Executive Chef

About the Role

We are looking for an Executive Chef/ District Manager to lead our culinary teams in select schools in our D.C. region. This role provides a unique opportunity to uplift communities of color by building school cafeterias that honor the heritage and history of Black and Latino food in America. Our promise is simple: the food students know and love, at its best cooked with skill, seasoned with care, and presented with dignity.

The Executive Chef/District Manager leads a team of culinary professionals and kitchen staff in the daily cooking and expediting of hundreds of meals in our school kitchens. The priorities for this role include leading your teams to ensure culinary excellence, food safety, kitchen flow and efficiency. The ideal candidate is a Culinarian themselves with hands-on experience in high volume kitchens using JIT inventory systems providing a high level of hospitality and service. Success in this role requires the ability to work with school administration to ensure their students are receiving culturally relevant, nutritious, and safe meals that they enjoy.

Critical Functions

• Culinary Leadership: Lead, support, and uplift Chefs and kitchen teams in the daily cooking and expediting of hundreds of chef-prepared meals, ensuring everyone works cohesively toward Red Rabbit’s mission. Bring hands-on culinary expertise to every kitchen, hold teams to a high standard of culinary excellence, kitchen flow, and efficiency, and model a high level of hospitality and service. Place the right people in the right roles, foster unity across kitchens, and build a culture rooted in service, excellence, and affirming children. Provide ongoing coaching and development to help kitchen leaders and team members grow and succeed.
• Customer Service: Serve as the main point of contact for school administration, building strong, positive relationships with school leaders and staff. Ensure students receive culturally relevant, nutritious, and safe meals that they enjoy. Confirm that meals and deliveries are accurate and on time, that daily service matches each school’s schedule and needs, and that all required paperwork is filed and tracked correctly. Be proactive in addressing issues, increasing meal participation, and showing schools the value Red Rabbit brings to their community.
• Kitchen Organization: Ensure kitchens are organized, efficient, and compliant. Oversee just-in-time (JIT) inventory management so that food is received, stored, and documented properly and waste is kept low. Maintain high standards of cleanliness, kitchen flow, and food safety so that all kitchens pass DOH, CACFP, and NSLP inspections and operate within budget.

Skills & Requirements

• BA/BS degree in Culinary Arts, Operations, or Management.
• 5+ years of professional culinary experience in a fast-paced role, either in the service industry (i.e. restaurant management) or managing high-volume kitchen production (i.e. commissary kitchen). Strong preference given to farm-to-table or scratch-cooking experience.
• 2+ years in a senior management role of hiring, budget & inventory management
• Must have DOH Food Handler's certificate
• Experience managing and training an exempt and non-exempt workforce.
• Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Must be willing and able to travel between multiple kitchens in the DC Metro area.
• Must be able to manage multiple competing priorities; highly organized, detail-oriented, and analytical.
• Must be reliable, function well within a team, and work calmly and efficiently in a fast-moving environment.

Additional Information

• Job Type: Full Time
• Typical Hours: Monday-Friday
• Location: DC Metro Area
• Salary: $65K - $85K

Benefits

• Generous PTO
• Health, Dental, Vision Insurance
• 401k Option
• Professional Development
• Education Reimbursement Opportunities
• Travel Reimbursements
• Paid Family Leave Options
• Summer Flex

About Red Rabbit

Founded in 2005, Red Rabbit is an MWBE-certified K–12 school food management company on a mission to transform school dining. We believe that serving diverse, high-quality meals to children in urban communities is about more than food, it’s about dignity, representation, and opportunity.

Our professionally trained chefs work in commissaries and onsite in school cafeterias, preparing scratch-made, culturally relevant meals that reflect the heritage and lived experiences of the students we serve. We don’t just deliver food...we become part of the school community.

Today, Red Rabbit prepares and serves millions of meals each year across the Greater New York region, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. If you’re passionate about food, community, and making an impact every day, we’d love to meet you.

Red Rabbit is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, or sexual orientation.

Schedule Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday Shifts: Early AM, Day No Nights / No Weekends