Executive Chef - EC

Montage Hotels & Resorts; Laguna Beach (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Montage Hotels & Resorts is seeking an Executive Chef to lead the culinary team, shape the strategic vision of the program, and manage profitability with strong leadership and customer service excellence.

The Executive Chef will oversee staffing, training, menu creation, and production, ensuring premium quality while controlling costs. The role requires experience in a comparable luxury hotel setting and strong collaboration with F&B leadership.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership in a luxury hotel kitchen.
• Expertise in menu concept, design and development.
• Strong cost and wage control, payroll administration.

Responsibilities

• Train, supervise, and schedule all line staff.
• Oversee menu execution and menu development.
• Control food and labor costs while maintaining quality.
• Develop recipes, menus, and menu matrices.
• Represent the food and beverage program in media when needed.
• Support Executive Committee and F&B leadership.

Skills

Leadership

Menu development

Cost control

Staff management

Communication

Job description

Live Your Passion. Add Your Magic.

At Montage International, we are doing something different, something exciting and it takes passionate people to bring our vision to life. We have built a culture that leads with the important notion we live by every day; do what you love. If this resonates with you, we look forward to receiving your application.

We welcome applicants with disabilities and provide reasonable accommodations as needed to our applicants. Please discuss with our hiring managers during our selection processes.

Executive Chef

Summary

The Executive Chef will provide the highest quality culinary experience to our guests. The Executive Chef is responsible for the development and oversight of the overall strategic vision of the culinary program, including profitable financial management, effective leadership of sous chefs, excellent customer service skills, and supervision of department requirements and standards.

Essential Functions

• Accountable for ensuring all aspects of the Hotel kitchens including but not limited to: training, supervision and scheduling of all line associates, execution of all menu items, ordering, proper storage, organization and inventory of all products, training and implementation of all sanitation procedures, developing menu items, menu matrix and recipes while managing food and labor costs.
• Responsible for enhancing the quality of food product that is presented to guests.
• Make changes that respond to the marketplace and to guests’ needs, both present and anticipated.
• Recommend changes to the food product.
• Use market research to develop new products and ensure consistency in food delivery and standards.
• Be a primary representative in media outlets, both print and televised, for food and beverage offerings at the Hotel.
• Provide support of a specialist nature to the Executive Committee, particularly to the Director of Food & Beverage, and the Food & Beverage Managers and Directors.
• Work in support of team goals and measures effectiveness through the Food & Beverage profit and service performance of the hotel.
• Responsible for the selection, training and development of the personnel within the department.
• Control the elements that determine profit and loss.
• Responsible for all major operating expenses.
• Set margins and manage the business against projections.
• Make decisions that relate to profit and loss.
• Responsible for the financial management of the operation.
• Create custom menus
• Create sustainable menu options
• Responsible for following BEOs and ensuring any changes are made
• Attend operational meetings

Qualifications

• Minimum three years’ experience as an Executive Chef in a comparable hotel environment.
• Expertise in food product, presentation, quality and preparation along with menu concept and menu design required.
• Previous experience with creating schedules, labor costing, payroll administration, employee performance management required.
• Strong interpersonal and problem solving abilities.
• Must be able to work well under pressure in a fast paced environment, and focus attention on guest needs, remaining calm and courteous at all times.
• Requires good communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Must possess basic computational ability.
• Knowledge of computer accounting programs, math skills as well as budgetary analysis capabilities required.
• Extensive knowledge of menu development, insight into marketing, cost and wage control.
• Thorough knowledge of food products, standard recipes and proper preparation.
• Ability to analyze, forecast data, and make judgments to ensure proper payroll and production control.
• Ability to supervise large staff and accomplish goals on a timely basis.
• Ability to conduct meetings, menu briefings and maintain communication lines between line staff and Executive Assistant Manager, Food & Beverage.
• Ability to effectively deal with internal and external customers some of whom will require high levels of patience, tact and diplomacy and collect accurate information to resolve conflicts.
• Ability to create recipes and support material, i.e., recipe cards, descriptions, and pictures, and to read and visualize same.
• Artistic ability to create theme menus, ideas for ice carvings, decorations, etc.

Physical Requirements

Constant standing and walking throughout shift. Occasional environmental exposures to cold, heat, and water. The individual must be able to transport up to 50 pounds on occasion and up to 35 pounds regularly.

The pay scale for the Executive Chef ranges from $150,000.00 to $180,000.00. The pay scale is the base salary or hourly wage range, exclusive of incentive pay such as commissions, piece rates, gratuities, and the like, that Montage reasonably expects to pay for the position. Please let us know if you have any questions.

In the United States we are proud to be an EEO employer M/F/D/V. We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing.