Executive Chef Tradition Golf Club La Quinta, CA

Job Overview

Working closely with the culinary team and the club’s leadership, the Executive Chef leads, mentors, and develops the kitchen staff through active presence on the floor and in the kitchen. The EC establishes clear standards, systems, and expectations, fostering accountability, teamwork, and pride in execution. Through strong communication, approachability, and a commitment to excellence, the Executive Chef plays a visible and integral role in delivering a memorable and consistent dining experience for the Club’s members.

Food & Beverage Operations

• Earn members’ trust by instilling confidence through continued enhanced operations, interaction, and visibility.
• Create a fun, collaborative work environment while being “hands-on” when necessary but understanding when to step back and lead the team.
• Involves team members in the decision-making process of how “work gets done” and creates a work environment of mutual respect in which people want to come to and participate every day.
• Work closely with the front-of-house leadership and broader club leadership team to ensure a cohesive experience that consistently exceeds expectations for Members and guests.
• An active and dynamic recruiter of team members and someone who inherently enjoys developing and building their team and leading them to significant, positive membership satisfaction outcomes.
• Passion and aptitude for teaching and training all food service personnel, working as necessary with the team directly responsible for operations to create a learning culture of development.

Operations

• Collaborate with the culinary team to develop and maintain standard recipes and techniques for food preparation and presentation that help to ensure consistency, high-quality, and minimize food costs.
• Attend Food and Beverage, Leadership, Financial, and other Meetings and represent the culinary team as a senior leader at the club.
• Establish controls to minimize food and supply waste and theft.
• Safeguard all food-preparation employees by implementing training to increase their knowledge about safety, sanitation, and accident prevention principles.
• Maintain safety training programs.
• Manage OSHA-related aspects of kitchen safety and maintain MSDSs in an easily accessible location.

Membership

• Have a heart of hospitality, embrace, appreciate, promote, and elevate the warmth and culture of the Club.
• Be highly visible and engaged with Membership throughout the F&B outlets and events, have an intuitive feel for where to be and when.
• Welcome, encourage, and engage in regular feedback from Members.
• Respond to Members’ requests for menu selections, event planning, etc., and strive to find creative ways to accommodate reasonable requests with a “can-do” approach.
• Create seasonally appropriate menus that the Membership has a hard time choosing from, with regular features and specials.

Financial

• Clearly understand the metrics for successful attainment of financial goals and objectives in F&B operations and consistently review these expectations with their direct reports to ensure understanding and ‘buy-in’ from those contributing to their attainment.
• Oversee the pricing of menus for all outlets in the club and for special occasions and events.
• Schedule and coordinate the work of chefs, cooks, and other kitchen employees to ensure that food preparation is economical and technically correct, and within budgeted labor cost goals.
• Embrace the use of systems (including regular inventory processes) and technology to assist in the management of the kitchen and the financial performance of the operation.
• Maintain strong relationships with local vendors and identify new vendors to ensure the best prices for the best quality products.

Candidate Qualifications

• Five years’ experience in a similar role or Executive Sous Chef with exposure to luxury hospitality, or large multi-outlet operations with both busy a la carte and banquets.
• Experienced with and embraces new technology, including POS and Microsoft Suite.
• This is an ideal role for a mature Executive Sous Chef to begin their advanced leadership in the private club sector.

Education and Certification Qualifications

• An associate or bachelor’s degree is preferred with a focus on Hospitality Management or Culinary.
• In lieu of the degree, substantial culinary or hospitality experience will be considered.
• Achieved or working towards Certified Executive Chef (CEC) certification through the American Culinary Federation (ACF) or Pro Chef II certification through the Culinary Institute of America.
• Food Safety Certified