Catering Manager

A Catering Manager oversees the planning, preparation, and delivery of food and beverage services for events, functions, and organisations in Australia. They manage kitchen operations, staff scheduling, budgeting, and client liaison to ensure food safety compliance, cost control, and customer satisfaction across banquets, corporate events, institutional dining, and hospitality venues.

Plan menus and estimate food and beverage costs for events of varying scale and dietary requirements, including costed quotations for clients. Schedule kitchen and service staff across shifts, manage rostering systems, and conduct induction and training on food safety and catering procedures. Monitor and enforce compliance with Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) requirements, allergen labelling, and Safe Work Australia workplace health and safety standards in kitchen and service areas. Manage food inventory, conduct stock takes, place orders with suppliers, and monitor wastage to maintain cost controls and profitability targets. Liaise with event organisers, venues, and clients to confirm event specifications, dietary restrictions, presentation requirements, and service timelines. Oversee food preparation, plating, and presentation standards in the kitchen to ensure consistency and quality across each service. Supervise front-of-house staff during events to monitor service delivery, guest satisfaction, and adherence to contracted service levels. Maintain kitchen equipment, coordinate preventive maintenance schedules, and manage repair contractors to minimise operational downtime.

The standard entry pathway requires a diploma, advanced diploma or associate degree (ABS skill level 2). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

You'll work evenings, weekends, and public holidays as standard, not occasionally. Events don't run 9-to-5. Stress about food safety compliance and last-minute client changes is constant.

In reality, most jobs are in major cities where there's demand for corporate events, hotels, and institutional catering. Regional work exists but is patchier. Some corporate catering companies offer flexibility, but event-based work ties you to where your clients are.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 1411, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Complaint Handlingcore
• Customer Needs Assessmentcore
• Inventory Trackingcore
• Invoicing and Billing Administrationcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Rostering and Scheduling Supportcore
• Supplier Communicationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Attention to Detail
• Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracy
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity
• Incident Reporting
• Microsoft Office Suite Proficiency
• Multitasking
• Negotiation
• Process Improvement Identification
• Report Writing
• Stock Counting and Stocktake

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Catering Manager workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026