Head Pastry Chef

AROUND THE BLOCK INVESTMENTS LLC; Dubai; On-site; AED 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

AROUND THE BLOCK INVESTMENTS LLC in Dubai seeks a senior Pastry Lead to oversee pastry operations for all brands and outlets. You will drive innovation in French pastry, lead cross-brand product development, and ensure high-quality, standardized recipes and procedures.

You will supervise pastry teams, implement HACCP and safety standards, monitor yields and costs, and collaborate with procurement, operations, and marketing on launches and seasonal initiatives.

Qualifications

• Advanced expertise and proven specialization in French pastry is required.
• Strong leadership and staff development skills are essential.
• Experience overseeing pastry operations across multiple outlets or brands.

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee pastry operations and production across all company brands and outlets.
• Drive product development, testing, recipe refinement, and implementation.
• Ensure standardized recipes, procedures, and quality across outlets.
• Monitor costs, yields, and wastage while maintaining pastry quality.
• Train and develop pastry teams, ensuring compliance with HACCP and safety standards.

Skills

French pastry specialization

Leadership

Product development

Quality control

Food safety HACCP

Multi-brand pastry oversight

Education

Professional culinary or pastry qualification

Job description

• Lead and oversee pastry operations and production across all company brands and outlets.
• Demonstrate strong creativity and specialization in French pastry, bringing innovative ideas and techniques into the company's pastry offerings.
• Develop new and distinctive pastry concepts aligned with the individual identity and positioning of each brand.
• Lead product development, testing, recipe refinement, and implementation across all brands.
• Continuously enhance existing products through improvements in flavor, texture, presentation, quality, and commercial performance.
• Establish and maintain standardized recipes, preparation procedures, portioning, presentation, and quality standards.
• Ensure consistent execution of approved products across all outlets and production locations.
• Conduct regular outlet and production visits to monitor product quality, consistency, presentation, and adherence to standards.
• Identify quality or production gaps and implement corrective actions with the relevant teams.
• Lead, train, coach, and develop pastry teams across the business to strengthen technical capabilities and performance.
• Establish clear production standards and ensure teams understand and consistently follow approved procedures.
• Plan and oversee production requirements according to outlet demand, business needs, launches, and seasonal activities.
• Monitor food costs, ingredient usage, yields, portion control, and wastage while protecting product quality.
• Work closely with Procurement to evaluate ingredients, suppliers, equipment, and other pastry requirements.
• Support new outlet openings by establishing pastry operations, training teams, and ensuring product readiness.
• Collaborate with Operations, Marketing, and management on product launches, campaigns, events, and brand initiatives.
• Maintain awareness of international pastry trends and identify relevant opportunities for innovation across the company’s brands.
• Ensure pastry operations comply with food safety, hygiene, sanitation, HACCP, and company requirements.
• Maintain overall ownership of pastry quality, creativity, consistency, and standards across all brands.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee pastry operations and production across all company brands and outlets.
• Demonstrate strong creativity and specialization in French pastry, bringing innovative ideas and techniques into the company’s pastry offerings.
• Develop new and distinctive pastry concepts aligned with the individual identity and positioning of each brand.
• Lead product development, testing, recipe refinement, and implementation across all brands.
• Continuously enhance existing products through improvements in flavor, texture, presentation, quality, and commercial performance.
• Establish and maintain standardized recipes, preparation procedures, portioning, presentation, and quality standards.
• Ensure consistent execution of approved products across all outlets and production locations.
• Conduct regular outlet and production visits to monitor product quality, consistency, presentation, and adherence to standards.
• Identify quality or production gaps and implement corrective actions with the relevant teams.
• Lead, train, coach, and develop pastry teams across the business to strengthen technical capabilities and performance.
• Establish clear production standards and ensure teams understand and consistently follow approved procedures.
• Plan and oversee production requirements according to outlet demand, business needs, launches, and seasonal activities.
• Monitor food costs, ingredient usage, yields, portion control, and wastage while protecting product quality.
• Work closely with Procurement to evaluate ingredients, suppliers, equipment, and other pastry requirements.
• Support new outlet openings by establishing pastry operations, training teams, and ensuring product readiness.
• Collaborate with Operations, Marketing, and management on product launches, campaigns, events, and brand initiatives.
• Maintain awareness of international pastry trends and identify relevant opportunities for innovation across the company’s brands.
• Ensure pastry operations comply with food safety, hygiene, sanitation, HACCP, and company requirements.
• Maintain overall ownership of pastry quality, creativity, consistency, and standards across all brands.

Skills & Qualifications

• Advanced expertise and proven specialization in French pastry is required.
• Strong creative ability with proven experience developing original and commercially viable pastry concepts.
• Strong understanding of both traditional and contemporary French pastry techniques.
• Proven experience overseeing pastry operations across multiple outlets, concepts, or brands is highly preferred.
• Strong leadership, team management, coaching, and staff development skills.
• Excellent product development, recipe standardization, and implementation capabilities.
• Strong understanding of multi-outlet production planning and quality control.
• Good knowledge of food costing, yields, portion control, inventory management, and wastage reduction.
• Ability to adapt pastry offerings to suit the individual identity and customer profile of different F&B brands.
• Ability to balance creativity, quality, commercial viability, and operational efficiency.
• Exceptional attention to detail and consistently high quality standards.
• Strong organizational, planning, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, hygiene, sanitation, and HACCP requirements.
• Professional culinary or pastry qualification is preferred.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating French pastry specialization, creativity, and product development is required.