Job Title: Executive Chef
Reports to: Randy, Director of Culinary Operations
Position Summary
Vicente's Supermarket is seeking a skilled, hands-on Executive Chef to lead culinary operations across multiple store locations, serving a diverse customer base including Haitian, Cape Verdean, Brazilian, Latin American, and Portuguese communities. This role requires deep, authentic expertise in Haitian, Cape Verdean, and Brazilian cuisines - the heart of Vicente's culinary identity - with working range across Caribbean, Portuguese, and Central & South American cooking. The Executive Chef will standardize recipes, develop new items, train and manage culinary teams, drive chef-level accountability, and elevate prepared foods and catering programs across all units.
Major Tasks, Responsibilities, and Key Accountabilities
Kitchen Operations Management
- Oversee kitchen operations across multiple store locations, ensuring food safety, quality, and consistency at all times
- Ensure compliance with health, safety, and sanitation regulations across all locations
- Drive the presentation and sales performance of prepared foods and catering programs across all units
Menu and Recipe Development
- Develop and standardize culturally authentic menus, anchored in Haitian, Cape Verdean, and Brazilian cuisine and reflecting the broader communities Vicente's serves
- Standardize recipes with exact specifications to maintain consistency and quality across all store locations
- Ensure breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet menu schedules are upheld to company standards
Team Leadership and Accountability
- Train and manage culinary teams across all locations, overseeing schedules and implementing HR standards to foster a positive and collaborative work environment
- Establish and run a chef accountability structure - quality, cost, and shrink standards with a named owner in every kitchen
- Conduct ongoing training sessions to enhance team skills, food knowledge, and service standards
- Drive cultural changes within the team to align with the supermarket's values and goals
Food Cost, Inventory, and Vendor Relations
- Control food cost, manage inventory levels, and oversee ordering practices to stay within budget
- Build and maintain vendor relationships to ensure availability of fresh, high-quality ingredients
- Provide complete, accurate recipe documentation and current recipe costs to support the Commissary food cost platform, and partner with that team until food cost reaches target
Customer Service and Merchandising
- Maintain high food quality and presentation standards to ensure an excellent customer experience
- Collaborate with Store Directors and Marketing to develop merchandising strategies, appealing food displays, and promotional campaigns
- Address customer feedback promptly and use customer insights to continuously improve the dining experience
Qualifications
- Proven experience as an Executive Chef or senior culinary leader, ideally overseeing multiple locations or high-volume prepared foods operations
- Deep, hands-on expertise in Haitian, Cape Verdean, and Brazilian cuisines required; broader Caribbean, Portuguese, and Central & South American range strongly preferred
- Demonstrated ability to standardize recipes, control food cost, and manage inventory and vendor relationships
- Strong leadership and training skills, with experience managing and developing culinary teams
- ServSafe or equivalent food safety certification required; strong working knowledge of health and sanitation regulations
- Excellent organizational and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across Store Directors, Marketing, and corporate teams
- Bilingual (English/Haitian Creole, English/Cape Verdean Creole, English/Portuguese, or English/Spanish) strongly preferred
- Willingness and ability to travel regularly between store locations
Working Conditions
- Fast-paced, multi-location kitchen environment with frequent standing, lifting, and multitasking
- Must be able to work around heat, steam, and commercial kitchen equipment
- Requires regular travel between store locations to oversee culinary operations and teams
- Requires flexibility to work during busy breakfast, lunch, dinner, and catering event periods, including some evenings, weekends, and holidays
- Must maintain cleanliness and food safety protocols at all times across all locations