Director of Culinary Operations & Food Systems

Expert VA LLC; United States; On-site; USD 1,600 - 1,800; Full time

Job summary

Zohorecruit is seeking a Director of Culinary Operations & Food Systems for a fully remote leadership role. You will oversee culinary operations across multiple locations and concepts, focusing on standards, systems, and profitability while directing on-site Head Chefs.

You will diagnose product and quality issues, build recipes and production standards, implement food-safety and traceability, and drive cost controls using data, technology, and AI to maintain consistency as the business

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive culinary leadership experience.
• Experience leading multi-location or complex F&B operations.
• Strong culinary systems development and standardization.
• Knowledge of food safety, quality control, and training.
• Ability to lead remotely via on-site leaders.
• Excellent data, tech, and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead culinary ops across multiple locations, concepts, and teams.
• Assess products, recipes, suppliers, and processes using data and remote evidence.
• Diagnose and fix taste, quality, and food-safety issues.
• Ensure standards are executed consistently through on-site leaders.
• Build recipes, specs, production standards with clear tolerances.
• Standardize systems across restaurants, central kitchen, bakery, catering.
• Lead menu engineering to improve or remove underperforming items.
• Establish food-safety, quality, and traceability systems.
• Build training and succession systems for culinary teams.
• Own cost, yield, waste, consistency, and margin drivers.
• Use tech, data, and AI to improve decisions and control.
• Preserve knowledge and continuity despite turnover.

Skills

Remote leadership

Data-driven decisions

AI tools usage

Food systems management

Cost management

Cross-location leadership

Job description

Director of Culinary Operations & Food Systems

• Salary 100,000 - 115,000 PHP (Depending on experience)
• Remote Job

Job Description

This is a remote position.

Job Type:Full-Time | Work from Anywhere | Night Shift

This is more than a traditional Executive Chef role.

We're looking for a seasoned culinary leader who can oversee and strengthen an entire culinary operation — from products and recipes to food quality, food safety, training, systems, and profitability.

You'll diagnose urgent product and quality problems, build the systems and standards needed to fix them, and create a culinary operation that can maintain consistent quality even as the business grows, locations change, and people come and go.

This is a fully remote leadership role. Dedicated on-site Head Chefs handle day-to-day kitchen execution. Your focus is on the culinary standards, systems, processes, and leadership that keep multiple locations and concepts consistent and profitable.

What You'll Own

• Lead and strengthen culinary operations across multiple locations, concepts, and teams
• Assess products, menus, recipes, suppliers, and production processes using data, reports, and remote evidence
• Diagnose and direct fixes for taste, consistency, quality, and food-safety issues
• Work through on-site Head Chefs and culinary leaders to ensure standards are executed consistently
• Build controlled recipes, specifications, production standards, and processes with clear tolerances and version control
• Standardize culinary systems across restaurants, commissary/central kitchen, bakery, catering, and other food operations as needed
• Lead menu engineering — improve, reposition, standardize, or remove underperforming products
• Establish food-safety, quality, and traceability systems, including root-cause analysis
• Build training, development, and succession systems for culinary teams
• Own the culinary drivers of food cost, yield, waste, consistency, and margin
• Use technology, data, and AI to improve culinary decision-making, communication, and operational control
• Create systems that preserve culinary knowledge and maintain continuity despite team turnover

Requirements

What We're Looking For

• 10+ years of progressive culinary/F&B leadership experience, ideally at Executive Chef, Culinary Director, Corporate Chef, or equivalent level
• Significant experience leading multi-location, multi-concept, or complex hospitality/F&B operations
• Strong practical culinary background across different cuisines, products, and operating environments
• Working knowledge of bakery and pastry operations, including products, recipes, production processes, and quality standards
• Proven ability to restore product quality and build repeatable culinary systems — not just cook well
• Experience with recipes, specifications, SOPs, production standards, quality control, and training systems
• Comfortable leading and directing kitchen execution remotely through on-site culinary leaders
• Strong understanding of food cost, yield, waste, portion control, and labor economics
• Experience with food safety, quality assurance, and traceability
• Strong systems, technology, data, and communication skills
• Advanced, practical use of AI and modern digital tools
• Strong commercial judgment and the ability to balance culinary quality with profitability

Bonus Points

• Experience across multiple cuisines, concepts, brands, or dayparts
• Commissary, central kitchen, bakery, catering, or large-scale food production experience
• Beverage operations or dining service experience
• Experience leading distributed or remote culinary teams
• Experience building training and succession pipelines
• Experience standardizing culinary operations during growth, restructuring, or expansion

You’ll Thrive Here If You...

• Believe quality should survive turnover, distance, and growth — not depend on one person's memory
• Can lead and influence experienced kitchen teams without being physically present
• Bring both deep culinary expertise and strong systems/technology thinking
• Balance exacting culinary standards with real commercial judgment
• Enjoy diagnosing problems and building practical solutions
• Want to build a culinary system that is consistent, scalable, and sustainable — not simply run a kitchen