Working with us is more than a job: you are part of something greater because we believe our everyday actions have an impact.
You belong in a company that values you for you; where you are treated fairly, with respect and can be yourself, where your ideas count and your opinion matters because when you’re happy at work, we can be a stronger team.
You are motivated to make a difference through your everyday actions. You have the ability to put a smile on the faces of our customers and guests; to support people in your local community; and to contribute to a more positive future.
We provide all that you need to perform at your best: the tools to do your job well; the opportunity to learn new skills and unleash your potential; and a culture where your health, safety and wellbeing are a priority.
Patient Services Manager in the USA
Patient services - adding years to life
Read the story →HSE Director from Australia
Two years ago, I interviewed for my first role at Sodexo and met an inspiring female leader who would become my manager and mentor. I instantly thought ‘this is a woman I want to work with’; she was a powerhouse. I loved her energy and the complete trust she placed in her teams. Like me, she had young child and helped to banish any doubts I was having about opportunities stalling when you become a mum.
I was confident I was right for the role, as a regional health and safety (H&S) manager for Western Australia, but the way she spoke about the company and its values really resonated and that interview helped decide Sodexo was the place for me. I felt Sodexo was a business that could challenge me and be a place where I could grow.
I’d come to Sodexo with lots of previous H&S experience from roles in transport, manufacturing, non-profit, a global pharmaceutical, and also worked as a consultant. It wasn’t a career I’d planned as I had studied psychology and law at university. It was a chance conversation with a careers counselor that put health and safety in my mind and from that point I never looked back.
Looking at safety through a strategic lens
For the first year I was leading a team of H&S advisors based on mining contract sites and then I moved up into a HSE lead role. Every day I was learning something new and finding things to challenge me. I’ve had so many ‘wow’ moments so far. One of those moments was my promotion to my current role as HSE Director for Australia, four months ago. I now lead a multi-discipline team covering general HSE, injury prevention, injury management, quality, project-based H&S and data analysts. It’s high level and requires me to look at health and safety through a more strategic lens and shape future policy and procedures, regionally and globally. It’s exciting to be part of that, to help position Sodexo as an employer and contract partner of choice.
What I also love about this role is the ability to see the impact you have. During my time as a H&S consultant I was able to go into companies, define problems and find solutions, but I never saw the solution put in place. I can see that at Sodexo.
If you ask me what I enjoy most, it’s people – that’s what keeps me coming to work every day. Safety isn’t self-serving; it’s about supporting teams, collaborating and bringing people on the journey, advocating for others, helping people to shape their careers and thrive, and ensuring everyone goes home safely to their loved ones.
District Manager, Sodexo USA
I joined Marriott* as a cashier in 1983, 41 years ago! It was a job which worked well with my home life as I could commute with my husband, who was working as a chef for Marriott at the time. I worked my way up to supervisor then assistant manager.
But the more I saw, the more I wanted.
My husband was the main breadwinner, I needed to be close to home to coordinate childcare, but I was still able to grow professionally. I got my first management job when I came back from maternity leave after having my first child.
As a working mom, you can sometimes feel like you don’t have all the tools in your toolkit to get the job you want. But I was gathering those tools without even realizing it. I had a lot of great mentors in my managers, and I had the inner drive too!
After a few years I was promoted and took on my first multi-site role for a client within the technology industry. I stayed in this role for 18 years; it sounds like a long time to be in the same role, but it didn’t feel like the same role to me. I was always growing and building on my skills with a huge variety of projects including starting a taskforce for people with disabilities and running mentorship programs.
General management in New York City
Then 9/11 happened. I felt like I needed to be in the city. My youngest child was 16 and could drive, I didn’t need to be around for pick-ups and drop offs any more. It was time to focus on me.
I took on an area general manager role, running 4 locations for a FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) client. There were incredibly high expectations managing a city location compared to more self-contained company offices.
I was the only woman amongst my peers at the time. But I felt like I could just be myself and it didn’t matter. I brought a mutual respect to my team and really focused on building my network and my team.
I’m most proud of my professional progress during this time. It was a great role to help me take the step from unit manager to district manager. I had always thought I might end up working in human resources because I love to develop people, but I realized I would be able to help more people working in operations.
I love creative problem solving
In 2004 I was promoted to my current role of district manager. The adjustment from having one client to having many clients, each with different contracts and expectations, was a big one.
I found the second year as a district manager is the hardest. I lost my first contract in a re-bid process. We did our job, but I took it incredibly personally. For me the relationship with the client is incredibly personal and I work really hard to maintain those relationships.
I’m now responsible for managing 250 employees, 33 managers and have 14 direct reports. This team delivers the very best food, hospitality and soft services to our clients across 17 contracts and 25 buildings in the New York metropolitan area.
I like to keep my feet on the ground, close to operations. In big companies it’s easier to change things if you come forward with both a problem and a solution and I’m proud of my ability to do this. I love to throw crazy ideas on the wall and be creative offering solutions.
We are innovators, not order takers.
I love to share this quote from Andrea in my team. It’s ok to do something if that’s what our client wants, but is there a way we could offer an even better solution?
A great example of this was the Covid-19 pandemic. Leading a team through Covid was difficult. In our area 800 people were dying a day. When the world was shutting down, we still needed to feed people, help them feel safe and help our clients run their business. We found ways to show up every day with courage, resilience, empathy and ideas on how we could share best practice and find solutions together.
Sodexo feels like family to me
I have two kids. They’re grown up now, but at Sodexo I never felt like I had to choose between career progression or family. I’ve always been supported.
But the story I like to share is that in 2015 I was in a terrible accident while on vacation and suffered a broken neck and 23 broken bones. Our president and senior leaders came to see me in the ICU. The Sodexo team was there for my family to get us through this time. I was out of work over 5 months and Sodexo was completely supportive during this time.
As if that was not enough, our world was rocked 16 months later when my husband suffered a traumatic brain injury which resulted in Global Aphasia and right-side weakness. I became the head of household, basically single mom and 100% caregiver. Once again, the Sodexo team rallied around our family. Everyone at Sodexo is super supportive of my needs as a caregiver. I am able to care for my husband and attend caregiver support groups for myself. I am able to be everyone I need to be. Sodexo is my family.
I’m even able to support the Adler Aphasia Center which my husband attends each week through fundraising and awareness. My husband and I were recognized for this support with The Shining STAR award from the center earlier this year.
Four members of my family have spent time working for Sodexo, my husband, one of my sons, my daughter-in-law and my brother. Together we’ve racked up 92 years of service.
My amazingly diverse team
One of the things I love about my role is being able to pick a team which is not like me. An incredibly diverse team brings many different points of view, adding so much value.
I’m really driven by making a difference, helping my team to grow in their career and ensuring everyone in my clients’ building has the best experience ever. I always say in sales bids, all companies deliver the same services really, it’s the people who deliver the services who make the difference.
I am excited to continue to share my story of courage, resilience, leadership and opportunity to inspire the next generation of Sodexo leaders. My job allows me to color outside the lines professionally as well as in my personal life.
I want to do this forever. There is so much opportunity. Life is good. The balance is good.
Find out more about a career with Sodexo!
*Sodexo merged with Marriott International in 1997. Joanne and her husband started working for Marriott which later became part of Sodexo.
Sajeda Khabourr — Sodexo Austria
I started studying German Literature at the University of Damascus in 2011 after finishing high school. It was a newly introduced program at our university, and I was very curious to learn something new. However, things changed dramatically within just a year following the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2012.
My family and I were forced to flee our home after my 23-year-old brother was killed on the way to university. We first sought refuge in Jordan, where we stayed for about three years. The situation there was difficult, and we realized we could not simply wait for things to improve in Syria. We needed a place where we could live, study, work and have legal security. That’s how we found our way to Austria and started a new life. It was an incredibly difficult decision.
After arriving in Austria, I completed several German courses and later trained as an office clerk, funded by a public program. I was determined to carry on with my studies to improve my chances of finding a job. It wasn’t easy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people lost their jobs.
Undeterred, in 2022 I joined the More Than One Perspective (MTOP) program, which supports refugees looking to enter the Austrian labor market. It helped me to understand how to highlight my strengths and work on some of my weaknesses. Through MOTP I heard about Sodexo’s SheWorks, which provides job shadowing opportunities.
It piqued my interest immediately – this was the practical experience I was looking for and in May 2023 I was thrilled to be given a work experience trial with Sodexo at a multinational healthcare company contract in Vienna. I immediately loved the family-like atmosphere of the Sodexo team and could see a successful future. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a permanent vacancy available at the time but in August they got in touch again to say there was a part time job for me in the administration team.
SheWorks not only offered me the work experience trial and led to a permanent role; it also helped me to build connections and gain a better insight into the Austrian job market, which is extremely valuable for my career development. It helped my self-esteem too, allowing me to see my potential and that I could be economically independent. I was so happy to join the Sodexo team and I’m now a full-time member.
What I love about this role is the versatility. Every day brings something new, and I enjoy interacting with colleagues and visitors. Helping my team and solving problems gives me great satisfaction. The positive and supportive work environment here is something I really appreciate.
Of course, there have been challenges having to adapt to a new work environment in a foreign country with a different language and culture. Although that was difficult at first, I learned to be flexible and to adjust quickly. Overcoming these obstacles has helped me grow both professionally and personally.
If I could pass on any advice to someone looking to move to a new country like I did, I would say be patient with yourself and stay open to new experiences. The beginning can be challenging, but with time, you will adapt, find your place and build a new future. Learning the language and being proactive in seeking opportunities will make a big difference.
Now I’m looking forward to continuing my professional development, learning new skills, and taking on more new challenges. I’m optimistic about the future and excited about the opportunities ahead.
Feb. 10, 2025 — Chef, Sodexo India
Food has always been at the heart of my family life. My mother is a very good cook and my grandmother passed down recipes to her. She used to get me involved in the kitchen, just peeling onions at first as that was all she trusted me to do! When I told her at the age of 18 that I wanted to be a chef, she was surprised. But it was her influence, as I was inspired by the way she cooked from the heart.
My brother felt the same and has gone on to be a top chef. He’s been a great role model for me and has given me lots of advice, especially in the early days as I often used to get upset if things didn’t go well. But he said something to me that I’ve never forgotten – that I was ‘an unripe mango and I just needed to ripen’! It really helped me to understand the need to listen, learn and work hard, and it’s a phrase I use with my young chefs now.
I started my cooking career as a management trainee in 2011, working in an Italian kitchen and then at Pizza Express which was just launching in India. Then I was given a fantastic opportunity to work on a Disney cruise ship for a year which expanded my food knowledge as I was cooking American classics like mac and cheese, pizza and burgers.
It gave me the travel bug too; I was 26 and I wanted to explore the world. I successfully applied for a demi chef de partie position with Viking Cruises and ended up spending six years on the water, visiting 54 countries, many places I’d only ever seen on the television. Sometimes the ship would be sailing through landscapes covered with ice. All you could see was penguins!
It was a fantastic environment to learn and grow in. One night I would be cooking lamb chops for 500 people, and the next preparing a type of fish that I’d never even seen before. I made pasta, created sauces, learned how to make souffle – my confidence was building all the time, and I was listening to advice, following the lead of my exec chefs and picking up new techniques.
So it was a great experience, but my mother was quizzing me as to why I wasn’t thinking about settling down to get married and have babies! I was 31 and still wanted to concentrate on my career, but I did want to stay closer to home so joined Sodexo in Mumbai in October 2022 as a sous chef.
Instantly I felt like I’d come to the right place. The team were supportive from day one, and they encouraged me to share what I’d learned from my travels. Within one year I was promoted to exec sous chef. It’s given me more responsibility but I’m always in the kitchen, working with my team. It’s where I want to be.
The role is still very creative – our contract serves up to 320 covers a day, providing a breakfast, lunch and evening snack service. It’s a big international tech company and many of our Users are well travelled and appreciate lots of different cuisines. So we incorporate traditional Asian staples with European dishes, tastes of North America; we rotate our menus every three weeks. It reflects well on Mumbai as a destination for good food from around the world. Feedback from our diners is really important and some of our Users have said that the food we serve is of a standard that they would expect if they were eating out in a high-quality restaurant.
Working for Sodexo opens up some amazing opportunities and this year I got involved in the sustainable chef competition Cook for Change!, and was invited to Paris as one of 8 finalists from 330 entrants. It was a good opportunity to present my food to the world and the team in Mumbai all helped me get there as it was such a big platform within Sodexo and helped to raise our profile.
Having the chance to represent not just India but the whole APAC region in Paris was one of the best things that’s happened in my career so far. Wearing the Indian flag on the collar of my chef’s jacket was very emotional; something I’d never imagined. I wanted to showcase my talent and that Indian food isn’t just curries and spice, and Sodexo gave me that chance. To have my food tasted and judged by top Michelin starred chefs was always a dream of mine, and it came true.
I plan to keep learning and pushing myself – and encouraging the chefs around me to pursue their dreams too. I believe that if you feel most comfortable in the kitchen, if you feel that it’s your home, then you will be a successful chef. A ripe mango!
Find out more about a career with Sodexo!
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported me through this journey: Anil Thapa, Virendra Yadav, Chinar Jain, Chef Sudhir Nair, Umesh Singh, Chef Ronald, Sanket Jagtap, Unnati Mhatre, Kavya, Alicia, Pooja, Anubha, & Suparna.
Mar. 25, 2025 — Chef, Corporate, Sodexo UK & Ireland
I started my career in kitchens as many budding chefs do – washing pots. It was all down to a push from my mum to be honest, I was 15 and she was keen to get me out of the house and working! That first role as a kitchen porter was at The Belfry Hotel in Cheshire, England. So although I had no plans for a cooking career, it was a very happy accident to fall into the industry as I immediately got the bug for it.
It didn’t take long to get my first real taste of kitchen life – a team member left and I was asked to fill the gap, prepping veg. I caught the tail end of the classic French cookery era in big hotels, where you would have a 20+-strong team of chefs, so there were plenty of experienced chefs around me to get inspiration and guidance from. I’d met Marco Pierre White when I was 16 and he was a big role model too – reading all his books fuelled my passion and enthusiasm for hospitality.
I spent six months at The Belfry, learning everything I could. Roles in a number of hotels in Cheshire followed, building my skills and experience as I went along.
My next destination was a little further afield – to the other side of the world in fact! I packed my bags and went to New Zealand where I spent two years in Christchurch, working in a beautiful five-star hotel. Quite an experience, but the UK called me back and I landed a job at The Whitehouse Restaurant in Prestbury, as a senior sous chef, and also worked for an events company in Manchester.
For the last 20 years I’ve stayed in one place, working at a large pharmaceutical organization in Cheshire. Sodexo took over the contract in 2011 and I transferred over, as hospitality chef, which meant looking after directors’ fine dining and events. It was great time, I loved it. Back then the budgets were huge and we could push the boat out with extravagant menus and plan some really elaborate events – chauffeurs, live entertainment; the full party experience.
After seven years, I won promotion to my current role as head chef. With the support of my team, we run five coffee shops, a restaurant, and special events like BBQs and evening functions. Cooking is what I love most, I’ve never been interested in moving to a role that take me away from the kitchen.
I’ll also confess to being quite competitive. I took part in the Sodexo Chef of the Year in 2018 and that hooked me in, and now I’m always looking forward to my next competition. One of my career moments to date was winning Sodexo’s Cook for Change! Sustainable chef competition last year in Paris. Competing is a great challenge for the brain and the buzz is unbeatable.
My winning dish was called the Whole Cauliflower, and I tried to source all the ingredients from within a three-mile radius of where we're based, to make for a quality, sustainable dish. We grow produce on site and I’m passionate that we buy locally and support local suppliers in the surrounding community.
What’s next for me? Well, there’s always a new challenge. The shape of workplace catering is changing, especially with hybrid working becoming the norm. Sodexo needs to evolve and as chefs we are a big part of that journey. We need to be adaptable and I say that to anyone looking to follow this path.
Workplace catering isn’t like working in a traditional restaurant environment, where you cook the same dishes every day, for different customers. We see the same customers every day, so we constantly have to innovate and keep things exciting. It keeps us on our toes and no two days are the same. And for me, working Monday to Friday beats long shifts in a restaurant.
Staff turnover can be high in the catering industry but at Sodexo we tend to have long-serving people – some of my colleagues have been part of the team for more than 10 years, which is unusual but means we’ve become pretty close. The team: that’s what makes the difference, and is one of the best things about working for Sodexo.
Dec. 16, 2024 — Patient Services Manager, Sodexo US
I first started working at this hospital as a temporary dishwasher. I was made permanent dishwasher in 2008 then worked my way up to cashier, retail supervisor, administration assistant then started working in operations as an operations manager.
Up until this point I was working for a company called Morrison. In 2019 Sodexo took over providing the services at the hospital where I was working. The vice president and the president of the hospital asked me to stay on, so I did.
After transferring over to Sodexo I continued working in operations for a while then took a job in patient services.
As a patient services manager I start my day early. I get to the hospital at around 4am and my focus is to get the kitchen ready for the start of service. I turn on the ovens, warm up the grills, put water on the stove and run the dishwasher. I get everything ready so that when my team arrive, nothing is standing in their way of cooking breakfast.
We serve breakfast from 6am until 8am. And between 11:15am and 12:30pm my focus is the lunch service. Outside of those times I have meetings, briefings with the morning and evening shift teams and handle paperwork.
Every day I set out to make things as easy as possible for my team so that we can support patients with the very best food. For me it’s all about the patients and the difference I can make to them.
The hospital’s slogan is “adding years to life” and I really believe that is what I do.
A lot of the people who come into the hospital, are not asking you to perform surgery, what they really need is someone to listen. The conversations I have with individual patients about their food are always about more than just food. It’s about each patient feeling that they are listened to. That their choices matter. And knowing that we keep our promises.
If a patient asks for something, I will bring it to them straight away. This often takes patients by surprise. I believe that doing this isn’t anything special, I’m just doing my job. But I see that it makes a huge difference to patients. It’s something special for them. And that makes it even more important that I keep doing it.
The biggest hurdle I have to overcome on a daily basis is learning how not to become frustrated from seeing the realities of people’s lives. When issues are being ignored.
I believe there has to be something beyond needing to pay your bills that motivates you to do the right thing when no one is looking.
For me, my role gives me more than just a paycheck. I enjoy what I do, and I make it count. I come to work because I enjoy having the opportunity to make a difference to someone’s life. And I have that opportunity every single day.
I believe that if you want to be a leader, you first have to learn to follow.
I don’t know what the next step in my career will be, but I know that the opportunity is always there with Sodexo. There is no hidden agenda, if you want to take the next step, the opportunity will be there for you.
