Executive Chef

Emirates Flight Catering; Dubai; On-site; AED 300,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

Emirates Flight Catering in Dubai seeks a seasoned culinary leader to oversee quality, safety, and service standards across the assigned section, supporting VIP, premium, and event segments. You will ensure all flight, lounge, and special-menu items are prepared and served in strict compliance with food safety and client specifications, while driving menu design and cost accuracy.

Responsibility includes optimizing manpower, training teams, and rotating staff to build full culinary capability,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management or a related culinary discipline.
• Master’s degree and Certification related to Food Safety preferred.
• Minimum of 8 years' experience in the culinary field, preferably in high-volume or large-scale production environments.

Responsibilities

• Oversee overall food quality, customer experience, and procedural compliance across the assigned culinary section.
• Ensure all food items for flights, lounges, and special segments are prepared, cooked, and served in strict compliance with food safety, hygiene standards, and client specifications.
• Optimize manpower planning and staff performance by training, motivating, and rotating teams across areas to build full culinary capability.
• Ensure timely and seamless execution of production workflows to meet operational schedules, flight departure times, and event requirements where applicable.
• Supervise team members to adhere to culinary standards and operational procedures within the department by identify non-conformances and implement corrective actions.
• Design, review, and approve menus in line with contractual requirements and department specialty to ensure creativity, operational feasibility, and cost accuracy.
• Application of menu engineering principles to support revenue enhancement opportunities through client presentations and value-driven culinary solutions.
• Enhance cost efficiency by closely monitoring food yields, optimizing labor and material usage, minimizing waste and pilferage, and ensuring adherence to budgeted cost targets through ongoing financial reviews and timely corrective measures.
• Review operational and financial reports to identify performance gaps, conduct root-cause analysis and implement timely corrective actions to achieve departmental targets.
• Develop and sustain effective relationships with internal stakeholders, clients, suppliers, and support functions to ensure seamless operations and consistently high-quality service delivery.

Skills

Leadership

Delegation

Problem solving

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Strategic thinking

Mentoring

Attention to detail

Operational excellence

Education

Bachelor's degree in Hotel Management

Master’s degree / Food Safety certification preferred

Job description

• Oversee overall food quality, customer experience, and procedural compliance across the assigned culinary section, ensuring support to VIP, premium, and event segments where applicable.
• Ensure all food items for flights, lounges, and special segments are prepared, cooked, and served in strict compliance with food safety, hygiene standards, and client specifications.
• Optimize manpower planning and staff performance by training, motivating, and rotating teams across areas to build full culinary capability.
• Ensure timely and seamless execution of production workflows to meet operational schedules, flight departure times, and event requirements where applicable.
• Supervise team members to adhere to culinary standards and operational procedures within the department by identify non-conformances and implement corrective actions.
• Design, review, and approve menus in line with contractual requirements and department specialty (such as, hot kitchen, cold, kitchen, pastry etc.) to ensure creativity, operational feasibility, and cost accuracy.
• Application of menu engineering principles to support revenue enhancement opportunities through client presentations and value-driven culinary solutions.
• Enhance cost efficiency by closely monitoring food yields, optimizing labor and material usage, minimizing waste and pilferage, and ensuring adherence to budgeted cost targets through ongoing financial reviews and timely corrective measures.
• Review operational and financial reports to identify performance gaps, conduct root-cause analysis and implement timely corrective actions to achieve departmental targets.
• Develop and sustain effective relationships with internal stakeholders, clients, suppliers, and support functions to ensure seamless operations and consistently high-quality service delivery
  

Responsibilities

• Oversee overall food quality, customer experience, and procedural compliance across the assigned culinary section, ensuring support to VIP, premium, and event segments where applicable.
• Ensure all food items for flights, lounges, and special segments are prepared, cooked, and served in strict compliance with food safety, hygiene standards, and client specifications.
• Optimize manpower planning and staff performance by training, motivating, and rotating teams across areas to build full culinary capability.
• Ensure timely and seamless execution of production workflows to meet operational schedules, flight departure times, and event requirements where applicable.
• Supervise team members to adhere to culinary standards and operational procedures within the department by identify non-conformances and implement corrective actions.
• Design, review, and approve menus in line with contractual requirements and department specialty (such as, hot kitchen, cold, kitchen, pastry etc.) to ensure creativity, operational feasibility, and cost accuracy.
• Application of menu engineering principles to support revenue enhancement opportunities through client presentations and value-driven culinary solutions.
• Enhance cost efficiency by closely monitoring food yields, optimizing labor and material usage, minimizing waste and pilferage, and ensuring adherence to budgeted cost targets through ongoing financial reviews and timely corrective measures.
• Review operational and financial reports to identify performance gaps, conduct root-cause analysis and implement timely corrective actions to achieve departmental targets.
• Develop and sustain effective relationships with internal stakeholders, clients, suppliers, and support functions to ensure seamless operations and consistently high‑quality service delivery
  

Qualifications

Education Qualification:

• Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management or a related culinary discipline.
• Master’s degree and Certification related to Food Safety preferred.
  

Work Experience:

Minimum of 8 years' experience in the culinary field, preferably in high-volume or large-scale production environments.

Skills

• Demonstrated ability to grow and develop within the role and take on broader responsibilities.
• Strong leadership capability with effective delegation skills.
• Creative problem-solving and real-time decision-making abilities with an innovative mindset.
• Excellent organizational, training, and communication skills.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to contribute to long-term planning.
• Strong mentoring and coaching skills to develop culinary talent.
• High attention to detail and commitment to maintaining quality standards.
• Proactive, self-driven, and committed to achieving operational excellence.