Executive Chef of Dining Services

About the role

The Executive Chef will lead and manage all aspects of food service operations and culinary innovation for Williams College. Reporting directly to the Assistant Vice President of Dining and Auxiliary Operations, the role involves developing, testing, and implementing menus, offering, and culinary programming.

Responsibilities

• Develop recipes that meet the needs of a diverse student population and are adaptable to a large volume operation, including traditional American foods, vegan, vegetarian, international, and religious cuisine.
• Encourage culinary innovation by identifying and introducing new techniques to enhance food quality.
• Create innovative menus for special dinners and events, overseeing the menu management system for efficient recipe programming for all programmable equipment.
• Oversee the Mission Park Production Kitchen and Inventory Assistants, ensuring HACCP compliance during receiving and storage of deliveries.
• Supervise scratch and bulk production, as well as all campus events.
• Plan, communicate, and delegate responsibilities to ensure smooth operations across multiple dining units.
• Supervise and ensure the completion of proactive and responsive food ordering, receiving, waste reduction, and product management.
• Uphold all food safety, sanitation, and workplace safety standards, ensuring that the team undergoes regular audits, training sessions, and coaching to comply with health and food safety regulations.
• Collaborate with the Dietitian to review and identify recipes for allergens and ensure specifications for gluten-free and clean cuisine products.
• Work with Purchasing Agents and multiple vendors while ordering products to determine possible allergens, dietary factors, and religious dietary restrictions.
• Collaborate with vendors to establish product specifications and ensure allergen compliance.
• Train First and Second Cooks, Cooks, Cook Assistants, and PSAs and other dining staff in culinary techniques, cooking procedures, and sanitation and safety associated with batch or bulk cooking.
• Hold regular meetings with primary and secondary vendors to strengthen partnerships and schedule weekly visits to all dining units to monitor operations.
• Limit product changes to stocked items to save costs while enhancing quality, and schedule weekly or bi-weekly production meetings for efficient communication.
• Oversee accurate monthly inventories and analyze financial reports to identify trends and issues in unit performance.
• Manage purchasing and food cost analysis to optimize supply and reduce costs, ensuring a consistent guest experience across all dining units.
• Cook up-to-date semester food volume forecasts with vendors to ensure alignment on supply needs and costs.

Qualifications

• Minimum of five years of kitchen knowledge in food preparation, presentation, sourcing, and purchasing.
• Degree in food service or culinary certificate from an accredited school.
• Proven ability to train and lead a team.
• Advanced knowledge in food preparation, culinary trends, vegetarian, vegan and special dietary needs, allergy awareness and sanitation regulations.
• Proven ability to train and lead a team.
• Advanced verbal and written communication skills, and active listening, dynamic flexibility, critical thinking, and ability to multitask.
• Experience of progressively responsible leadership in a large volume non-commercial food service, convention or hotel in a management capacity.
• Demonstrated knowledge of production requirements, human resources and fiscal management.
• Proficiency in basic computer applications (Google Suite, Microsoft Office, Word & Excel).
• Familiarity with Food Management System or other Food Service Software.
• ServeSafe certificate.
• Excellent verbal and written communication.

Benefits

The pay range for this position is from $100,000 - $120,000, commensurate with experience. Williams College offers a robust benefits package designed to support employees in their work and overall health and wellness.