Executive Chef (Expatriate) at Work Better Africa

Position Summary

• Responsible for the consistent preparation of innovative and creative cuisine of the highest quality, presentation and flavour for the restaurants, banquets and other food facilities, resulting in outstanding guest satisfaction.
• Additionally responsible for the smooth running of the kitchen and managing areas of profit, stock, wastage control, hygiene practices and training for Kitchen staff.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Trains, develops and motivates supervisors and culinary staff to meet and exceed established food preparation standards on a consistent basis.
• Teaches preparation according to well-defined recipes and follows up and discusses ways of constantly improving the cuisine at the property.
• Display exceptional leadership by providing a positive work environment, counseling employees as appropriate and demonstrating a dedicated and professional approach to management.
• Should be able to provide direction for all day-to-day operations in the kitchen.
• Understand employee positions well enough to perform duties in employees' absence or determine appropriate replacements to fill gaps.
• Provides guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
• Utilizes interpersonal and communication skills to lead, influence, and kitchen staff.
• He should advocate sound financial/business decision-making, demonstrates honesty, and integrity and also leads by example.
• Provides and supports service behaviors that are above and beyond for customer satisfaction and retention.
• Improves service by communicating and assisting individuals to understand guest needs, providing guidance, feedback, and individual coaching when needed.
• Delegates as appropriate to develop supervisors and subordinates to accept responsibility and meet clearly defined goals and objectives.
• Reviews staffing levels to ensure that guest service, operational needs and financial objectives are met.
• Actively involves in menu development and maintaining updated and accurate costing of all dishes prepared and sold in the Food and Beverage operation.
• Determines how food should be presented, and create decorative food displays.
• Recognizes superior quality products, presentations and flavour.
• Ensures compliance with food handling and sanitation standards.
• Follows proper handling and the right temperature of all food products.
• Ensures all equipment in the kitchen is properly maintained and in working order in accordance with local Health department and hotel standards.
• Coordinates with the purchasing department for the acquisition of needed goods and services.
• Ensure all products are prepared in a consistent manner and meet departmental appearance/quality standards.
• Ensure proper grooming and hygiene standards for all kitchen staff.
• Ensures all kitchen employees maintain required food handling and sanitation certifications.
• Ensure proper purchasing, receiving and food storage standards in the kitchen.
• Interacts with guests to obtain feedback on food quality, presentation and service levels.
• Actively responds to and handles guest problems and complaints.
• Maintain Quality levels of receiving, storage, production and presentation of food.
• Ensure sufficient staffing levels are scheduled to accommodate business demands.
• Follows and enforces all applicable safety procedures specified for kitchen and food servers.
• Discuss daily food cost reports with key kitchen and F&B team members.
• Review weekly and monthly schedules to meet forecast and budget.
• Hold daily morning meetings and other administrative sessions with kitchen staff
• Identifies the developmental needs of kitchen staff and provides coaching, mentoring, and also helping them to improve their knowledge or skills.
• Trains kitchen associates on the fundamentals of good cooking and excellent plate presentations. Also, interview and hire new applicants for the kitchen.
• Frequently review finished products for quality and presentation before the orders are sent to guests.
• Able to perform additional duties as requested by the hotel management as and when required.
• Ensures disciplinary procedures and documentation are completed according to hotel operational Standards and Management Policy.

Prerequisites:

• Displays leadership in guest hospitality exemplifies excellent customer service and creates a positive atmosphere for guest relations.
• Having an eye for detail and creativity to look at things differently will be a key to developing the Food and Beverage Experience.

Education

• Candidates should possess a B.Sc Degree
• Able to demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication in English.
• Proficiency with computers and computer programs, including Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Experience:

• With a minimum of 10 years experience in a similar capacity/function in an international five-star hotel.