Chief Culinary Officer

Kinora Group; United States; On-site; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Senior leadership role

Executive partnership

Global network ownership

Job summary

Kinora Group is seeking a senior global culinary leader to oversee multi-country operations, owned kitchens, central production and a network of partners. You will drive the operating model, set standards and ensure scalable, reliable delivery as the business grows.

The role requires steering large teams across regions, developing leadership, and maintaining food safety, cost control and quality at scale within premium hospitality environments.

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience in a large multi-site culinary, catering or food-production business.
• Track record of leading large culinary teams through regional and site leaders across several countries.
• Experience building culinary operating systems at scale, not just running individual kitchens.

Responsibilities

• Building the global culinary operating structure with clear leadership and accountability.
• Running a high-performing operation focusing on quality, service, labour, food cost, waste and profitability.
• Designing a scalable production model with centralized and local manufacturing, capacity, planning and workflow.
• Developing a global recipe, specification and standards system including yields, portions, packaging and shelf life.
• Ensuring culinary solutions are feasible and correctly costed before commitments to clients.
• Mobilising new contracts, kitchens and acquisitions from win to stable operation.
• Managing the global partner network with selection, onboarding, auditing and performance management.
• Maintaining strong commercial control alongside Finance and Procurement, plus food safety and compliance.

Skills

Senior leadership

Cross-country leadership

Operational leadership

Culinary operations

Cost management

Acquisitions experience

Job description

Join a fast-growing, premium global hospitality that delivers highly customised, premium food and hospitality to demanding clients around the world. It is growing quickly through new kitchens, contracts and acquisitions, and food is at the heart of its plans.

You’ll lead a large, multi-country team across owned kitchens and central production, plus a worldwide network of catering partners. Your job is to keep the operation running, develop the leadership team, hold standards and make sure the business delivers reliably as it scales.

What you’ll own

• Building the global culinary operating structure, with clear leadership, accountability and a strong bench of senior chefs and operators
• Running a high-performing operation that is accountable for quality, service delivery, labour, food cost, waste and profitability
• Designing a scalable production model: what is made centrally and what is made locally, plus capacity, planning and workflow
• A global recipe, specification and standards system covering yields, portions, packaging, shelf life, transport and reheating
• Checking that proposed culinary solutions are feasible and correctly costed before the business commits to a client
• A repeatable model for mobilising new contracts, kitchens and acquisitions from win through to stable operation
• The operating model for the global partner network: selection, onboarding, auditing and performance management
• Strong commercial control alongside Finance and Procurement, plus food safety, compliance and supply-chain performance at scale

What we’re looking for

• Senior leadership experience in a large, multi-site culinary, catering or food-production business
• A track record of leading large culinary teams through regional and site leaders, ideally across several countries
• Experience building culinary operating systems at scale, not just running individual kitchens
• Strong knowledge of central production, recipe scaling, packaging, shelf life, logistics and food safety
• Commercial strength across labour, food cost, yield, waste, procurement and kitchen profitability
• Experience opening, mobilising and integrating new operations at pace
• Ideally, experience managing external catering or partner networks
• A background in premium, customised environments such as aviation, luxury hospitality, events or high-end catering would be valuable
• Real culinary credibility, so you can lead and challenge talented chefs, combined with an operator's mindset
• A customer-led instinct: you look for how to deliver, not reasons why something can’t be done

What’s on offer

• A senior, global leadership role with real authority to shape how the culinary function is structured, run and scaled
• Close partnership with the President, Culinary and a seat at the table on major commercial and operational decisions
• Leadership of a large international organisation across owned kitchens, central production and a global partner network