VP Culinary

Salted; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Care Plan

Stock Options

Career Advancement

Industry Transformation

Job summary

Salted is seeking a VP Culinary to steer our culinary strategy as we scale from 35 to 100+ locations in three years. You will lead a small team (Culinary Director + R&D Chef) and drive innovation across our multi-brand portfolio, focusing on the flagship moonbowls brand and ensuring consistent, profitable, and customer-centric experiences.

The role reports to the CEO and requires a detail-oriented leader who can translate customer feedback into menu improvements while coordinating with

Qualifications

• 10+ years experience in a multi-unit QSR or fast food culinary role.
• Deep understanding of scaling culinary quality and consistency.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute a cohesive culinary roadmap aligned with brand positioning and growth goals.
• Maximize core menu offerings and turn brands into household names.
• Lead R&D and test 1–2 new brands monthly from the Test Kitchen.
• Develop and execute an LTO strategy for high-volume footprints.
• Use data to optimize product mix for financial results and customer frequency.
• Present data-backed menu strategies to executives and partners.

Skills

Multi-unit QSR experience

Culinary leadership

Data-driven menu optimization

HACCP knowledge

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

At Salted, we believe the future of restaurants doesn’t look anything like what we see today. The most successful brands will focus primarily on delivery and take-out and use technology to nurture customer relationships that exist outside four walls.

We’re looking for a VP Culinary to lead our culinary strategy as we embark on our next stage of growth and expand from 35 locations to over 100+ over the next 3 years.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

You will be the leader of our culinary strategy across our multi-brand portfolio (with a primary focus on our flagship brand, moonbowls). As our culinary leader, you will balance creativity with a systematic approach to creating consistent, profitable, and most importantly, uniquely positive customer experiences. This role reports directly to our CEO and initially will manage a team of two (Culinary Director + R&D Chef). Responsibilities include:

• Define and execute a cohesive culinary roadmap that aligns with Salted’s brand positioning (better-for-you, clean label, unique + craveable) and long-term business goals (100+ locations, highly profitable, the gold standard in digital-first)
• Maximize the culinary offerings of our core brand menus as we turn these brands into household names
• Lead the R&D pipeline for both new brands as well as our core brands (every month, we test 1-2 new brands out of our Test Kitchen)
• Develop and execute an LTO strategy that balances culinary innovation with the constraints (and benefits) of our small, extremely high volume footprints
• Use data to optimize our product mix for financial results as well as customer frequency
• Serve as the culinary voice to our partners and executive team, presenting compelling, data-backed menu strategies that drive growth
• Research and stay current with supplier opportunities to reduce costs and improve quality of ingredients
• Collaborate with Ops to establish and enforce elite standards for prep, presentation, and safety (HACCP)
• Partner with Marketing, Ops, and Tech teams to ensure new launches are promoted effectively and executed flawlessly in every kitchen
• Lead your team with candor and directness
• Stay obsessed with the customer experience. Identify unmet needs and emerging trends to keep Salted ahead of the curve in a fast-changing industry.

WHO YOU ARE

The ideal candidate is extremely detail-oriented, has a deep understanding for the complexities of scaling quality and consistency across nation-wide locations, and has an unquenchable thirst to create food that impacts millions of people’s lives.

• 10+ years experience working in a multi-unit QSR or fast food industry in a culinary role
• Deep understanding for how to ensure culinary consistency at national scale
• Able to translate customer ratings, PMIX, and COGs data into actionable menu improvements
• Test-and-learn oriented mindset
• Effective planner who cares deeply about the details as well as the big picture strategy
• Knowledge of HACCP, SOP’s, and government/industry food safety and quality regulations, codes, and standards
• Proven ability to collaborate with other departments, proactively identify problems/opportunities, and take ownership of deadlines and deliverables
• Must be based in the Los Angeles area with some flexibility to travel to kitchens around the US
• Passionate about building something great!

BENEFITS

Salary Range: $180,000 to $220,000

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Stock Options in Company
• Career Advancement Opportunities
• Work with a team that’s transforming the restaurant industry!