Senior Director of Culinary Operations

Hope Mission Statement

The mission of Hope the Mission is to prevent, reduce and eliminate poverty, hunger, and homelessness by offering immediate assistance and long-term solutions.

3.8 million scratch-made meals a year. Three kitchens. 30+ sites. One standard.

Hope the Mission runs one of the largest scratch-cooking operations in Southern California. Every year our kitchens produce 3.8 million whole-foods-based meals for people living in interim housing across more than 30 sites. This is a multi-site, high-volume culinary enterprise, and it’s growing fast: warehousing and distribution, large-scale meal production, and a social enterprise that includes catering and baked-goods wholesaling.

If you’re picturing a typical shelter kitchen, this isn’t it. We cook from scratch, at scale, because we believe love, dignity, and respect are best demonstrated through a meal.

Who we’re looking for

• A kitchen aficionado who loves the enterprise side of culinary arts. You get energized by production systems, supply chains, menu engineering, and the complexity of running several kitchens as one operation.

• A high-EQ leader with equal passion for people and production. You develop strong managers, build teams that run independently, and hold a high bar without losing your warmth.

• Someone who believes a great meal is an act of respect. You see food quality as part of the mission.

What you’ll lead

Reporting to the VP of Business Affairs, you’ll be HTM’s senior culinary leader, responsible for:

• People: Leading regional directors, managers, and kitchen teams across all locations; building performance management, leadership development, and succession plans.

• Food quality and menu: Setting culinary standards and directing menu development, recipe costing, and nutrition balance in partnership with our Executive Chef.

• Food safety and compliance: Owning a HACCP-based food safety, sanitation, and regulatory program across every kitchen, including audits, inspections, and corrective action.

• Procurement and logistics: Leading purchasing strategy, vendor relationships, inventory, waste reduction, and our regional distribution function.

• Operations and growth: Building scalable operating standards and KPIs; planning equipment, technology, and capital investments; supporting new kitchen openings and expansions.

• Social enterprise and training: Growing our catering and wholesale revenue programs and building a culinary arts training initiative.

What you bring

• 7+ years leading multiple kitchen facilities

• 8+ years of cooking experience, ideally in high-volume environments

• Extensive experience as an Executive Chef or head chef in a high-volume scratch kitchen

• Deep knowledge of food safety, sanitation, and regulatory compliance

• Budget management and cost-control experience across a multi-site operation

• Bachelor’s degree in culinary science or a related field, or an equivalent certificate

• Preferred: culinary training program experience; social enterprise or food-revenue program experience; bilingual English/Spanish

Position Purpose and Summary

HTM's food service operation is one of the most direct expressions of the organization's mission — producing and delivering scratch-cooked meals at scale, across multiple sites, to thousands of people experiencing homelessness every day. It also encompasses a full events program, a regional logistics function, a growing culinary arts training initiative, and an emerging social enterprise. Leading all of it is the Senior Director of Culinary Operations.

Reporting to the VP of Business Administration, the Senior Director oversees every operational dimension of HTM's food service department. This includes leading regional directors, managers, and kitchen staff across all HTM locations; setting food quality, safety, and sanitation standards; directing menu development in collaboration with the Executive Chef; managing inventory, vendors, and equipment; overseeing event food service; and driving the development of a culinary arts training program and social enterprise.

The scope of this role is organizational, not operational — but the standard it sets reaches every kitchen, every delivery, and every meal served under the HTM name. At HTM, Food Services is not a support function. It is central to who the organization is. The Senior Director of Food Services is accountable for that truth being evident in everything the department does.

Responsibilities

Departmental Leadership & Staffing

• Serve as the organization's senior culinary leader and principal advisor on culinary operations, food production and service kitchen infrastructure, and related investments.

• Provide direct leadership, coaching, and performance accountability for the department's senior culinary and operational management personnel.

• Invest into the existing leadership team capable of independently managing daily operations while advancing enterprise-wide priorities. Recruit and build succession plans as needed to ensure continuity of operations and continuous growth and improvement.

• Establish performance management processes, leadership development plans, and succession strategies for critical positions.

• Ensure managers possess the culinary knowledge, operational competence, financial acumen, and leadership skills necessary for successful performance.

• Establish appropriate workforce planning practices to address staffing needs, organizational growth, and leadership continuity.

• Foster a culture of professionalism, collaboration, employee engagement, respect, service excellence, and personal accountability.

• Address significant performance, conduct, and organizational issues in partnership with Human Resources.

Culinary Excellence, Menu Strategy, and Food Quality

• Establish and maintain a comprehensive food safety, sanitation, and regulatory compliance program across Culinary Services.

• Ensure adherence to applicable federal, state, and local food safety regulations, health department requirements, and organizational policies. Schedule Health Inspections.

• Direct implementation of food handling, storage, temperature control, sanitation, allergen management, and cross-contamination prevention standards.

• Oversee the development and maintenance of appropriate food safety plans, preventive controls, inspection protocols, and documentation.

• Ensure appropriate application of HACCP principles and required food safety systems.

• Establish internal audit, inspection, monitoring, and corrective-action procedures.

• Direct the investigation and resolution of food safety concerns, inspection findings, operational deficiencies, and significant service incidents.

• Ensure culinary leaders and employees receive appropriate food safety training, certification, and continuing education.

• Promote a culture in which food safety, regulatory compliance, and ethical conduct are fundamental expectations.

Culinary Excellence, Menu Strategy, and Food Quality

• Establish and maintain comprehensive culinary standards governing food quality, flavor, preparation, presentation, consistency, and service delivery.

• Provide senior-level culinary direction and technical expertise to culinary leaders, chefs, production teams, and operational management.

• Direct the development, evaluation, and continuous improvement of menus, recipes, production specifications, and culinary programs.

• Ensure menu offerings appropriately balance nutritional requirements, food quality, variety, cultural considerations, operational feasibility, and financial performance.

• Direct menu engineering and recipe-cost analysis to optimize ingredient utilization, production efficiency, food quality, and cost effectiveness.

Procurement, Supply Chain, and Inventory/Logistics

• Provide strategic leadership over culinary purchasing, food sourcing, vendor relationships, inventory management, and supply chain performance.

• Partner with procurement and finance leadership to establish purchasing strategies that achieve appropriate standards for quality, availability, pricing, and service.

• Evaluate supplier performance, product consistency, pricing structures, contract compliance, and supply reliability.

• Identify opportunities to leverage organizational purchasing volume and standardize products across facilities.

• Direct strategies to reduce food waste, spoilage, inventory shrinkage, and unnecessary purchasing expenditures.

• Develop appropriate contingency plans for supply disruptions, product shortages, and other procurement-related risks.

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure procurement practices comply with applicable organizational policies and contractual requirements.

• Use resources strategically to minimize costs while maintaining quality and compliance.

• Implement disciplined cost-management practices without compromising food safety, nutritional requirements, culinary quality, or service expectations.

Enterprise Operations and Service Delivery

• Direct the development and execution of comprehensive operating standards for food production, meal preparation, distribution, service, sanitation, and kitchen management.

• Ensure operational expectations for production planning, forecasting, scheduling, staffing, equipment utilization, and service reliability.

• Ensure culinary operations consistently achieve established standards for timeliness, quality, safety, productivity, and service.

• Implement scalable operating procedures and management systems that support effective execution across multiple facilities.

• Evaluate production workflows, kitchen layouts, service models, and staffing structures to improve operational efficiency and resource utilization.

• Establish appropriate performance review processes, facility assessments, operational audits, and corrective-action procedures.

• Ensure operational readiness and continuity through effective contingency planning, emergency preparedness, and business continuity protocols.

• Direct the resolution of significant operational issues and identify systemic improvements that prevent recurrence.

• Support the opening, expansion, renovation, or restructuring of culinary facilities and service programs.

• Balance standardization and local operational flexibility while maintaining enterprise-wide accountability.

Facilities, Equipment, Technology, and Capital Planning

• Provide executive direction regarding the planning, utilization, maintenance, modernization, and replacement of culinary facilities and equipment.

• Collaborate with facilities, maintenance, finance, and operational leaders to ensure kitchen environments are safe, functional, compliant, and operationally efficient.

• Assess equipment capacity, production capabilities, kitchen layouts, and infrastructure requirements.

• Develop capital investment priorities and recommendations based on operational needs, service requirements, equipment condition, and financial considerations.

• Participate in the planning and execution of kitchen renovations, new facilities, equipment installations, and operational expansions.

• Evaluate and implement technology solutions that improve menu planning, production forecasting, purchasing, inventory management, scheduling, reporting, and operating efficiency.

• Establish appropriate equipment utilization standards, preventive maintenance coordination, and replacement planning.

• Ensure operational readiness during major facility projects and service transitions.

Performance Management and Continuous Improvement

• Establish a comprehensive departmental performance management framework with standardized key performance indicators, reporting expectations, and management review practices.

• Monitor performance across facilities and identify meaningful variations in quality, safety, cost, productivity, and service delivery.

• Establish regular operating reviews with departmental leadership to evaluate results, address challenges, and advance improvement initiatives.

• Utilize operational and financial data to inform decisions, prioritize resources, and identify opportunities for improvement.

• Develop corrective-action plans for facilities or programs that fail to meet expectations.

• Promote operational benchmarking, best-practice sharing, process improvement, and appropriate innovation.

• Continuously improve a Food Social Enterprise to support HTM's fundraising efforts and organizational goals

Other

• Collaborate with finance, procurement, human resources, facilities, operations, compliance, and other stakeholders to ensure Culinary Services effectively supports organizational priorities

• Represent the organization professionally in appropriate vendor, industry, regulatory, and community relationships.

• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Minimum seven to ten years of experience leading multiple kitchen facilities

• Minimum eight years of cooking experience; high volume environment preferred

• Extensive experience as an Executive Chef or head chef in a high-volume, scratch-cooking kitchen environment

• Demonstrated record of successful kitchen management across multiple locations

• Bachelor's degree in culinary science or related field, or equivalent certificate

• In-depth knowledge of food safety standards, sanitation protocols, and regulatory compliance

• Experience designing or managing culinary training programs preferred

• Experience with social enterprise development or food-related revenue programs preferred

• Bilingual Spanish preferred but not required

Skills

• Ability to lead, develop, and manage diverse teams across multiple sites and levels of the organization

• In-depth knowledge of culinary techniques, food safety standards, and current food and catering trends

• Ability to manage departmental budgets, control costs, and allocate resources strategically

• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills with the ability to identify and resolve issues efficiently

• Ability to delegate effectively and manage competing priorities across a complex, multi-site operation

• Proficiency in inventory management, vendor coordination, and kitchen logistics

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including executive reporting and cross-departmental collaboration

• Working knowledge of computer software programs used in kitchen management and operations

• Strong organizational and multitasking skills with attention to detail at the departmental level

Mandatory Requirements

• Background Screening – Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of background checks as required per worksite.

• Drug and Alcohol Testing – Candidates must pass pre-employment and ongoing drug and alcohol screenings in accordance with company policy.

• Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) Check – For roles requiring driving, employment is contingent upon an acceptable driving record.

• Legal Eligibility to Work – Candidates must provide proof of legal authorization to work in the US.

• Compliance with Company Policies – All employees must comply with company policies, including safety, confidentiality, and conduct standards.

• Must have CA drivers license, reliable transportation and proof of vehicle insurance.

• Ability to travel 25% of working hours

Physical, Demands, Environmental Conditions, Equipment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions. The employee is required to: walk and climb stairs; stand, bend, squat, climb, kneel, and twist on an intermittent or sometimes continuous basis; grasp, push, pull objects such as files, file cabinet drawers, and reach overhead; handle, finger, grasp and feel objects and equipment; reach with hands and arms; be mobile by moving oneself from place to place quickly and easily; repeat various motions with the wrists, hands, and fingers; be able to perform visual activities for (including, but not limited to) administrative and clerical tasks; ability to lift up to 25 lbs.; communicate, receive and exchange ideas, information by means of the spoken and written word; drive vehicles in and around Los Angeles County; be able to enter various buildings that may require climbing stairs; be periodically subjected to outside environmental conditions. The employee may work in proximity to service animals and emotional support animals; use a desktop and/or laptop computer; various office machines. Complete all required forms in personal writing.

Work Environment

The employee may be in contact with individuals and families in crisis who may be ill, using alcohol and drugs, and who may not be attentive to basic personal hygiene, health and safety practices. The employee may experience a number of unpleasant sensory demands associated with the participants’ use of alcohol and drugs, and lack of personal hygiene. The employee must be ready to respond quickly and effectively to many types of situations, including crisis situations and potentially hostile situations. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate in an office setting. Sometimes work may become stressful when working under pressure or in crisis intervention.

EEO: HTM (Hope the Mission) provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, HTM complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, placement, promotion, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

HTM will consider qualified applicants with a criminal history pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act. You do not need to disclose your criminal history or participate in a background check until a conditional job offer is made to you. After making a conditional offer and running a background check, if HTM is concerned about a conviction that is directly related to the job, you will be given the chance to explain the circumstances surrounding the conviction, provide mitigating evidence, or challenge the accuracy of the background report. Find out more about the Fair Chance Act by visiting the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing’s Fair Chance Act webpage.