Corporate Culinary Director

Proper Hospitality Careers • Santa Monica, CA

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

Proper Hospitality is seeking a Corporate Culinary Director to provide portfolio-level culinary leadership for its 12 hotels and 27 food and beverage outlets. This role is responsible for ensuring all culinary concepts are strong, operationally disciplined, and financially successful. The Corporate Culinary Director will guide and elevate culinary direction across properties, empower property-level chefs, and establish culinary standards. The position involves menu engineering, food cost management, kitchen standards, and maintaining consistent food quality, while championing Proper Hospitality’s ingredient philosophy and supporting individual property culinary identities. This role works closely with the SVP of Food & Beverage, General Managers, and Executive Chefs.

Requirements

• Culinary degree from an accredited culinary institution preferred
• Minimum 15 years of progressive culinary leadership experience
• At least 5 years in a corporate, multi-property, or multi-unit culinary leadership role
• Experience in luxury hospitality, acclaimed restaurants, or premium hotel food and beverage programs
• Demonstrated experience with menu engineering, food cost management, and kitchen operations at scale
• Experience supporting new restaurant openings and concept development preferred
• Strong culinary foundation with the ability to guide diverse restaurant concepts
• Deep understanding of food cost control, menu engineering, and restaurant financial performance
• Proven leadership ability with experience mentoring Executive Chefs and culinary leadership teams
• Strong communication and collaboration skills with property leadership and executive teams
• Experience working across multiple restaurant formats and hospitality environments
• Proficiency with culinary systems, inventory management platforms, and standard business tools
• ServSafe Manager Certification and strong knowledge of food safety protocols
• Ability to travel regularly across Proper Hospitality portfolio properties to support culinary operations, property leadership teams, and new openings

Nice To Haves

• Culinary degree from an accredited culinary institution
• Experience supporting new restaurant openings and concept development

Responsibilities

• Guide and elevate culinary direction across all Proper Hospitality properties while empowering Executive Chefs to lead their kitchens.
• Establish culinary standards that ensure consistent food quality, presentation, and guest experience across the portfolio.
• Maintain alignment between property culinary programs and Proper Hospitality’s brand positioning.
• Serve as the senior culinary resource for General Managers and Executive Chefs across the portfolio.
• Support development and evolution of restaurant, bar, and poolside concepts across the portfolio.
• Lead menu engineering and development to ensure strong concept clarity, culinary creativity, and financial performance.
• Collaborate with property chefs on seasonal menu updates, concept refinement, and new outlet development.
• Ensure menus reflect Proper Hospitality’s ingredient philosophy while remaining relevant to each property’s market.
• Establish and maintain kitchen operational standards across all properties.
• Support property culinary teams in maintaining consistency in food quality, preparation, and presentation.
• Conduct regular property visits and culinary reviews to evaluate kitchen operations and provide guidance to Executive Chefs.
• Identify operational improvement opportunities related to kitchen workflows, production systems, and service execution.
• Drive strong financial performance across culinary operations through disciplined menu engineering and cost control.
• Monitor food cost performance across properties and partner with Executive Chefs to implement improvement strategies.
• Review menu contribution margins and pricing strategies to ensure outlets meet profitability targets.
• Support property leadership teams in achieving culinary labor and food cost budgets.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key vendors and purveyors that support ingredient quality and cost control.
• Identify purchasing strategies that leverage portfolio scale while allowing flexibility for local sourcing.
• Support procurement strategy in partnership with the SVP of Food & Beverage and property teams.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop Executive Chefs and culinary leadership across the portfolio.
• Support leadership development and succession planning for property culinary teams.
• Lead portfolio culinary meetings and knowledge sharing across properties.
• Foster a culture of operational excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Provide culinary leadership during pre-opening phases of new properties and new outlet launches.
• Support kitchen design consultation, equipment selection, and operational planning.
• Assist property teams in developing menus, systems, and staffing strategies prior to opening.
• Ensure kitchens maintain strict adherence to food safety standards and health regulations.
• Support implementation of sanitation procedures and HACCP protocols where applicable.
• Monitor compliance with internal food safety and operational standards.

Benefits

• Culture of Growth & Belonging
• Guided Skills Development
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
• Community Engagement
• Comprehensive Health Coverage (Medical, dental, and vision plans through Aetna)
• Wellness Access (Company-subsidized memberships with Equinox and ClassPass, wellbeing workshops, mental health resources)
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Paid Time Off (Flexible PTO plus 11 paid holidays each year for corporate team members)
• Paid Parental Leave
• Flexible Work Practices (Hybrid schedules for eligible roles)
• 401(k) Program (Company match of 50% of employee deferrals, up to the first 4% of eligible compensation)
• Employer-Paid Life & Disability Insurance
• Financial Education
• Hotel Stay Benefits (75% off BAR (floor of $100) across the Proper portfolio)
• Design Hotels Partnership (50% off participating Marriott Design Hotels)
• Dining Discounts (75% off food & beverage at all Proper Hospitality outlets)
• Lifestyle Perks (Complimentary or subsidized parking, cell phone reimbursement, exclusive hospitality and retail discounts)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree