Traveling Executive Chef | Culinary Leadership on the Fly

Compass Group, North America; Topeka (KS); On-site; USD 90,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Life Insurance/ AD

Disability Insurance

Retirement Plan

Paid Time Off

Holiday Time Off

Associate Shopping Program

Health and Wellness Programs

Discount Marketplace

Identity Theft Protection

Pet Insurance

Commuter Benefits

Employee Assistance Program

FSAs

Paid Parental Leave

Personal Leave

Job summary

Bon Appetit is seeking an Executive Chef, Traveling Support to provide hands-on culinary leadership across a portfolio of accounts. The role reports to the Regional Vice President and deploys to locations undergoing leadership transitions, new openings, or operational challenges.

The traveling executive chef will assess operations, elevate food quality, train teams, and ensure standards while traveling extensively across the region.

Qualifications

• Experience leading culinary operations in high-volume foodservice, hospitality, restaurant, catering, or contract dining environments.
• Demonstrated success as an Executive Chef or comparable culinary leader.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, sanitation, HACCP principles, and kitchen operations management.
• Experience supporting operational improvement initiatives, leadership transitions, or multi-unit foodservice environments.
• Ability to quickly assess challenges, prioritize effectively, and implement solutions in fast-paced environments.
• Strong communication, relationship-building, and coaching skills.
• Financial acumen with experience managing food cost, purchasing, inventory, and labor considerations.
• Ability to travel extensively, approximately 85% of the time.
• Residence within reasonable commuting distance of a major airport.
• Experience supporting new account openings, renovations, or culinary program launches.
• Background in corporate dining, hospitality, higher education, restaurant, or contract foodservice environments.
• Experience working across multiple culinary concepts and service models.
• Experience developing culinary standards, training programs, recipes, or operational tools.

Responsibilities

• Provide executive chef leadership and operational support across accounts during leadership transitions and openings.
• Assess kitchen operations and implement solutions to improve quality, consistency, efficiency, and guest satisfaction.
• Champion culinary excellence with high standards for food quality and presentation.
• Ensure compliance with food safety, sanitation, HACCP, allergen management, and regulatory requirements.
• Support new account openings, including kitchen readiness and training.
• Partner with culinary and operations to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Support food cost management, inventory controls, and waste reduction.
• Mentor and develop chefs and culinary staff.
• Contribute to culinary standards and training resources across the portfolio.
• Build strong relationships with clients and teams; foster collaboration.
• Travel extensively to support locations across the region.

Skills

Executive Chef

Culinary leadership

Food safety

HACCP

Multi-unit operations

Budgeting

Staff development

Menu development

Kitchen operations management

Travel readiness

Client relationship

Coaching

Education

ServSafe Manager Certification

Certified Executive Chef (CEC)

Tools

None

Job description

Bon Appetit is seeking an Executive Chef, Traveling Support to provide hands-on culinary leadership across a portfolio of accounts. The role reports to the Regional Vice President and deploys to locations undergoing leadership transitions, new openings, or operational challenges.

The traveling executive chef will assess operations, elevate food quality, train teams, and ensure standards while traveling extensively across the region.