Director of Operations | Production Kitchen | homebase + Travel

Director Of Operations

A James Beard-nominated chef's culinary enterprise is seeking an experienced Director of Operations to oversee a chef-driven meal platform across seven major markets. This is a hands-on leadership role for a culinary operator who thrives in fast-moving, multi-site environments. You will serve as the direct operational extension of the founding chef on the ground — responsible for ensuring each of the 7 markets performs at the highest level. Core areas of accountability include execution, quality, team performance, SOP compliance, quality assurance, food safety, and the culinary standards that define the brand.

The platform partner provides kitchen facilities, equipment, and ingredients. The culinary enterprise manages all culinary staff, product development, and execution. You will lead the culinary organization across all markets, overseeing the full employee lifecycle while maintaining accountability for operational excellence, team performance, and the quality of every dish that leaves the kitchen.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the full employee lifecycle for kitchen staff across all seven markets, including workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, training, performance management, development, and separation
• Build and maintain staffing models that align with production needs across each market
• Conduct regular performance reviews and establish clear expectations and accountability standards for kitchen leaders
• Develop kitchen leaders into strong, independent operators capable of driving consistent execution
• Structure and optimize cook schedules and labor hours to maximize productivity and minimize payroll inefficiencies
• Monitor labor costs by market and ensure targets are being met; provide regular structured reports to ownership
• Provide ongoing recommendations to improve the business including team morale and culture, training quality, process documentation and compliance, accountability, and profitability
• Ensure staffing levels align with production volume and business needs across all markets
• Identify operational inefficiencies and implement improvements while maintaining high quality standards
• Implement and enforce standardized operating procedures across all kitchens
• Ensure every market executes recipes, portioning, plating, and packaging consistently
• Conduct regular site audits and produce clear, actionable reports
• Collaborate with the founding chef to update and improve SOPs as the menu evolves
• Design and deliver onboarding and ongoing training programs for cooks and kitchen leaders
• Travel to all seven markets to provide in-person training and operational support — approximately 30% travel expected
• Develop and certify kitchen leaders to train and coach their own teams to brand standards
• Create and maintain training materials in Google Docs for easy team access
• Monitor and improve customer satisfaction and rating metrics, identifying trends and implementing corrective actions
• Identify low-performing dishes by market and partner with culinary leadership on corrective actions
• Ensure shelf life, microwave compatibility, portioning, and overall product consistency meet brand standards
• Monitor customer feedback and translate insights into operational improvements at the kitchen level

Qualifications

• Proven multi-site culinary operations leadership; experience managing high-volume production kitchens across multiple locations
• Background in large-scale catering, airline catering, multi-unit operations, or food production environments strongly preferred
• Culinary education with 2–3 years in an award-winning restaurant a strong plus
• Full employee lifecycle management experience
• Labor cost monitoring, scheduling optimization, and P&L management
• SOP development, enforcement, and training program design
• Financial acumen — purchasing, labor management, and profitability oversight at the innovation level
• Proficiency with Google Docs and operational reporting; AI fluency a plus
• Self-motivated, entrepreneurial, and able to hit the ground running
• Strong sense of urgency with a process-driven, systems-oriented mindset
• Comfortable with approximately 30% travel; all work-related travel and accommodations covered

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $140,000 – $160,000, commensurate with experience
• Bonus: KPI and scale-up performance bonus — 30–45% of base salary
• Health Insurance: Included
• PTO: 2 weeks year one; 3 weeks year two
• Travel: All work-related travel and accommodations covered by the company
• Growth opportunity within a fast-scaling culinary brand