Culinary Operations Manager - Menu, Quality & Team Growth

Forefront; Pearsall (TX); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Forefront seeks a Chef Manager to lead daily culinary operations for resident dining, café, and catered events in Pearsall, TX. This exempt salaried role requires availability days, evenings, weekends and holidays, overseeing menu execution, staff development, purchasing, and food-safety standards.

You will drive production, quality, and financial performance while delivering a positive dining experience for residents, patients, and guests.

Responsibilities

• Direct daily food production for resident dining, café/retail, and catered events
• Ensure consistent execution of recipes, portion control, and presentation standards
• Oversee production sheets, batch cooking, and meal service timelines
• Monitor food quality, taste, temperature, and appearance
• Support menu development and seasonal programming
• Supervise cooks, leads, and utility staff; provide coaching and performance feedback
• Conduct onboarding, training, and competency validation
• Build schedules aligned with census and service demands
• Promote teamwork, hospitality, and service excellence
• Enforce HACCP, ServSafe, allergen, and infection prevention standards
• Maintain temperature logs, sanitation records, and audit readiness
• Ensure compliance with state/local health regulations and company policies
• Lead corrective actions and continuous improvement initiatives
• Manage food cost, labor productivity, and waste control
• Oversee ordering, receiving, FIFO rotation, and inventory accuracy
• Assist with recipe costing and menu engineering
• Maintain purchasing and vendor relationships
• Occasional travel by car or plane to support multiple locations
• Attends department meetings as required
• Completes mandatory training and competencies annually

Job description

Forefront seeks a Chef Manager to lead daily culinary operations for resident dining, café, and catered events in Pearsall, TX. This exempt salaried role requires availability days, evenings, weekends and holidays, overseeing menu execution, staff development, purchasing, and food-safety standards.

You will drive production, quality, and financial performance while delivering a positive dining experience for residents, patients, and guests.