Executive Chef

gategroup•New York, NY

7d•$115,000 - $130,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Executive Chef is the senior culinary and production leader responsible for overseeing a high-volume, complex airline catering operation functioning as an industrial-scale food manufacturing production department. This role ensures the safe, compliant, efficient, and cost-effective production of high-quality meals across multiple airline customers, while leading teams, enforcing strict process controls, and driving continuous improvement through data, standardization, and advanced production techniques. The Executive Chef operates at the intersection of culinary excellence, industrial engineering, food safety, and operational leadership, ensuring all outputs meet regulatory requirements, airline specifications, and internal “gold standard” quality benchmarks.

Requirements

Minimum 10+ years of hands-on leadership experience in large-scale food manufacturing / production environments (strongly preferred)
Airline catering or high-volume institutional catering experience
Proven experience as Production Manager / Culinary Operations Leader
Experience implementing Lean food production/manufacturing & Continuous Improvement methodologies
Demonstrated experience with ERP/MRP systems (MPS, production planning)
Deep knowledge of food safety systems (HACCP, GMP, FDA/USDA compliance)
Deep knowledge of industrial-scale food production processes
Deep knowledge of production planning and scheduling
Strong understanding of KPIs and operational financial drivers
Strong understanding of inventory and cost control
Hands-on capability with batch control, process standardization, and quality systems
Strong leadership and people development skills
Analytical mindset with structured problem-solving approach
Ability to operate calmly and effectively under high pressure and complexity
High level of discipline, rigor, and attention to detail
Strong collaboration and stakeholder management capabilities
Change agent with continuous improvement mindset
Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in: Industrial Engineering, Process Engineering, Food Engineering, or related field (preferred).
Culinary qualifications are a plus but not mandatory
ServSafe Certified preferred.
Multi-lingual a plus.

Responsibilities

Serves as the ultimate champion of a zero-compromise culture around food safety, employee safety, and sanitation, ensuring that every aspect of the operation consistently meets or exceeds regulatory and industry standards, including Health Department requirements, USDA and FDA regulations, as well as HACCP, GMP, and stringent airline-specific protocols.
Partners with the QA Support teams in the design, execution, and continuous improvement of robust sanitation programs, ensuring that cleaning schedules, validation processes, and verification mechanisms are rigorously followed.
Operates as the senior production leader of a high-volume, industrialized food manufacturing environment, orchestrating complex, multi-line, multi-shift operations, ensuring that production flows seamlessly across kitchens and assembly lines.
Establishes and reinforces standardized processes, driving consistency and eliminating variability, while optimizing kitchen throughput, maximizing efficiency, and ensuring on-time and in-full delivery to assembly.
Owns the end-to-end food production planning process, including the Master Production Schedule (MPS) for the kitchen and detailed production sequencing required to meet dynamic customer demand.
Leverages ERP and MRP systems to ensure accurate material planning, capacity alignment, and real-time execution tracking.
Implements structured process control mechanisms to reduce variability, enhance predictability, and improve overall system performance.
Drives the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles across the entire food production and assembly operation.
Establishes and enforces “gold standard”, recipes accuracy, specifications, and procedures that define excellence in product quality and consistency.
Ensures that every product meets rigorous standards before reaching the customer through structured meal tasting and batch validation programs, combined with clearly defined quality checkpoints.
Is fully accountable for operational performance, owning a comprehensive set of KPIs that reflect both efficiency and effectiveness, including food cost percentage, labor cost and productivity, food waste, yield accuracy, portion consistency, and on-time delivery.
Identifies trends, gaps, and improvement opportunities through rigorous analysis of performance data, driving both corrective and preventive actions.
Maintains tight control over cooked food inventory, food cost performance and labor productivity.
Ensures strict adherence to FIFO principles, safeguarding product freshness while minimizing waste and obsolescence.
Leads, inspires, and develops a large and diverse team, including chefs, supervisors, and production staff.
Fosters a high-performance culture characterized by accountability, discipline, and continuous improvement.
Designs and implements comprehensive training programs that reinforce food safety, process adherence, and operational excellence.
Brings a strong understanding of modern food processing technologies and their application in a large-scale production environment, including methods such as sous-vide, hot-fill processing, pasteurization, and other shelf-life extension techniques.
Works closely with multiple stakeholders, including Supply Chain Planning, Buyers, Quality Assurance, process engineering, Maintenance, and Commercial teams.
Ensures alignment between production capabilities and customer requirements, navigating operational constraints while maintaining service excellence.
Partners with corporate functions to drive strategic initiatives, innovation, and transformation efforts, contributing to the long-term success and competitiveness of the organization.