Culinary Director - Workplaces

We are CH&CO, we’re proud to take a more thoughtful, mindful approach to the food experiences we source, prepare and present. We are recruiting for a Culinary Director to work with us in our workplaces estate in London. This is an exciting role for an experienced, strategic leader to join the business to lead on innovation, menu planning and training/development of our teams. This is a Monday to Friday position which will be field based across London sites.

As the Culinary Director, you'll be the driving force behind the culinary vision on a key workplace account.

Main Responsibilities

• Supplier Relationships: Collaborate with suppliers and vendors to source the finest and freshest ingredients
• Quality Assurance: Ensure exceptional culinary execution through rigorous quality control, taste testing, and adherence to culinary standards across mutliple sites
• Client Engagement: Interact with clients and customers to regularly gather feedback, and use insights to refine and enhance the culinary offerings
• Menu Innovation: Create and curate innovative and diverse menus that showcase your culinary expertise while catering to a range of tastes and dietary preferences
• Strategic Culinary Leadership: Develop and execute a visionary culinary strategy that aligns with the brand, market trends, and client preferences
• Financial Oversight: Manage culinary budgets, cost analysis, and pricing strategies to ensure profitability while maintaining excellence
• Team Empowerment: Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of chefs, cooks, and kitchen staff

Our Ideal Canddiate Will

• Have Trend Awareness: Up-to-date with culinary trends, ingredients, and techniques, and the ability to incorporate them creatively
• Proven Business Acumen: Understanding of financial management, cost control, and budgeting within a culinary operation with multiple sites in contract catering
• Have agenuine passion for culinary arts and a desire to continuously push the boundaries of creativity
• Have excellent excellent communication and interpersonal skills to foster strong relationships with team members and stakeholders
• Have Leadership Experience: previous leadership experience in a culinary setting, with the ability to motivate and lead a diverse team
• Have experience with Menu Innovation: Adept at conceptualizing, designing, and executing innovative and appealing menus
• Have Culinary Excellence, a proven track record of culinary excellence with a diverse and impressive culinary background

What's in it for you?

Working with CH&CO has its perks! People are at the heart of everything we do, so we've developed a range of benefits to keep you happy.

• A holiday purchase scheme
• Private medical eligibility
• Recognition schemes and people awards
• Volunteering days
• Family friendly support
• Competitive holiday allowance
• Professional subscriptions
• Regular social events and communication with our leaders
• Personal Development and Training opportunities
• Life assurance scheme
• Access to some great high street discount vouchers
• Pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Eye care
• Long service awards
• A great wellbeing strategy – including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, salary finance

Inquisitive, Inclusive, Uplifting