Executive Chief

Job Summary

The Executive Chef will lead and manage all kitchen operations at Shelter, ensuring consistent food quality, presentation, taste, and service standards. The role is responsible for menu development, food-cost management, kitchen team leadership, food safety, inventory control, and overall kitchen performance, while contributing to the restaurant's profitability and brand development.

Key Responsibilities

1. Kitchen Operations

• Lead and manage all kitchen operations to ensure consistent food quality, presentation, taste, and service standards.
• Manage food preparation and production to ensure consistency across every shift and service period.
• Ensure kitchen readiness during peak periods and maintain appropriate production planning and staffing levels.
• Establish and maintain kitchen SOPs covering preparation, storage, production, hygiene, opening/closing procedures, and quality control.

2. Menu Development

• Develop, review, and continuously improve Shelter's menu in line with the restaurant's concept, target customers, and market trends.
• Create and maintain standardized recipes, preparation methods, portion sizes, plating guidelines, and recipe costing.
• Develop seasonal dishes, promotions, signature items, and new menu concepts that strengthen Shelter's market positioning.
• Analyze guest feedback, sales performance, menu popularity, and profitability to recommend menu improvements.

3. Food Cost & Financial Management

• Monitor and control food costs, wastage, inventory, purchasing, and kitchen operating expenses while maintaining quality standards.
• Establish appropriate food-cost targets and regularly analyze actual versus theoretical food costs.
• Ensure effective recipe costing, portion control, yield management, and food-cost optimization.
• Understand the relationship between menu design, pricing, food cost, sales mix, and restaurant profitability.

4. Inventory & Purchasing

• Monitor inventory levels and establish effective ordering, receiving, storage, stock rotation, and waste-control procedures.
• Manage suppliers in coordination with management, including product specifications, quality assessment, pricing, and alternative sourcing.
• Conduct regular quality checks on ingredients, prepared items, finished dishes, and presentation.

5. Team Leadership & Development

• Recruit, train, supervise, schedule, and evaluate kitchen team members.
• Build a disciplined and professional kitchen culture focused on teamwork, cleanliness, efficiency, and accountability.
• Organize, motivate, develop, and retain a productive kitchen team.
• Ensure appropriate staffing levels according to business and operational requirements.

6. Food Safety & Quality Control

• Ensure full compliance with food safety, hygiene, sanitation, HACCP principles, and applicable local regulations.
• Maintain consistent food quality, portion sizes, temperature, taste, presentation, and overall standards.
• Ensure high standards of cleanliness, storage, preparation, and kitchen organization.

7. Guest Experience & Business Development

• Work closely with restaurant management, operations, marketing, and front-of-house teams to improve the overall guest experience.
• Analyze customer feedback and translate customer expectations into improvements in food quality, presentation, and menu offerings.
• Keep up with food trends, competitor offerings, ingredients, presentation techniques, and changing customer preferences.
• Contribute to restaurant revenue, profitability, customer satisfaction, and repeat business.

8. Reporting & Performance Management

• Prepare regular reports covering food cost, wastage, inventory, kitchen performance, staffing, quality issues, and corrective actions.
• Monitor measurable operational targets and continuously identify opportunities to improve quality, efficiency, guest satisfaction, and profitability.
• Take full ownership of the kitchen's operational performance and contribute to Shelter's overall profitability and brand development.

Job Qualifications

• Proven experience as an Executive Chef, Head Chef, or Senior Sous Chef, preferably within a reputable casual-dining or upscale casual-dining restaurant.
• Strong experience with international cuisine and contemporary casual-dining concepts.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and improve menus rather than only execute an existing menu.
• Strong knowledge of recipe development, recipe costing, portion control, yield management, and food-cost optimization.
• Solid understanding of kitchen operations, inventory management, purchasing, supplier management, and waste reduction.
• Proven experience leading, training, and developing kitchen teams.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, hygiene standards, HACCP principles, and professional kitchen practices.
• Ability to maintain consistent food quality and presentation during high-volume operations.
• Strong commercial understanding of menu design, pricing, food cost, sales mix, and restaurant profitability.
• Ability to use operational reports, inventory data, and sales information to make informed decisions.
• Strong communication and coordination skills with management, front-of-house teams, suppliers, and kitchen staff.
• Culinary education or professional culinary certification is preferred.
• Previous experience in Egypt's restaurant market is an advantage.
• Experience in restaurant openings, repositioning, menu transformation, or concept development is highly desirable.

Required Competencies

Culinary Leadership

Strong culinary knowledge combined with the ability to establish clear standards and lead the kitchen by example.

Menu Development & Creativity

Ability to create commercially attractive dishes that fit Shelter's identity while balancing innovation, customer preferences, operational practicality, and profitability.

Food-Cost Management

Strong understanding of recipe costing, purchasing, yields, portions, waste, inventory, and gross-margin management.

Quality & Consistency

Ability to ensure that every dish maintains the required taste, portion, temperature, presentation, and overall standard regardless of shift or kitchen team.

Kitchen Leadership & Team Development

Ability to recruit, organize, train, motivate, evaluate, and retain a productive kitchen team.

Operational Discipline

Strong planning, organization, preparation, scheduling, stock management, and service-execution capabilities.

Commercial Awareness

Understands that an Executive Chef is responsible not only for excellent food but also for supporting restaurant revenue, profitability, customer satisfaction, and repeat business.

Problem Solving & Decision Making

Able to respond quickly and professionally to service issues, staffing shortages, supplier problems, quality concerns, and unexpected operational challenges.

Customer Orientation

Understands Shelter's target audience and translates customer expectations and feedback into improvements in food, presentation, and menu offerings.

Innovation & Market Awareness

Keeps up with food trends, competitor offerings, ingredients, presentation techniques, and changing customer preferences.

Communication & Collaboration

Works effectively with restaurant management, front-of-house, purchasing, marketing, finance, and other stakeholders.

Ownership & Accountability

Takes responsibility for kitchen results, including food quality, food cost, wastage, hygiene, staffing, productivity, and overall kitchen performance.

Attention to Detail

Maintains high standards across ingredients, preparation, plating, cleanliness, storage, recipes, and kitchen organization.

Performance Orientation

Works against measurable targets and continuously looks for opportunities to improve quality, efficiency, guest satisfaction, and profitability.