Job Title:
Culinary Director
Job Purpose:
Our client is seeking a highly experienced and commercially driven Culinary Director / Group Executive Chef to lead the culinary direction, standards and development of a diverse hospitality portfolio and consultancy projects across Africa and the Middle East. This is a senior leadership position suited to an accomplished culinary professional with extensive experience across restaurants, hotels, luxury hospitality and multi-outlet operations. The successful candidate will combine exceptional culinary expertise with strong leadership, commercial awareness and strategic thinking, with the ability to develop and implement culinary concepts from initial strategy through to operational delivery.
Responsibilities:
- Culinary Leadership & Strategy: Lead and oversee the culinary direction, standards and strategy across the group.
- Menu & Concept Development: Develop innovative menus, recipes, food concepts and plating standards.
- Food Costing & Commercial Performance: Manage food costs, gross profit targets, portion control, wastage and overall culinary profitability.
- Kitchen Operations & Standards: Establish and maintain consistent food quality, presentation and operational standards.
- Culinary Team Leadership & Development: Recruit, lead, mentor and develop Executive Chefs and culinary teams.
- New Openings & Project Development: Provide culinary leadership for new concepts, openings and hospitality projects.
- Kitchen Design & Operational Planning: Provide input into kitchen layouts, equipment requirements, back-of-house workflows and operational functionality.
- Quality, Hygiene & Compliance: Ensure food safety, hygiene and kitchen compliance standards are consistently maintained.
- Client & Stakeholder Management: Work closely with clients, owners, developers and project teams on culinary requirements and deliverables.
- Supplier & Product Management: Manage product sourcing, supplier relationships, product specifications and quality standards.
- Training & Implementation: Oversee tastings, menu implementation, recipe standardisation and culinary training.
- Travel & On-Site Support: Provide hands-on culinary support across local and international projects.
Qualifications & Experience:
- Formal culinary qualification from a recognised institution.
- Proven experience as an Executive Chef, Group Executive Chef, Culinary Director or similar senior culinary leadership role.
- Strong experience within premium restaurants, hotels, resorts or luxury hospitality environments.
- Experience overseeing multi-site or multi-outlet culinary operations would be advantageous.
- Proven expertise in menu development, recipe creation, food costing and culinary implementation.
- Strong commercial understanding of gross profit management, budgeting, purchasing, portion control and waste management.
- Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor and develop high-performing culinary teams.
- Sound knowledge of kitchen design, back-of-house operations, equipment and workflow planning.
- Experience with new restaurant openings, concept development and operational implementation.
- Excellent communication, leadership and stakeholder management skills.
- International culinary or hospitality experience would be advantageous.
- Willingness and ability to travel locally and internationally as required.