Director of Culinary

Travel: Regular travel to restaurant locations and new openings A growing, multi-brand hospitality group is seeking an accomplished Director of Culinary to provide strategic culinary leadership across its portfolio of distinctive restaurant concepts. This is an opportunity for a sophisticated culinary leader who understands that exceptional food is only one part of building an exceptional restaurant organization. Our client is looking for someone who can translate culinary vision into repeatable systems, strong financial performance, developed leaders, consistent execution, and memorable guest experiences across multiple concepts and locations. The Director of Culinary will partner closely with senior leadership, Operations, Executive Chefs, and restaurant-level culinary leaders to establish and protect standards while building the infrastructure necessary to support continued growth. This is not a corporate desk job. The right leader will be strategic enough to think across an entire organization while remaining connected to what is actually happening inside the restaurants. You'll develop chefs, analyze financial performance, build systems, evaluate menus, negotiate with vendors, support kitchen design, participate in restaurant openings—and still be willing to step into an operation when the team needs hands-on leadership. The goal is not simply to create great food. It's to build a culinary organization capable of delivering great food consistently, profitably, and at scale. Performance-based bonus opportunity Competitive medical, dental, and vision insurance plans Flexible Spending Account and dependent care account Generous paid time off Research and development allowance Restaurant dining discounts and meal benefits Relocation assistance available for the right candidate Opportunity to directly influence the culinary direction and continued growth of a multi-brand hospitality organization Day in the Life: Provide strategic culinary leadership and accountability across multiple restaurant concepts and locations Establish, document, implement, and continually improve culinary SOPs and operating standards across the organization Protect the unique identity of each concept while creating systems that allow the organization to execute consistently at scale Maintain a visible, hands-on presence in restaurant operations and regularly partner with Executive Chefs and culinary leadership Develop best practices for receiving, storage, product care, production, pars, ordering, purchasing, and overall material utilization Conduct and continually improve culinary and facility audits, identify trends, and ensure corrective action plans are completed Provide direction and leadership around menu development while ensuring new items are creative, executable, profitable, and aligned with each concept Establish strong recipe governance, including recipe accuracy, documentation, intellectual property, testing, training, and rollout Evaluate menu performance through product mix, profitability, operational feasibility, guest feedback, dining trends, and brand direction Oversee the development, coaching, and performance of Executive Chefs and other culinary leaders Recruit culinary leadership talent regionally and nationally and build a strong succession pipeline for continued growth Partner with Operations and Human Resources to strengthen culinary training, development, performance management, and accountability Develop food and labor budgets, forecasts, and action plans in partnership with Operations Read and interpret P&Ls and use financial and operational data to identify risks, opportunities, and corrective actions Monitor food cost, labor, inventory accuracy, purchasing compliance, waste, pars, and material consumption Build and maintain strong vendor relationships and negotiate product quality, pricing, service levels, and contract terms Protect food safety, sanitation, allergen, regulatory, and health department standards across every location Partner with construction and development leadership on kitchen layouts, equipment plans, workflow, fixtures, and operational design Participate in the sourcing and standardization of culinary equipment across the organization Lead culinary readiness forevery new restaurant opening Develop opening systems, recipes, schedules, training documentation, production standards, vendor relationships, and inventory processes Recruit and develop opening teams and verify operational readiness before launch Provide hands-on leadership through openings and stabilization periods Continually evaluate the culinary organization and identify what needs to change today to successfully support tomorrow's growth