Executive Chef

About True North Nutrition

True North Nutrition is a mission-driven culinary enterprise dedicated to making exceptional food more accessible. We believe healthy, thoughtfully prepared meals should be the standard, not the exception, for schools, and communities.

Our business specializes in elevated school lunch programs, full-service catering, and premium food products for retail and wholesale distribution. Every meal we prepare reflects our commitment to quality ingredients, scratch-made cooking, operational excellence, and outstanding customer service.

What makes us different is our purpose. Every dollar of profit generated by True North Nutrition is donated to a nonprofit private school, helping reduce tuition costs and expand access to exceptional education for students and families. Our success in the kitchen directly creates opportunities in the classroom.
Executive Chef

The Executive Chef is a leadership position for an experienced chef, entrepreneur, and operator who is equally passionate about exceptional food, business growth, and building systems that create lasting impact.

You'll lead a growing culinary enterprise responsible for producing approximately 400 elevated school lunches each day for five schools, operating a full-service catering division, and developing premium food products for retail resale. You'll oversee every aspect of the operation, from culinary innovation and production systems to financial performance, staffing, and business development.

You'll build a kitchen capable of producing restaurant-quality food at scale while creating a culture centered around excellence, hospitality, efficiency, and continuous improvement. As the enterprise grows, you'll have significant autonomy to shape new revenue opportunities, expand operations, and build a culinary brand that directly supports True North Nutrition's mission.
Responsibilities

• Lead all operations of True North Nutrition's Culinary Enterprise.
• Design and execute an elevated school lunch program serving approximately 400 meals daily across five schools.
• Develop and grow a profitable catering operation for corporate, nonprofit, and community clients.
• Ensure compliance with all food safety, sanitation, licensing, health regulations National School Lunch Program and DOE.
• National School Lunch Program and DOE compliance.
• Create and launch specialty food products for wholesale and retail resale.
• Build efficient production systems capable of maintaining exceptional quality at scale.
• Develop seasonal menus, standardized recipes, and production schedules.
• Recruit, train, mentor, and lead culinary staff while establishing a culture of accountability and excellence.
• Manage food costs, labor costs, inventory, purchasing, and vendor relationships to ensure financial sustainability.
• Identify opportunities to increase revenue, improve operational efficiency, and expand the enterprise.
• Collaborate with organizational leadership to align culinary operations with True North Nutrition's mission and long-term strategic goals.
• Support workforce development opportunities by creating meaningful learning experiences for interns and externs interested in culinary careers.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a builder. They're equally comfortable leading a kitchen during a busy service, designing production systems, negotiating with vendors, developing new products, and identifying opportunities to grow the business.

• 5+ years of progressive culinary leadership experience.
• Experience managing high-volume production kitchens or commissary operations.
• Experience in catering, food manufacturing, or multi-unit food service operations preferred.
• Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, and cost management.
• Demonstrated success building teams and developing leaders.
• ServSafe Manager Certification (or ability to obtain upon hire).
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a passion for growing sustainable business ventures.
• Exceptional organizational and operational leadership skills.
• A "whatever it takes" mentality grounded in ownership, humility, and execution.
• Passion for using business as a force for social impact.

Compensation

• Competitive salary based on experience
• Performance incentives tied to enterprise growth and profitability
• 10 days Paid Time Off
• Paid Holidays
• $250 per month employee health contribution
• 401(k) with 6% employer match

Locations St Petersburg