Director of Culinary

Director of Culinary

Trump International Beach Resorts - Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160

Overview

The Director of Culinary provides strategic and operational leadership for all culinary operations throughout the hotel, including restaurants, bars, in-room dining, pool and beach outlets, banquets, catering, employee dining, and stewarding. This role is responsible for delivering exceptional culinary experiences while driving financial performance through disciplined management of food cost, labor cost, purchasing, inventory, and productivity.

Description

The Director of Culinary partners closely with the Director of Food & Beverage and hotel leadership to develop innovative dining concepts, maximize profitability, improve operational efficiency, and ensure consistent execution of brand standards. This position is responsible for all culinary leaders, menu development, purchasing, food safety, quality assurance, financial performance, and the recruitment, training, coaching, and development of culinary and stewarding teams.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Financial Management

• Own and achieve all culinary financial objectives including food cost, labor cost, productivity, operating expenses, and departmental profitability.
• Develop, manage, and monitor annual operating budgets and monthly forecasts.
• Analyze financial statements, labor reports, productivity metrics, food cost reports, and inventory variances to identify opportunities and implement corrective action.
• Manage staffing levels and scheduling to meet business demands while maintaining labor budgets.
• Monitor overtime, premium pay, and contract labor to ensure labor costs remain within established targets.
• Oversee purchasing, receiving, storage, and inventory controls to minimize waste, theft, spoilage, and overproduction.
• Conduct regular menu engineering and recipe costing to optimize profitability while maintaining quality and guest satisfaction.
• Review pricing and menu mix to maximize contribution margins across all outlets.

Culinary Operations

• Direct all culinary operations across restaurants, bars, pool and beach outlets, in-room dining, banquets, catering, and special events.
• Ensure consistent execution of recipes, presentation standards, portion control, and food quality.
• Develop seasonal menus, promotions, banquet offerings, and specialty events that drive revenue and enhance the guest experience.
• Establish standardized recipes and production procedures to ensure consistency and profitability.
• Ensure all food is prepared and served in accordance with company standards and luxury hospitality expectations.
• Maintain high standards of sanitation, cleanliness, food safety, and HACCP compliance throughout all culinary areas.
• Oversee preventive maintenance of kitchen equipment and coordinate repairs when necessary.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Recruit, hire, train, coach, mentor, and develop culinary and stewarding leadership teams.
• Foster a culture of accountability, teamwork, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
• Conduct performance evaluations, coaching conversations, and disciplinary actions in accordance with company policies.
• Develop succession plans and identify high-potential team members for advancement.
• Lead daily culinary briefings and participate in department head meetings, labor reviews, and operational planning meetings.

Purchasing & Cost Control

• Develop purchasing specifications and maintain vendor relationships to ensure quality and competitive pricing.
• Monitor product quality, receiving procedures, and inventory rotation.
• Ensure compliance with purchasing standards and approved vendors.
• Implement waste reduction initiatives and monitor yield performance.
• Review requisitions and purchasing trends to identify cost-saving opportunities without compromising quality.

Guest Experience & Quality Assurance

• Ensure exceptional guest satisfaction through consistent food quality, presentation, and execution.
• Respond promptly to guest concerns and implement service recovery when appropriate.
• Stay current on culinary trends, market conditions, and competitor offerings to keep menus innovative and competitive.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Sales, and Food & Beverage leadership on promotions, activations, and special events.

Administrative Responsibilities

• Ensure compliance with all health department regulations, food safety standards, OSHA requirements, and company policies.
• Maintain accurate culinary documentation, recipes, production guides, inventory records, and cost analyses.
• Utilize hotel systems including POS, purchasing, inventory, and labor management software.
• Partner with Accounting and Finance to review invoices, expenses, budgets, and financial reporting.
• Perform additional responsibilities as assigned to support overall hotel operations.

Qualifications

Education / Experience

• The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• 8 years progressive culinary and management experience
• Culinary degree or relevant experience
• Ability to budget and direct financial operations
• Ability to motivate, train and effectively discipline staff.

Requirements

• Physical demands
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; use hands and fingers to handle or feel materials, objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms
• The employee is occasionally required to climb, balance, stoop, bend, kneel, crouch, or crawl
• The employee must be able to occasionally lift up to 100 pounds
• Communication
• Ability to communicate clearly in English
• Ability to provide legible communication
• Computer skills
• Complete knowledge of P.O.S and manual systems
• Work Environment
• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that an employee must be able to handle to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform in this environment.
• The work environment is varied. Work is performed in both guest contact and non guest contact areas.
• Noise level in the work environment is usually moderate except in mechanical areas and when using certain equipment.