Executive Chef

University Hospital; Newark (NJ); On-site; USD 83,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation Time Off

Medical & Prescription Drug Coverage

Dental & Vision Insurance

Health Savings Account (HSA) & FSA

Disability Insurance

Pension Plan

Pet Insurance

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Professional Development

Job summary

University Hospital in Newark, NJ is seeking an Executive Chef to plan, develop and oversee Retail, Patient and Culinary Services. You will create menus, recipes and purchasing specs while guiding a culinary team to deliver high-quality, cost-efficient service.

The role requires strong leadership, hands-on kitchen management, and collaboration with nutrition staff to meet patient needs and retail goals. This full-time position offers comprehensive benefits and advancement opportunities.

Qualifications

• Associates degree in Food Service Management required.
• Four (4) years of progressive operations experience in food service administration at managerial level in high-volume setting required.
• ServSafe Food Safety Certification required or must be obtained within first 6–12 months of employment and maintained throughout employment.
• Effective oral and written communications skills are essential. Leadership and teamwork required.
• Experience in a unionized environment a plus; ability to analyze figures and costs.

Responsibilities

• Plans menus for patient feeding, retail operations, catering and events, developing standard recipes and techniques.
• Directs staff selection, orientation, training and performance evaluations for development and customer-service excellence.
• Evaluates food products to ensure quality and manages food production to exceed patient and customer expectations.
• Oversees staffing schedules, ensures hygiene and proper portioning, and coaches staff for high quality output.
• Organizes participation in menu development and healthy-eating demos; coordinates promotional activities.
• Monitors budgets and implements cost-saving/revenue strategies to meet financial goals.
• Manages requisition systems for food and non-food items and liaises with vendors and buyers.
• Ensures sanitary, safe operation compliant with health regulations and Joint Commission standards.
• Supports purchasing processes and procurement in absence of the Buyer; maintains positive vendor relations.

Skills

Menu planning

Staff leadership

Food cost control

Food safety

Communication skills

Team training

Budget management

Education

Associate degree in Food Service Management

Job description

About The Role

The primary purpose of the Executive Chef position is to plan, develop, organize, and monitor all Retail, Patient & Culinary Services activities to provide continuous and consistent quality service in a cost-effective customer service manner to enhance client satisfaction and financial goals. This position is also responsible for developing menus, food purchase specifications and recipes.

Newark, NJ | Full-Time

Responsibilities

What You’ll Do

• Plans menus for patient feeding, retail operations, catering services and all other food service and special events at University Hospital. Develops standard recipes and techniques for food preparation and presentation to ensure consistent high quality, while minimizing food waste and cost and maintaining HACPP guidelines in collaboration with the Director of Food & Nutrition.
• Is responsible for directing the selection, orientation, training, and performance evaluations of the staff to provide the opportunity for personal/professional development with a customer service focused approach and ensure all staff met the standards of competency required for satisfactory job performance.
• Evaluates food products to confirm quality standards are consistently attained. Interacts with Patient and Retail Servies management team to ensure food production exceeds expectations of patients and customers.
• Monitors the production staff schedule ensuring proper staffing for maximum productivity and high standard of quality. Cooks or directly supervises the cooking of items that require skillful preparation. Ensure that retail service staff properly portion food items and are educated on meals served as well as ensuring proper hygiene practices are performed in all retail areas.
• Organizes the participation in the menu and promotion development process for clients including cooking demo geared toward healthy eating and coordinates the production of such activities.
• Directs training, supervising, monitoring, and coaching of the production staff in the preparation, cooking, garnishing and presentation of food.
• Participates in the development and management of the fiscal operating and capital budgets through appropriate review and supervision of resource utilization; inclusive of the development and implementation of cost saving/revenue generation strategies, and a desirable financial statement. Develops, coordinates, and executes menu cycles/promotions/service enhancements to increase sales, customer counts, and satisfaction.
• Manages the departments requisition systems to ensure proper ordering and distribution of food and non-food items.
• Maintains a sanitary, safe, and efficient operation in accordance with federal, state, and local health regulations and all standards set forth by The Joint Commission.
• Participates in the review, revision and/or development of Policies & Procedures assigned to retail, production, sanitation, and receiving plans and develops a comprehensive quality improvement program to evaluate organizational performance leading to the implementation of continuous quality improvement to better satisfy all client needs.
• Supports the Director Food and Nutrition to prepare projections of annual food and production labor costs. Takes corrective action as necessary to help ensure financial goals are met.
• Merchandizes Retail Services effectively and creatively to achieve optimal marketing of facilities.
• Is responsible for scheduling culinary team, sanitation team and receiving team based on the needs of the department, inclusive of PTO approvals.
• Participates in preceptor activities to support the Rutgers School of Health-Related Professions Dietetic Internship and other related student/education programs.
• Plans, participates, and coordinates with the Retail Services Management designee activities of the catering subunit to ensure optimal client satisfaction.
• Assists in the planning and directing for purchasing all food service department inclusive of all electronic purchase order process to assure timely delivery and quality service to all end users within all outlets of the department.
• Assists in all food and non-food purchases for the department, also acts as a liaison between all department vendors, (GPO) and Food Brokers in collaboration with the Food & Nutrition Buyer.
• Is responsible for the procurement process and the non-clinical/operations aspects of the department in the absence of the Buyer.
• Interacts positively and courteously with all customers, vendors, other departments, and the community to foster effective partnerships, including the Food & Nutrition department.

Qualifications

What You'll Bring

• Associates degree in Food Service Management, Hotel/Restaurant Management, Business Management, Hospitality Management, or a related field is required.
• F our (4) years of progressive operations experience in food service administration at the managerial level in a high-volume setting required.
• ServSafe Food Safety Certification is required or must obtain ServSafe Food Safety Certificate within first six (6) to twelve (12) months of employment and must be maintained throughout employment.
• Effective oral and written communications skills are essential. Outstanding human relations and leaderships skills and the ability to function in a team environment required.
• Experience in a unionized environment a plus. Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as, proportions, percentages, and volume.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Equivalent experience, education and/or training may be substituted for the degree requirement.

What We Offer

• Vacation Time Off
• Medical & Prescription Drug Coverage
• Dental & Vision Insurance
• Health Savings Account (HSA) & Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Short- & Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Pension Plan
• Pet Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Professional Development

Compensation (NJ Job Transparency Law)

In compliance with New Jersey’s Pay Transparency Act, the salary for this position is $83,286.00 - $124,932.00.

University Hospital considers multiple factors when determining compensation, including (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s relevant work experience, education and training, key skills, internal equity, market data, and organizational needs .

About Us

University Hospital is one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. As the principal teaching affiliate of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and the only state-certified Level 1 Trauma Center in Northern New Jersey, University Hospital is training the next generation of physicians and advancing science to discovery while taking exceptional care of patients, regardless of their financial situation.

We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply. If you want to grow your career in healthcare while serving a vibrant community, we’d love to meet you.