Executive Chef, Culinary Strategy & Member Solutions

COMPASS GROUP CANADA; Mississauga; On-site; CAD 100,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

COMPASS GROUP CANADA is seeking an Executive Chef, Culinary Strategy & Member Solutions to lead culinary strategy, sourcing implementation, product optimization, and menu innovation across Foodbuy's client network. You will partner with Procurement, Account Management, suppliers, and members to improve contract utilization, purchasing compliance, revenue growth, and member satisfaction.

Think you have what it takes?

Qualifications

• Culinary degree or equivalent combination of education and foodservice experience.
• 5+ years in culinary operations, foodservice, procurement, or related fields.
• Strong knowledge of procurement, sourcing, and contract compliance.
• Proven leadership and coaching capabilities with cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead culinary strategy, product optimization, and member solutions for Foodbuy clients.
• Analyze purchasing intelligence and utilization trends to improve compliance and revenue.
• Develop specifications, product mapping, and contract alignment with suppliers.
• Provide chef-to-chef consulting, menu innovation, and operational assessments.
• Coach and develop direct reports, manage workflow to align with member priorities.
• Create repeatable processes and templates to scale optimization efforts.

Skills

Culinary operations

Procurement

Sourcing

Category management

Consulting

Project management

Leadership

Data analysis

Power BI

Excel

Client management

Communication

Education

Culinary degree or equivalent

Tools

Power BI

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

Job description

The salary range for this position is $100,000 to $110,000. Final compensation will be determined based on relevant skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity. In addition to base salary, eligible employees may be entitled to other elements of total compensation, which may include group benefits, employer RRSP contributions, & discretionary bonus or incentive programs, where applicable to the role. We are committed to offering competitive compensation & comply with all applicable pay transparency legislation. Further details regarding our total rewards program will be shared by the Talent Acquisition team during the hiring process. Canadian work experience is not a requirement for this role. Please note that artificial intelligence-based tools may be used at certain stages of the recruitment & applicant screening process.

The Executive Chef, Culinary Strategy & Member Solutionsleads culinary strategy, sourcing implementation, product optimization, menu innovation, and member consulting across Foodbuy's client network. The role partners with Procurement, Account Management, suppliers, and members to improve contract utilization, purchasing compliance, sourcing outcomes, revenue growth, and member satisfaction. The role provides leadership for support resources, sets priorities, coaches performance, and ensures optimization, conversion, product matching, and client-ready analytics are delivered with quality and business impact.

Success in this role will be driven by improved member contract utilization, growth in purchasing revenue, successful implementation of sourcing and product optimization initiatives, member satisfaction, effective supplier engagement and collaboration, measurable impact from culinary consulting and innovation activities, and the ability to build, lead, and develop scalable capabilities and processes that support members and internal stakeholders.

Now, if you were to come on board as ourExecutive Chef, Culinary Strategy & Member Solutions, we'd ask you to do the following for us:

• Lead product cuttings, tastings, culinary showcases, product evaluations, and supplier demonstrations that support member needs, sourcing priorities, and contracted program adoption.
• Analyze purchasing intelligence, customer models, utilization trends, and operational needs to identify opportunities that improve compliance, purchasing performance, and revenue growth.
• Support procurement initiatives through specification development, product mapping, rationalization, quality validation, product matching, and contract alignment.
• Provide chef-to-chef consulting, menu innovation, operational assessments, and strategic recommendations for key Foodbuy members and prospective clients.
• Partner with Procurement, Account Management, suppliers, and manufacturers to support launches, sourcing projects, conversions, onboarding, and procurement strategies.
• Develop plans that improve purchasing compliance, drive adoption of negotiated supplier programs, and increase contract utilization.
• Serve as the culinary and product knowledge expert for contracted programs, providing guidance to members, suppliers, and internal stakeholders.
• Lead, coach, and develop direct report(s), ensuring effective support for project intake, opportunity assessment, financial analysis, stakeholder-ready recommendations, and member value optimization initiatives.
• Set priorities, clarify expectations, and manage day-to-day workflow for direct report(s), ensuring work aligns to member priorities, sourcing opportunities, and business impact.
• Coach, develop, and provide feedback to team members while building exposure to culinary, sourcing, procurement, and member-facing workstreams.
• Build repeatable processes, templates, and quality standards that improve speed, consistency, and scalability of optimization and conversion support.

Think you have what it takes to be our Executive Chef, Culinary Strategy & Member Solutions? We're committed to hiring the best talent for the role. Here's how we'll know you'll be successful in the role:

• Culinary Degree, bachelor’s degree, or equivalent combination of education and foodservice industry experience.
• 5+ years of experience in culinary operations, foodservice, procurement, sourcing, category management, consulting, or a related field.
• Strong understanding of foodservice distribution, procurement practices, strategic sourcing, and contract compliance.
• Exceptional financial and business acumen, coupled with the ability to leverage data-driven insights to influence strategy and performance.
• Demonstrated project management and people leadership experience, including coaching, prioritizing work, managing performance, developing talent, and leading direct report(s) or cross-functional resources.
• Ability to translate member requirements, operational needs, and category opportunities into clear work plans that drive effective cross-functional execution and business outcomes.
• Strong analytical, communication, presentation, relationship management, and executive/client/supplier communication skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, and Word; data analytics and Power BI experience preferred.
• Ability to travel 10% to 20% as required to support customer engagements, product cuttings, sourcing initiatives, industry events, and team leadership activities.