Executive Chef - Nexus in Middlesex County (NJ)
About The Position
The Executive Chef is the senior culinary leader responsible for all back-of-house food operations across Nexus’s recreation center and its multi-outlet footprint, including a full-service restaurant, quick-service and concessions, grab-and-go, café, catering, and special events. The role establishes the culinary vision, builds and develops a high-performance kitchen team, ensures consistently exceptional guest experiences, and delivers business results through menu engineering, cost controls, food safety, and partnership with Front-of-House, Events, and Venue Operations. The Executive Chef leads menu development and seasonal rotations, maintains food quality and consistency across outlets, and establishes recipe, portioning, preparation, and expo standards. The role also manages culinary financial performance, procurement, inventory, equipment, regulatory compliance, food safety, and sanitation. The position provides shift leadership, communicates across departments, and reports on key performance indicators and action plans.
Requirements
- 7+ years of progressive back-of-house leadership experience.
- Expert-level culinary fundamentals, menu development, and plating standards for elevated dining.
- Strong knowledge of regional and seasonal sourcing.
- Proven financial acumen in food and labor cost control, menu engineering, inventory systems, and vendor negotiations.
- Availability to work weekends, holidays, nights, and days.
- Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
- Effective time management skills.
- Prior experience or education in the food industry and scratch kitchens, such as pizza, deli, or food hall.
Nice To Haves
- 3+ years as an Executive Chef or Chef de Cuisine in an elevated, chef-driven scratch kitchen.
- Demonstrated success overseeing multi-outlet or high-volume operations, including restaurant and catering/events; quick-service or concessions experience is a plus.
Responsibilities
- Lead menu development, tasting and iteration cycles, and seasonal rotations; ensure dishes are costed, scalable, and aligned with guest insights and profitability goals.
- Maintain high standards for flavor, presentation, and consistency across the restaurant, concessions and quick-service outlets, café, catering, and special events.
- Establish and enforce recipe standards, portioning guides, prep lists, and expo protocols; ensure accurate recipe documentation and training compliance.
- Recruit, train, and mentor Sous Chefs, BOH Supervisors, Cooks, Prep, Pastry (if applicable), and Utility/Dish teams.
- Manage food cost, labor cost, waste, and other controllable expenses through inventory, purchasing, and production planning.
- Negotiate with purveyors, source high-quality local and seasonal products, and ensure on-time, in-spec deliveries.
- Oversee inventory controls, invoice accuracy, transfers, and waste tracking; support accurate weekly and monthly closes with Finance.
- Ensure kitchen equipment is maintained, calibrated, and safe; coordinate preventive maintenance and repairs.
- Ensure compliance with Health Code and state requirements and uphold policies to achieve and maintain an “A” grade.
- Implement and audit HACCP-based procedures, allergen management, labeling, cooling logs, and sanitation checklists; conduct mock inspections and corrective actions.
- Enforce OSHA-compliant practices, knife, hood, and grease management, and safe chemical handling.
- Provide shift briefings, set prep priorities, lead expo, and communicate proactively across departments to support a seamless guest experience.
- Report weekly on KPIs, wins, risks, and action plans; contribute to annual planning and budgeting.
- Perform other related duties as assigned by management.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Executive
Education Level
No Education Listed
