Culinary Operations Director

Job Overview

We are seeking an exceptional Culinary Operations Director to lead our kitchen team and drive culinary excellence.

Job Summary

The successful candidate will be responsible for overseeing the daily operations of our kitchen, ensuring that we deliver high-quality food products to our customers while maintaining a safe and healthy work environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead daily culinary production in preparation and presentation of meals, food quality, compliance with safety and sanitation standards, team member productivity, cost controls, and overall profitability.

• Determine how food should be presented and create decorative food displays.

• Provide direction on menu development based on product availability; creates distinctive specials that incorporate seasonal or special ingredients.

• Seek out sources for fresh food; monitors all produce and meat for freshness.

• Maintain product consistency by conducting inspections of seasonings, portion, and appearance of food.

• Research customer preferences and develops a menu which incorporates local foods and flavors.

• Prepare and cook foods of all types, either on a regular basis or for special guests or functions.

• Demonstrate new cooking techniques and equipment to staff.

• Supervise and coordinates activities of cooks and workers engaged in food preparation.

• Ensure compliance with federal, state, local and company health, safety, sanitation standards.

• Provides guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.

• Communicates the importance of safety procedures, detailing procedure codes, ensuring employee understanding of safety codes, monitoring processes and procedures related to safety.

• Monitors the quality of raw and cooked food products to ensure that standards are met.

• Follows and enforces food safety and sanitation guidelines.

• Maintains purchasing, receiving and food storage standards.

Business & Financial Acumen

• Participate in the development and implementation of business strategies for the community which are aligned with the client's overall mission, vision values and strategies.

• Manage department controllable expenses including food cost, supplies, uniforms, and equipment.

• Develop and implement guidelines and control procedures for purchasing and receiving areas.

• Analyze financial and operational information on an ongoing basis to adjust business plans, labor requirements, and operating costs.

• Develop, implement, and manage the department's budget; continually analyze, forecast, monitor, and control the labor and food costs through various methods to meet/exceed management objectives.

• Identify major revenue and expense opportunities and possible problems.

• Control food cost, labor, and other expenses; monitors actual versus budgeted expenses.

• Oversee the food inventory, purchasing, control, and disbursement of all food supplies.

• Schedules staff based upon forecasted volumes.

Ensuring Exceptional Customer Service

• Create 100% resident satisfaction by providing team members with the training and resources they need to maximize team member engagement and deliver best-in-class service.

• Professional attitude and appearance while engaging with residents and community staff.

• Improve service by communicating and assisting individuals to understand guest needs, providing guidance, feedback, and individual coaching when needed.

• Provide and support service behaviors that are above and beyond for customer satisfaction and retention.

• Empower employees to provide excellent customer service. Establishes guidelines so employees understand expectations and parameters. Ensures employees receive ongoing training to understand guest expectations.

• Ensure that employees provide genuine hospitality and teamwork on an ongoing basis.

• Use teamwork to support guests and employees.

• Seek opportunities to improve the customer experience by seeking resident feedback and developing strategies to improve department.

• Reviews resident satisfaction results and other data to identify areas of improvement.

• Responds to and handles guest problems and complaints.

Team Building and Management

• Regularly lead team member meetings.

• Establishes goals including performance goals, budget goals, team goals, etc.

• Solicits employee feedback, utilizes an open-door policy and reviews employee satisfaction results to identify and address employee problems or concerns.

• Develops and implements strategies and practices which support team member engagement.

• Ensure employees are treated fairly and equitably.

• Provides team members with the training needed to understand expectations and perform job responsibilities.

• Provides team members with the necessary tools to perform their duties and responsibilities.

• Communicates performance expectations and provides team members with ongoing feedback.

• Provides team members with coaching and counseling as needed to achieve performance objectives and reach their fullest potential.

Preferred Qualifications

• A.S. or equivalent experience.

• Minimum 5 years of progressive culinary/kitchen management experience, depending upon formal degree or training.

• Extensive catering experience a plus.

• High volume, complex foodservice operations experience - highly desirable.

• Institutional and batch cooking experiences.

• Hands-on chefs experience a must.

• Comprehensive knowledge of food and catering trends with a focus on quality, production, sanitation, food cost controls, and presentation.

• Must be experienced with computers; to include Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and Power Point), Outlook, Email, and the Internet.

• Must be willing to participate in client satisfaction programs/activities.

• ServSafe certified - highly desirable.

Salary and Benefits

$75,000 - $85,000 per year, commensurate with experience.

We offer a comprehensive benefits package including:

Medical, Dental, Vision

Life Insurance/AD&D

Disability Insurance

Retirement Plan

Flexible Time Off

Holiday Time Off (varies by site/state)

Associate Shopping Program

Health and Wellness Programs

Discount Marketplace

Identity Theft Protection

Pet Insurance

Commuter Benefits

Employee Assistance Program

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

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