Executive Pastry Chef

Sucré; New Orleans (LA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Sucré, a nationally distributed French pastry brand, seeks an Executive Pastry Chef to lead the production facility, shape culinary direction, and partner with executive leadership to scale concepts to nationwide distribution.

You will oversee pastry production, recipe development, ingredient sourcing, food costing, and packaging, while mentoring a production team and maintaining the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship.

Qualifications

• Professional experience in French pastry or an equivalent high-end pastry environment.
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing pastry, bakery, or culinary teams.
• Strong understanding of classical pastry techniques and modern production methods.
• Experience with recipe costing, food cost management, and ingredient sourcing.
• Excellent organizational, communication, and leadership skills.
• Ability to balance creativity with operational discipline.
• Knowledge of packaging systems, shelf life, and product stability.
• Formal pastry or culinary education.

Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of pastry production with uncompromising standards for quality and consistency.
• Oversee production of macarons, entremets, cupcakes, confections, seasonal products, king cakes (seasonal) and future product categories.
• Drive continuous improvement in recipes, production methods, and operational efficiencies.
• Ensure all products meet Sucré's visual, flavor, and quality standards.
• Develop new products that align with the Sucré brand.
• Refine recipes for production efficiency without compromising quality.
• Lead products from concept through testing, rollout, and full-scale production.
• Collaborate on packaging solutions that maintain product integrity throughout shipping and distribution.
• Continuously evaluate market trends and emerging techniques to keep the brand innovative.
• Manage ingredient sourcing and vendor relationships while maintaining premium quality standards.
• Develop accurate product costing and identify opportunities to improve margins.
• Partner with leadership on forecasting, production planning, inventory management, and purchasing.
• Learn and oversee Sucré's distribution and logistics systems to support multiple retail locations and nationwide shipping.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the production team through coaching, accountability, and hands-on leadership.
• Foster a culture of professionalism, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
• Build systems and processes that enable growth while maintaining craftsmanship.
• Work cross-functionally with operations, retail, marketing, and executive leadership.

Skills

Leadership

Team mentoring

Operational discipline

Recipe costing

Sourcing ingredients

Education

Formal pastry or culinary education

Job description

We are seeking an experienced professional who can command a kitchen, inspire a team, innovate with confidence, and translate exceptional French pastry into products that delight guests in our boutiques and arrive beautifully at doorsteps across the country.

The ideal candidate is equally passionate about developing people, building systems, creating new products, sourcing exceptional ingredients, managing costs, and scaling production, and understanding product logistics without compromising craftsmanship.

As Executive Pastry Chef, you will lead the culinary direction of our production facility while partnering closely with executive leadership to shape the future of the Sucré brand. From product ideation and recipe development to production, packaging, and nationwide distribution, you will play a critical role in bringing new concepts to life and ensuring every product reflects the quality, consistency, and elegance our guests expect.

If you thrive at the intersection of artistry, leadership, and operational excellence, we'd love to meet you.

Position Summary

The Executive Pastry Chef is the culinary leader of Sucré's production facility and is responsible for maintaining the highest standards of quality, consistency, innovation, and operational excellence.

This individual will oversee all pastry production while leading recipe development, product innovation, production planning, ingredient sourcing, food costing, product logistics and team development. Working alongside executive leadership, the Executive Pastry Chef will help scale new products from concept to nationwide distribution while ensuring every dessert reflects the quality and craftsmanship that define the Sucré brand.

The ideal candidate is equally comfortable creating an elegant entremet, mentoring a production team, analyzing food costs, sourcing premium ingredients, and developing systems that allow exceptional products to be produced consistently at scale through frozen LTL, B2B transactions, and direct online sales to end user.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of pastry production with uncompromising standards for quality and consistency.
• Oversee production of macarons, entremets, cupcakes, confections, seasonal products, king cakes (seasonal) and future product categories.
• Drive continuous improvement in recipes, production methods, and operational efficiencies.
• Ensure all products meet Sucré's visual, flavor, and quality standards.
• Develop new products that align with the Sucré brand.
• Refine recipes for production efficiency without compromising quality.
• Lead products from concept through testing, rollout, and full-scale production.
• Collaborate on packaging solutions that maintain product integrity throughout shipping and distribution.
• Continuously evaluate market trends and emerging techniques to keep the brand innovative.

Operations & Business Management

• Manage ingredient sourcing and vendor relationships while maintaining premium quality standards.
• Develop accurate product costing and identify opportunities to improve margins.
• Partner with leadership on forecasting, production planning, inventory management, and purchasing.
• Learn and oversee Sucré's distribution and logistics systems to support multiple retail locations and nationwide shipping.

Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop the production team through coaching, accountability, and hands-on leadership.
• Foster a culture of professionalism, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
• Build systems and processes that enable growth while maintaining craftsmanship.
• Work cross-functionally with operations, retail, marketing, and executive leadership.

Qualifications

Required

• Professional experience in French pastry or an equivalent high-end pastry environment.
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing pastry, bakery, or culinary teams.
• Strong understanding of classical pastry techniques and modern production methods.
• Experience with recipe costing, food cost management, and ingredient sourcing.
• Excellent organizational, communication, and leadership skills.
• Ability to balance creativity with operational discipline.
• Knowledge of packaging systems, shelf life, and product stability.
• Formal pastry or culinary education.

Preferred

• Experience producing products for wholesale, retail, or multi-unit operations.
• Experience scaling recipes from small-batch production to commercial manufacturing.
• Experience with frozen LTL freight as well as food broker distribution systems

This is more than an Executive Pastry Chef position. It is an opportunity to influence the future of Sucré.

You will work directly alongside the company's executive leadership, receiving strategic support while having the autonomy to lead the culinary direction of the production facility.

If you're a leader who is passionate about French pastry, operational excellence, innovation, and developing exceptional teams, we invite you to join us in defining the next chapter of Sucré.