Job description
Role Overview
Executive Chef at Emirates Flight Catering. The role drives high-quality, cost-efficient culinary services by managing food production, optimizing team performance, and upholding culinary standards across assigned culinary sections.
Role Purpose
Oversee overall food quality, customer experience, and procedural compliance across the assigned culinary section, ensuring support to VIP, premium, and event segments where applicable. Deliver high-quality, cost-efficient culinary services by managing food production, optimizing team performance, upholding culinary standards, driving menu development, cost control, and continuous improvement through performance analysis while maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders to ensure seamless and consistent service delivery.
Key Responsibilities
Food Quality & Safety
- Ensure all food items for flights, lounges, and special segments are prepared, cooked, and served in strict compliance with food safety, hygiene standards, and client specifications.
- Supervise team members to adhere to culinary standards and operational procedures within the department by identifying non-conformances and implementing corrective actions.
Manpower & Team Development
- Optimize manpower planning and staff performance by training, motivating, and rotating teams across areas to build full culinary capability.
- Develop strong mentoring and coaching skills to develop culinary talent.
Operations & Production
- Ensure timely and seamless execution of production workflows to meet operational schedules, flight departure times, and event requirements where applicable.
Menu Development & Strategy
- Design, review, and approve menus in line with contractual requirements and department specialty (such as hot kitchen, cold kitchen, pastry etc.) to ensure creativity, operational feasibility, and cost accuracy.
- Apply menu engineering principles to support revenue enhancement opportunities through client presentations and value-driven culinary solutions.
Cost Management & Financial Performance
- Enhance cost efficiency by closely monitoring food yields, optimizing labor and material usage, minimizing waste and pilferage, and ensuring adherence to budgeted cost targets through ongoing financial reviews and timely corrective measures.
- Review operational and financial reports to identify performance gaps, conduct root-cause analysis and implement timely corrective actions to achieve departmental targets.
Stakeholder Management
- Develop and sustain effective relationships with internal stakeholders, clients, suppliers, and support functions to ensure seamless operations and consistently high-quality service delivery.
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Hotel Management or a related culinary discipline.
- Master's degree and Certification related to Food Safety preferred.
- Minimum of 8 years' experience in the culinary field, preferably in high-volume or large-scale production environments.
Skills & Competencies
- Demonstrated ability to grow and develop within the role and take on broader responsibilities.
- Strong leadership capability with effective delegation skills.
- Creative problem-solving and real-time decision-making abilities with an innovative mindset.
- Excellent organizational, training, and communication skills.
- Strategic thinker with the ability to contribute to long-term planning.
- Strong mentoring and coaching skills to develop culinary talent.
- High attention to detail and commitment to maintaining quality standards.
- Proactive, self-driven, and committed to achieving operational excellence.