Associate Dean - Culinary Instruction & Transformation

the CIA•Hyde Park, NY

About The Position

The Associate Dean – Culinary Instruction & Transformation cultivates the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of how the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) teaches culinary arts. The role defines and advances a distinctive, evidence-informed pedagogical model connecting culinary craft, deliberate practice, sensory judgment, creativity, professionalism, and applied knowledge. It translates that model into faculty practice, effective learning experiences, and measurable student outcomes across CIA locations and learning formats, supporting the institution’s strategic direction and Vision 2035 ambitions. Reporting to the Dean – School of Culinary Arts, the Associate Dean coordinates culinary pedagogy, faculty teaching capability, and instructional innovation across the institution and directly supervises Culinary Fundamentals faculty. The role works with faculty and administrative constituencies to establish shared teaching approaches, promote standardized materials, and lead adoption through institutional plans and shared governance. Other Associate Deans retain leadership of their assigned programs and faculty, while the Dean retains overall accountability for school strategy, program portfolio, resources, and academic performance. The position also extends CIA’s educational expertise into external learning contexts. The Associate Dean leads development of the CIA culinary pedagogical model and roadmap; faculty development and teaching improvement; educational use of AI, digital learning, simulation, and adaptive learning; curriculum and assessment improvement; and instructional leadership and partnerships. The role supervises, coaches, and evaluates assigned Culinary Fundamentals faculty, manages assigned budgets and initiatives, supports academic operations, and maintains academic quality, accreditation alignment, and safe instructional practice in assigned areas.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in education, instructional design, culinary arts, hospitality, leadership, or a related discipline, together with demonstrated culinary expertise through formal culinary education and/or substantial professional practice.
At least five years of progressive experience in culinary or closely related applied education, including substantial successful teaching experience and experience leading faculty, educational programs, or institutional teaching improvement.
Demonstrated success promoting educational improvement across programs or departments, securing faculty adoption, and showing measurable improvement in teaching practice or learner outcomes.
Experience with faculty development, curriculum, and competency assessment.
Strategic thinking and strong operational execution skills.
Strong understanding of emerging trends impacting culinary education, hospitality, food systems, and workforce development.
Experience as a collaborative and entrepreneurial leader able to operate across academic, operational, and external stakeholder environments while balancing innovation with institutional rigor and operational execution.
Demonstrated experience leading strategic initiatives, academic programs, innovation projects, or interdisciplinary teams.
Experience building partnerships across industry, education, and organizational stakeholders.
Proven ability to drive change, influence culture, execute complex initiatives, navigate complex stakeholder environments, and build consensus.
Demonstrated ability to lead innovation while maintaining academic quality and institutional alignment.
Strong business acumen and ability to manage initiatives with measurable outcomes.
Experience using data and assessment to inform decision-making and continuous improvement.
Adaptability, initiative, and organizational effectiveness.
Strong understanding of faculty development, academic operations, and shared governance practices.
Proficiency with instructional technologies, collaboration platforms, and modern workplace tools.
Ability to travel periodically to other CIA locations due to business needs.
Must be available to work nights and weekends as required due to business needs.

Nice To Haves

Master’s or doctoral degree in education, instructional design, culinary arts, hospitality, leadership, or a related discipline.
Recognized culinary or educator credentials such as CMC, ProChef certification, or CHE.
Experience adapting instruction for workforce development, K-12, continuing education, industry training, or other external audiences, including scalable educator development models.
Experience implementing or evaluating digital or AI-enabled learning approaches in practical, skills-based education.
Evidence of applied pedagogical research, publications, presentations, or leadership of a teaching and learning center.
Experience in multi-campus institutions, shared governance, and collective bargaining environments.
Deep understanding of culinary pedagogy, learning science, experiential learning, inclusive instruction, and authentic assessment of practical skill, sensory judgment, and professional behavior.
Ability to turn educational strategy into clear standards, usable teaching resources, and sustained implementation; influence across organizational boundaries and build faculty ownership of change.
Ability to evaluate AI, simulation, adaptive-learning tools, and learning management systems for educational effectiveness and responsible use, working productively with technical and instructional design specialists.
Strong analytical judgment, including the ability to interpret learning evidence, evaluate pilots, set priorities, and connect educational quality with resource and financial decisions.
Excellent coaching, facilitation, communication, and partnership skills; ability to represent CIA’s educational approach credibly with faculty, institutional leaders, employers, and educators.
Sound professional judgment, effective faculty and budget management, and commitment to CIA’s mission, academic rigor, student success, and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

Articulate and codify the CIA’s culinary pedagogical model, including principles for demonstration, guided practice, feedback, reflection, and assessment of culinary proficiency.
Define common teaching expectations while enabling faculty to adapt instruction to diverse learners and disciplines.
Translate institutional priorities into a sequenced culinary teaching and innovation roadmap.
Facilitate agreement among faculty and academic leaders across CIA locations on standards, implementation responsibilities, and measures of progress; bring policy, resource, and unresolved cross-program decisions to the Dean and appropriate governance bodies.
Partner with faculty to ensure student-facing presentation materials are engaging and reflect the visual standards of the CIA pedagogical model.
Develop a proposal, operating model, and educational agenda for a center for culinary instruction, and lead implementation when approved.
Build CIA’s standing through applied teaching research, documented practice, educator development, and external engagement.
Lead a sustained faculty development program that includes onboarding, coaching, peer observation, and communities of practice.
Build faculty capability in culinary pedagogy, inclusive teaching, assessment, and instructional technology.
Use Culinary Fundamentals to test and improve teaching approaches.
Lead curriculum and assessment improvement in assigned areas and collaborate with other Associate Deans to extend proven practices across the culinary learning journey.
Establish shared competency rubrics and faculty assessment calibration.
Use evidence of skill mastery, retention, progression, student feedback, and industry expectations to improve learning and address differences in outcomes across learner groups.
Lead educational use of AI-enabled tools, digital learning, simulation, and adaptive learning, prioritizing applications that support preparation, individualized practice and feedback, culinary decision-making, and targeted student support.
Partner with instructional design and technology teams to design, pilot, and evaluate tools and learning experiences; set educational requirements, build faculty capability, and scale approaches when evidence supports their learning value, usability, and sustainable cost.
Embed accessibility, data privacy, academic integrity, and human oversight in technology-supported instruction; ensure technology strengthens hands-on learning and assessment verifies students’ practical competence and judgment.
Lead instructional improvement within the School of Culinary Arts, with direct responsibility for Culinary Fundamentals faculty and assigned academic areas.
Work with the Dean and fellow Associate Deans to strengthen curriculum coherence, teaching quality, and student progression across the school.
Develop shared instructional resources and faculty learning opportunities that support consistent culinary standards across CIA locations.
Engage assigned faculty in testing and refining teaching approaches and coordinate adoption with the academic leaders responsible for each program.
Contribute culinary and pedagogical expertise to selected external education and partnership initiatives, as agreed with the Dean and consistent with school priorities and faculty capacity; support educational quality while business leaders retain ownership of external offerings, commercial agreements, and delivery operations.
Supervise, coach, and evaluate assigned full-time and adjunct Culinary Fundamentals faculty; lead recruitment and development in partnership with the Dean and Human Resources, consistent with institutional policies and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
Partner with academic operations on staffing, scheduling, and instructional resources.
Manage assigned budgets and initiatives against agreed priorities and resolve escalated student concerns with faculty and student support teams.
Maintain academic quality, accreditation alignment, and safe instructional practice in assigned areas.
Contribute to governance and institutional initiatives relevant to the role and perform other duties as assigned.