Executive Chef

gategroup; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 145,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

401k with company match

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Employee Assistance Program

Employee discounts

Job summary

Gate Gourmet, a gategroup company, seeks a senior culinary executive to drive global menu development and culinary excellence for a strategic airline client in North America. You will lead cross-functional teams, influence kitchen operations, and ensure alignment with brand standards across multiple units.

The role requires extensive experience in flight catering, menu strategy, and supplier management, with travel to designated kitchens and client sites as needed.

Qualifications

• Apprenticeship or AOS in Culinary Arts or related degree.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Business and/or Hospitality or equivalent.
• Catering diploma or City and Guilds or equivalent qualification.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver world-class menus aligned with airline brand values.
• Collaborate with executive chefs and regional chefs to ensure menu feasibility in production.
• Maintain quality standards, train units, and support operational execution.
• Manage supplier relationships and identify new suppliers as needed.
• Represent the customer in menu development, pricing, and culinary standards.

Skills

Culinary leadership

Menu development

In-flight catering

Quality control

Vendor management

Education

Culinary Arts degree/apprenticeship

Business or Hospitality degree

Catering diploma or City and Guilds

Job description

Gate Gourmet, a gategroup company, is the world's largest independent provider of catering and provisioning services for the airline industry. For the past 70 years, we have served over 250 carriers in more than 30 countries. Gate Gourmet combines culinary expertise with the highest standards of food safety and production to deliver delicious, healthy, and affordable meals to over 270 million travelers around the globe.

Job Summary

Dedicated to strategic airline partner for development of new menus and culinary concepts globally across a range of cuisines (Asian, Modern European and Ethnic etc.) for the client in line with their brand values and corporate identity with the use of approved suppliers taking into account budget, dietary and operational needs. Joint responsibility for kitchen operations globally related to the dedicated customer with influence in training in multiple units to deliver the customers’ expectations whilst ensuring quality and culinary standards are consistently upheld by actively supporting operational execution on a regular basis.

Annual Hiring Range/Hourly Rate

• $145,000 - $150,000/Per Year
• This position is eligible for incentive pay of 20% of the annual base salary, dependent upon successful attainment of company, team, and individual goals.
• Paid time off
• 401k, with company match
• Company sponsored life insurance
• Voluntary short-term/long-term disability insurance
• Voluntary life, accident, and hospital plans
• Employee Assistance Program
• Employee Discounts

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Ensures Gate Gourmet can deliver world class menu development and production services to a strategic customer that reflects the Airlines signature culinary style
• Be the gategroup expert with respect to the customer experience the airline creates and consistently deliver to its passengers through in-flight meals
• Secures the confidence of the customer and strengthen the levels of consistent quality service.
• Assists the customer with the development of food philosophies and standards and ensure gategroup has the capability to deliver consistently against the customers culinary standards
• Builds relationships with Regional Executive Chefs and Airline Unit Chefs to ensure clear communication of expectations and deliverables. Articulate the customer needs with respect to raw materials, identify and secure suppliers to meet the requirements, potentially outside gategroup’s supplier list
• Partners with the Customer Lead Executive Chefs and Regional Executive Chefs to ensure seamless integration of menu requirements into production and ensure menus are consistently executable in-flight via gate gourmet or supplier partner production environment
• Be a trusted point of contact for the customer regarding Menus, Food and Kitchen service requirements.
• Works closely with gategroup’s Total Cost Management (TCM) organization. Assure new specifications, recipes and photos are properly documented and delivered for pricing analysis
• Monitors customer feedback and ensure appropriate corrective actions are taken in a timely manner.
• Measures success based on KPI’s that are mutually agreed by gategroup and the customer including but not limited to margin, customer satisfaction, quality and recipe management
• Travels to designated units and fly specified routes to learn, inspect, audit, train and make recommendations for improvements
• Prepares all culinary aspects of the presentation to the customer during a tender including but not limited to the food presentation, messaging, ingredients and physical appearance of the local kitchen
• Actively participates as a member of the account management team that includes and Executive Management Board sponsor, VP Group Culinary Excellence and Global Account Director making contributions that result in winning, retaining and/or building the business
• Actively participates as a member of the Gate Gourmet global dedicated S.P.I.C.E (Sustaining Progress in Culinary Excellence) program
• Creates a joint responsibility for the customer satisfaction between the local kitchens and the dedicated chef team
• Maintains the standard of skill and service levels of multiple customer dedicated production chefs and support these dotted line reports in the operations at key locations to balance the need to meet the dedicated customers’ requirements
• Develops and refreshes all menus globally in line with the Airlines culinary style to create an appealing customer experience
• Prepares menu and food reports by collecting, analyzing and summarizing food, dining and customer trend data
• Represents the customer and Gate Gourmet at media events, special affairs, inaugural events, food fairs, exhibitions and seminars as requested
• Acts as an Ambassador for gategroup

Qualifications

Education

• Apprenticeship, AOS or compatible degree in Culinary Arts and/or Bachelor’s Degree in Business and/or Hospitality
• Catering diploma or City and Guilds, or other appropriate qualification

Work Experience

• At least 3 years of experience within in-flight catering preferred
• 4 years of Menu Development and operational experience
• Global style, proficiency in fusion cooking
• Previous menu development responsibility in a fine dining environment
• A sound knowledge and experience of Asian cuisines and modern European cuisines
• Working knowledge and experience of HACCP stands and equivalent
• Experience presenting to clients/customers and building/maintaining appropriate relationships

Technical Skills: (Certification, Licenses and Registration)

• Strong Culinary Background
• Understanding of large scale production and assembly
• Clear understanding of Hospitality and Service and the Customer Experience
• Ability to present a culinary vision utilizing all 5 senses
• Project Management Skills
• Diverse/multi-cultural Interpersonal Skills
• Independent and Pro-active Leader
• Process Oriented and Results Driven

Core Competencies Required

• Capability to keep the hand on the pulse of the culinary world including trends, organizations and personnel
• Passionate about food and teaching culinary techniques
• Current in the latest food production techniques
• Current in the latest food trends
• Aware of Super Food and Functional Food principles
• Aware of caloric intake and basic dietary requirements
• Aware of religious meal requirements including HALAL, Kosher, Hindu
• Proficient in Microsoft Office

Language / Communication Skills

• Ability to communicate well with internal and external customers, verbally and in writing.

Job Dimensions

Geographic Responsibility: North America

Type of Employment: full-time

Exemption Classification: Exempt

Travel %: Willing to travel domestically and internationally as required.

Internal Relationships: Operations, corporate counterparts

External Relationships: Customers, vendors

Work Environment / Requirements of the Job

• Extended work hours
• A high degree of confidentiality
• Working knowledge of kitchen operations
• Domestic and International customer experience in an operational setting
• Combination of office and field (kitchen/CPU/supplier) work

gategroup Competencies Required to be Successful in the Job

• Thinking – Information Search and analysis & problem resolution skills
• Engaging – Understanding others, Team Leadership and Developing People
• Inspiring – Influencing and building relationships, Motivating and Inspiring, Communicating effectively
• Achieving – Delivering business results under pressure, Championing Performance Improvement and Customer Focus

Demonstrated Values to be Successful in the Position

We put the customer at the forefront of everything we do, taking time to understand their needs, wishes and desires.

We constantly learn by giving and receiving feedback, improving from our mistakes and bettering ourselves.

Passion

Hospitality, in its purest form, comes down to a single, core principle: care. We do everything with thoughtfulness, attention, and care.

We have a growth mindset, a resilience that makes us determined to bounce back from failures and setbacks.

Responsibility

We care about what we do, and we understand the impact we have on others and the planet.

We always look out for each other –creating a safe workplace environment is everyone’s responsibility.

Respect

Every job matters. We each do our part to ensure our colleagues and our customers succeed in their goals.

We respect each other’s voices and foster a workplace that supports inclusion and belonging. We are all one gategroup.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the individual(s) assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required. Management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties and to assign other duties as necessary. In addition, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

gategroup is an equal opportunity employer committed to workforce diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status or other category under applicable law.