Culinary Lead, Private Club Kitchen

Jonathan-Club; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 95,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Jonathan Club Downtown Los Angeles is seeking a seasoned Chef de Cuisine to lead daily kitchen operations, ensuring top-quality food and member satisfaction in a fast-paced, member-focused setting.

With 5+ years in luxury culinary environments and 3+ years of team leadership, you will manage menus, cost controls, safety, and staff development while collaborating with cross-functional teams across the club.

Qualifications

• Minimum of five years of progressive culinary experience in a luxury hotel, private club, resort, or high-volume full-service restaurant environment
• Minimum of three years of experience supervising, training, and developing a professional culinary team
• Strong knowledge of culinary techniques, menu planning, recipe development, food presentation, kitchen operations, and current dining trends
• Demonstrated ability to maintain consistent quality while managing food costs, labor expenses, inventory, purchasing, and waste
• Strong understanding of food safety, sanitation, allergen awareness, workplace safety, and applicable health regulations
• Excellent organizational, leadership, communication, training, and problem-solving skills
• Experience working in a unionized culinary environment and interpreting collective bargaining agreements is preferred
• Professional appearance and the ability to communicate respectfully and effectively with members, employees, managers, vendors, and Club leadership
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, point-of-sale systems, scheduling software, inventory systems, and food-cost management tools
• Current food-safety manager certification or the ability to obtain certification within the required period
• Ability to stand for extended periods, work in hot kitchen environments, and safely lift or move up to 50 pounds
• Ability and willingness to work a flexible schedule, including mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and special Club events

Responsibilities

• Leads the daily culinary operations of the assigned kitchen, ensuring consistent food quality, flavor, presentation, timing, and member satisfaction
• Provides hands-on culinary leadership by preparing food, overseeing service, expediting orders, and supporting team members during busy periods
• Selects, trains, coaches, evaluates, schedules, and provides daily direction to cooks and other assigned culinary team members
• Conducts pre-shift meetings to communicate menus, specials, member requests, allergies, safety expectations, operational priorities, and service standards
• Creates effective schedules based on business levels, Union contract, employee availability, labor budgets, and applicable collective bargaining agreements
• Monitors food and labor costs, purchasing, inventory, waste, portion control, product rotation, and departmental expenses to support established financial goals
• Maintains appropriate inventory levels and ensures that all food products are properly labeled, dated, stored, rotated, and protected from waste or contamination
• Ensures compliance with all federal, state, and local food-safety, sanitation, health, workplace-safety, and employment requirements
• Partners closely with Food and Beverage, Stewarding, Purchasing, Banquets, Catering and Special Events, and other departments to support smooth and successful operations
• Models and promotes a culture of professionalism, teamwork, respect, accountability, creativity, and exceptional member service
• Addresses employee performance and conduct concerns in partnership with culinary leadership and Human Resources, following Club policies and applicable agreements
• Participates in manager meetings, training programs, safety initiatives, and the Manager on Duty program as assigned
• Works at either Club location and maintains a flexible schedule that may include early mornings, evenings, weekends, and holidays based on business needs

Skills

Culinary leadership

Team supervision

Menu planning

Food safety

Budgeting

Communication

Food cost control

Tools

Microsoft Office

POS systems

Scheduling software

Inventory systems

Food-cost management tools

Job description

Jonathan Club Downtown Los Angeles is seeking a seasoned Chef de Cuisine to lead daily kitchen operations, ensuring top-quality food and member satisfaction in a fast-paced, member-focused setting.

With 5+ years in luxury culinary environments and 3+ years of team leadership, you will manage menus, cost controls, safety, and staff development while collaborating with cross-functional teams across the club.