Executive Chef

The Executive Chef serves as the senior culinary leader for International House Berkeley, overseeing culinary operations across Residential Dining, Catering & Events, and food production supporting Edmonds’ café. Reporting to the Head of Food & Beverage, this position is responsible for culinary excellence, operational efficiency, financial stewardship, food safety, and the development of innovative, culturally diverse dining experiences that reflect I-House's international community. The Executive Chef directly supervises three Sous Chefs and one Banquet Sous Chef, providing strategic direction, establishing performance expectations, and ensuring consistent execution across culinary operations. Working collaboratively with Food & Beverage leadership and other departments, the Executive Chef fosters a high-performing culinary team while supporting the organization's commitment to hospitality, community, and financial sustainability. Essential Duties and Responsibilities Culinary Strategy, Menu Development & Quality Lead culinary strategy and menu development across Residential Dining, Catering, and café food production, ensuring quality, consistency, creativity, and cultural relevance. Develop innovative, nutritionally balanced menus that reflect the International I-House community and accommodate diverse dietary needs. Establish culinary standards for recipes, preparation, presentation, portion control, and food quality. Evaluate menus and culinary offerings based on resident feedback, customer preferences, food costs, seasonality, and operational efficiency. Collaborate with Dining, Café, and Catering leadership to enhance the overall dining experience through menu innovation and culturally significant culinary programming. Oversee all culinary operations, including production, purchasing, inventory, equipment, and kitchen organization across Dining, Catering, and café food production. Manage food costs, culinary labor, purchasing, inventory, and waste within established budgets and financial targets. Analyze operational and financial performance to identify opportunities for efficiency, cost savings, sustainability, and continuous improvement. Establish and maintain effective purchasing practices, vendor relationships, production systems, and operational procedures. Partner with the Head of Food & Beverage on budgeting, forecasting, equipment needs, and financial performance. Team Leadership & Organizational Development Directly supervise, coach, and evaluate a team of at least three, establishing clear expectations and accountability for culinary performance. Oversee culinary staffing, scheduling, training, and workforce development to ensure efficient operations and consistent service delivery. Develop culinary leadership capabilities through mentoring, professional development, and succession planning. Address employee performance and workplace concerns in collaboration with the Head of Food & Beverage and Human Resources, in accordance with organizational policies and applicable collective bargaining agreements. Foster a respectful, inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing kitchen culture. Food Safety, Compliance & Risk Management Ensure compliance with applicable food safety, sanitation, workplace safety, and regulatory requirements across all culinary operations. Establish and enforce standards for safe food handling, storage, preparation, allergen management, and sanitation. Oversee food safety training, kitchen inspections, compliance documentation, and timely corrective actions. Maintain operational readiness for health department and other regulatory inspections. Catering, Events & Organizational Collaboration Provide culinary leadership for catering, banquets, conferences, special events, and institutional programs. Oversee the Banquet Chef to ensure effective event menu development, production planning, staffing, cost management, and culinary execution. Collaborate with Catering & Events, Dining, and Café leadership to align culinary production with service expectations and operational needs. Partner with the Head of Food & Beverage and other departments to support organizational initiatives and enhance resident and guest experiences. Other duties as assigned. Qualifications Required: Culinary degree or equivalent combination of professional education, training, and experience. Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible culinary experience, including leadership experience in high-volume food service operations. Demonstrated experience of supervising and developing culinary managers and staff. Strong knowledge of international cuisines, specialized dietary requirements, food safety, and sanitation standards. Proven experience managing food costs, labor, purchasing, inventory, and operational budgets. Current ServSafe Manager Certification or equivalent recognized food safety certification. Strong leadership, communication, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills. Proficiency with culinary management, purchasing, inventory, and menu management systems. Preferred: Experience in university, residential, institutional, or comparable high-volume dining environments. Experience overseeing catering and banquet culinary operations. Experience working in a unionized environment. Demonstrated commitment to cultural awareness, inclusion, and hospitality. Working Conditions This is a full-time, exempt position requiring flexibility to work early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and special events as operationally necessary. Work is primarily performed in a commercial kitchen and dining environment and requires extended periods of standing, walking, and occasional lifting consistent with culinary operations. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS FLSA Status: Exempt, full-time (40+ hours per week) Pay range: $120,000 to $128,000 annualized Pay is commensurate with experience and qualifications Benefits: I-House offers a robust and competitive benefits package for employees, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, retirement contributions, paid time off, and professional development support. In addition, life insurance, short- and long-term disability, access to a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), commuter benefits, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Retirement: Eligible employees may participate in our 403(b)-retirement plan. I-House offers a 100% employer match on employee contributions up to 5% of eligible compensation and an additional employer non-elective contribution for eligible employees, in accordance with the terms of the plan. Time-off: Paid vacation totaling 18 days of accrual in the first year (with accrual increasing after 5 years), paid sick time, 14 paid holidays, and generous family leave and accommodations. Location: This role requires on-site presence and engagement with staff, leadership, and stakeholders. No remote work options are available for this role. Voluntary Self-Identification For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file. As set forth in International House at UC Berkeley’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law. If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows: A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability. A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service. An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense. An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985. #J-18808-Ljbffr