conditions, pay, or benefits for union members. There are numerous types of unions, including health care, public sector, construction, writing, and service workers unions, and they represent a variety of professions, such as nurses, journalists, manufacturers, construction workers, municipal workers, and hotel workers, to name only a few.

• Entry Level Culinary

  Salary range: $31,500 - $39,000

  Entry-level jobs are positions that do not require any previous experience in the role. Most entry-level jobs are aimed at high school or college graduates as a starting point for a future career goal. A college student may have majored in their ideal career field, but will still need to start in an entry-level position to train in a real-world environment. Some students move from internships into entry-level jobs, but most entry-level jobs do not expect a candidate to have any prior employment or on-site training.

• Temporary Culinary

  Salary range: $31,000 - $38,500

  A Temporary job is an employment arrangement in which both parties, the employee and employer, agree in advance that the position will be filled for a set period. Temporary jobs often are based on employers’ seasonal or specific project needs. Occasionally, Temporary employees will be offered ongoing, full-time positions if their performance is excellent and a position is available. However, you should not assume this will be the case.

• Full Time Culinary

  Salary range: $31,000 - $38,500

  Full-time employment hours are generally determined by the employer. There is no single universal definition; however, various laws and policies govern different types of eligibility and statuses. For example, the Fair Labor Standards Act does not define full-time employment but does require overtime pay after 40 hours of work in a workweek for non-exempt employees. The Affordable Care Act, in determining Applicable Large Employers, defines full-time employees as those working an average of at least 30 hours per week, or 130 hours a month. The H-1B Visa Program defines full-time as 40 hours per week, normally, and in no event would less than 35 hours per week be considered to be full-time employment. In practice, full-time employment is typically between 32 and 40 hours per week.