Executive Chef

About Us & The Position:
A prestigious hotel, wedding, and conference venue nestled in the beautiful surroundings of Muldersdrift, is seeking a highly skilled Executive Chef to join its dynamic team. The ideal candidate will be responsible for ensuring the smooth operation of the Kitchen, supporting both internal staff and external clients during events. This position requires a proactive individual who is passionate about food, training, and controls.

Responsibilities:

• Overseers all kitchen operations, including preparing dishes, hiring, and managing kitchen staff, and inventory management.
• Cooperate with the wedding department, restaurant manager, and banquet manager to prepare special menus for weddings, celebrations, events, and all dining events.
• Responsible for the preparation of a full-course meal with appetizers, main courses, and items from the dessert menu for a variety of small to large groups.
• Takes responsibility for the duties and tasks assigned to the role, ensuring that all work is carried out in a timely and professional manner.
• Support and deliver on the strategies and objectives of the kitchen department taking ownership of assigned areas of responsibility.
• Develop and build his/her skills, knowledge, and experience at every opportunity within the kitchen department, which aligns with the culture of growth, development, and performance expected by the company.
• Attend daily briefing meetings, weekly operational meetings, ad-hoc training sessions, and safety talks.
• Check different teams’ daily checklists/reports and inspections at the start and end of each shift.
• Ensure all team members have conducted and submitted their reports/checklists as per their job profiles.
• Assist the Chefs as and when necessary and carry out any other reasonable tasks or activities that may be required by your manager.
• Liaise with the Front of House for VIP guest names and special meal preferences or arrangements daily. 
• Ensure monthly food costs remain below 33% and review progress weekly, liaising with the General Manager, accounts, and bulk store department to ensure constant review and knowledge of where costs are in real-time.
• Determine menu pricing through accurate portion plate costings to determine the selling prices.
• Provide running-cost analysis report for review weekly, and full cost analysis monthly to senior management
• Menus are planned promptly, taking into account financial and guest requirements monthly.
• Adequately balance innovation and creativity with financial logic when planning menus.
• Approve the orders for the Bulk Store Manager to carry new ingredients stock and meet minimum par level requirements per day/week and or monthly.
• Monitor and ensure that the menu library/recipe and Standard Operating
• Arrange for a photographer to capture signature dishes for marketing purposes every three months.
• Inspect the new menu food item prepared by the teams for taste, presentability, timeliness, and overall quality before it is served to guests.
• Monitor the customer reviews; and obtain feedback on new dishes and analyze the performance of new menu items within the first 4 weeks of the launch of new items.
• Attend morning meetings and coordinate communication between operations and kitchen staff on operational requirements, functions, and events per day, per week.
• Conduct monthly staff meetings identifying areas of improvement, address gaps, discuss solutions and ensure staff are well informed of all activities of the company.
• Ensure employee’s uniforms and grooming habits meet (S.O.P).
• Assign duties per shift ensuring equity of work.
• Ensure that employee meets the highest hygiene and cleaning standards in all kitchen workstations.
• Conduct monthly employee labour cost analysis, preparing forecasts of labour requirement reports for approval by senior management.
• Approve the employee’s weekly roster and check for updates.
• Assess the Junior Chef’s training progress in providing high standards of service in terms of time, quality, and personalization.
• Hold regular performance appraisals, identifying areas for development and training needs, and ensuring that this training is monitored.
• Ensure that fair discipline is implemented.
• Ensure that the causes of staff grievances are investigated, and the appropriate action taken.
• Ensure that all statutory notices are posted at all relevant points and that such notices are conspicuously placed.
• Ensure that the required quarterly safety meetings with staff are being held, attended, and recorded. 
• Participate and ensure all senior staff First Aid certification is always up to date.
• Set an example and comply with all food hygiene and safety-related policies and procedures.
• Ensure compliance with food hygiene and Health and Safety standards.
• Review and mentor the Head Chef on the proper waste management strategies for implementation and rollout.
• Review equipment inspection checklists and monitor until resolved.
• Ensure that all recycling strategies are completed daily and up to standards.
• Maintain a lean and orderly workstation and adhere to health and safety standards, inspecting workstations an employee ensuring the correct handling and correct temperatures of all food products.
• Ensuring the quality and care of all equipment and products as per manufacturer standards and procedures and training junior staff on using equipment correctly.  
• Review the weekly Operational Equipment Inspections done by team members, reporting any damage, and or faults and arranging for repair or replacement.
• Review monthly operational equipment (OE) inspections and ensure all records are relevant and up-to-date.
• Review the planned and prep stock items/ingredients required for the next 7 days and as far as per month and place orders with the bulk store.
• Review and check the stock system on daily basis monitoring.
• Co-ordinate and assign tasks for the full stock taking monthly.

Qualifications & Skills Required:

• Grade 12 or equivalent
• Bachelor's degree in the culinary arts.
• Min 5 years of proven experience as Executive Chef in a high-volume hotel and referrals. 
• Good understanding of useful computer programs (MS Office, restaurant management software, POS)
• Awareness of Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) and chemical safety.
• Ability to spot and resolve problems efficiently.
• Ability to divide responsibilities and monitor progress.
• Outstanding communication and leadership skills.
• Excellent knowledge of all sections and ability to produce excellent high-quality food.
• Good oral communication with team management skills
• High level of attention to detail and good level of numeracy
• Enthusiasm to develop your skills and knowledge plus those around you
• Adaptability to change and willingness to embrace new ideas and processes.
• Ability to work unsupervised and deliver quality work.
• Positive and approachable manner.
• Up to date with culinary trends and optimized kitchen processes.
• Must be able to work shifts (flexible working hours), weekends, and public holidays with reliable transport and support.

Closing Date:

17 June 2024

s.

Good understanding of technical features of plumbing, carpentry, and electrical systems.

Strong knowledge of facilities machines & equipment