Executive Chef

Job Description

Job Title: Executive Chef

Department: Dining Services

Reports To: General Manager

FLSA Status: Exempt

Supervises: Sous Chefs, Cooks, Prep Cooks, Dishwashers, Dining Service Leads, Dining Room Servers, Bistro Attendants

Our Mission: To provide a luxury resort experience with genuine hospitality and five-star quality care for our residents.

Basic Function

The Executive Chef is responsible for managing all aspects of the food service program available at the community, including staffing; inventory/budget control; food handling, preparation, and storage; and sanitation procedures. Adheres to customer service and hospitality philosophy by engaging in excellent customer service to residents and their families, and team members.

Position Summary:

The Executive Chef is a key leadership role responsible for overseeing all aspects of the culinary operations at Symphony Park. This position demands creativity, passion for food, and a strong commitment to providing an outstanding dining experience for our residents.

Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities:

Managing People

• Maintains a regular presence in the dining room during mealtimes to hear input and concerns, while monitoring and ensuring high quality food preparation, satisfaction, and presentation.
• Builds and maintains professional resident relationships in order to resolve issues or concerns in a timely and positive manner.
• Provides team members with coaching, feedback, and developmental opportunities and builds effective teams.
• Effectively hires staff that exhibit standard expectations and competencies, while maintaining a low turnover rate for consistency in the dining experience for residents.
• Determines and communicates clear standards and expectations for the department and holds team members accountable for performance.
• Evaluate team members’ skills and competencies and ensures regular coaching and the completion of timely performance reviews.
• Recommends salary adjustments, transfers, promotions and dismissals.
• Fosters a cooperative and harmonious working climate conductive to maximize employee morale and productivity in the dining department as well as all other community departments.
• Plans staffing levels and schedules based on dining levels of residents.
• Prepares and administer daily, weekly, and monthly job duty lists for all food service staff.
• Assures proper training and certification of all food service staff as required by state and local guidelines.
• Enforce the community uniform and dress code.

Administration

• Adheres to budgetary guidelines established in collaboration with the General Manager.
• Maintains an accurate spend-down worksheet for dining service budgets.
• Prepares and enforces all regular cleaning schedules and monitors for compliance.
• Using company menus, prepares and places orders for all food and non-food items needed for daily food preparation and kitchen sanitation with company approved vendors.
• Provides timely management reports, as required.
• Encourages teamwork through cooperative interactions with co-workers and other departments.
• Attends training courses at community and maintains up to date monthly, quarterly, and annual training.
• Other duties as assigned, and which relate to the success of the community and the care, comfort, and happiness of our residents.

Production

• Schedules and supervises all food preparation activities, as well as hands-on cooking (working the line) on most days.
• Establishes menu items from approved recipes in accordance with department policies and procedures.
• Provides leadership and staff training for a made-from-scratch menu, including making stocks, baking fresh bread and making salad dressings in-house.
• Creates and markets a Signature-food item for the community.
• Initiates creative menu items within provided guidelines for regional preferences requested by residents.
• Enforces the practice of safe food handling at all times.
• Ensures that foods and flavors meet and exceed residents’ approval.
• Ensures that all work surfaces and utensils are cleaned and sanitized before use and throughout the workday.
• Ensures that all food is attractively presented.

Job Qualifications and Skills:

• Education: Culinary Arts Degree or equivalent professional culinary certification.
• Experience: Minimum of 5 years in a leadership role in a fine dining or high-volume culinary environment, with experience in menu creation and staff management.
• Leadership: Strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire and motivate a team.
• Communication: Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a focus on resident satisfaction.
• Flexibility: Ability to work a flexible schedule, including weekends, holidays, and special events.

Physical Demands:

• Walk/Stand – must be able to continuously walk and stand
• Environment Condition – must be able to perform work both inside and outside
• Sit – sit infrequently
• Lift - constantly 0-10 pounds, frequently 11 – 50 pounds
• Carry - constantly 0-10 pounds, frequently 11 – 50 pounds
• Push - constantly 0-10 pounds, frequently 11 – 50 pounds
• Climb – must be able to climb stairs on a frequent basis, with the opportunity to utilize the elevator as an alternate resource if available
• Bend – must be able to bend at the waist, knees, hips and spine on a frequent basis, may require frequently manipulating weights of 25 pounds or more.
• Squat – must be able to squat on a frequent basis to reach below the knee, may require lifting of 50 pounds or less.
• Twist or rotate – must be able to twist or rotate occasionally at the trunk, hips, knees, and neck while, manipulating weights of 25 pounds or more.
• Reach– must be able to reach on a frequent basis. May occasionally reach overhead, requiring manipulation of weight of 10 pounds or less, and below waist manipulating weight of 25 pounds or more.
• Sensory Vision – must be able to read clearly with or without corrective lenses
• Hear - Must be able to hear telephone, audible alarms, bells and signals related to resident safety with or without hearing devices.
• Speech/Language – must have strong command of English sufficient to read and write and interpret administration information.

Competencies

• Customer Focus - Knows and understands internal and external customer needs and responds; accordingly, is able to anticipate customer needs, with a high priority to customer satisfaction and customer service. Shows genuine interest in residents’, family members’ and fellow team members’ feelings and thoughts, and responds quickly and appropriately. Delivers information clearly in an effective, timely manner. Seeks and accepts frequent feedback to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction.
• Attention to Detail / Commitment to Quality - Takes responsibility for a thorough and detailed method of working. Checks his/her work carefully and often.
• Teamwork - Works as a productive member of the Community Team; working toward common goals by contributing to team growth, and effective team unity.
• Integrity - Upholds social, moral, and Company defined standards in job-related activities and behaviors.
• Strategic Decision Making & Problem Solving - Draws correct and realistic conclusions and makes timely decisions based on available information. Understands a given situation or problem by combining information that is readily available; identifying patterns or connections between situations that are not obviously related; identifies key or underlying issues in complex situations. Has and uses knowledge of systems, situations, procedures, and culture inside the organization to identify potential problems and opportunities; analyzes and thinks through the impact and implications of decisions regarding other components of the organization.
• Financial Awareness - Actively seeks opportunities to optimize financial costs within predetermined budgetary parameters when making decisions that have financial implications. Actively looks for ways to reduce costs in the department/organization or allocation of resources.
• Bold Leadership - Achieves results through people/team members by successfully setting objectives, conducting consistent and regular performance feedback, motivates, delegates, commits to teambuilding, and empowerment.