Corporate Chef

Corporate Chef

As the Corporate Chef, you will oversee culinary operations across all PILF Restaurant Group locations, ensuring our kitchens deliver exceptional food, strong financial performance, consistent standards, and well-developed teams. This is a hands-on leadership role that partners closely with restaurant leaders, Operations, and Human Resources to drive results across the group.

Culinary & Operational Excellence

• Maintain consistent food quality, presentation, portioning, recipe execution, and kitchen standards across all locations.
• Develop and roll out new menu items, recipes, and culinary initiatives.
• Conduct regular restaurant visits, tastings, line checks, and kitchen assessments.
• Evaluate kitchen systems, prep processes, equipment, and workflows to improve efficiency and execution.
• Support new restaurant openings, menu rollouts, kitchen transitions, and company initiatives.

Financial Performance

• Review and manage food cost, waste, yields, portion control, purchasing, and inventory performance.
• Review BOH labor costs, productivity, overtime, and staffing levels to ensure locations operate within company standards.
• Partner with restaurant leadership to review BOH schedules and ensure appropriate staffing and deployment based on business needs.
• Identify trends and develop action plans for locations that are not meeting financial or operational expectations.

Leadership & Team Development

• Coach and develop hourly culinary team members, Kitchen Managers, Assistant Kitchen Managers, and salaried restaurant leadership.
• Identify training opportunities, skill gaps, and high-potential team members for continued development and advancement.
• Provide hands-on coaching, feedback, accountability, and follow-up to improve culinary and leadership performance.
• Support the onboarding and development of newly hired and promoted culinary leaders.
• Build a culture of accountability, teamwork, hospitality, and culinary excellence.

Training & HR Partnership

• Partner with Human Resources and Operations to identify training needs and improve culinary training programs.
• Ensure required training is completed and consistently applied within restaurant operations.
• Partner with HR and restaurant leadership on performance concerns, development plans, and corrective action when necessary.
• Support leadership development and succession planning for culinary positions throughout the restaurant group.

Food Safety & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with food safety, sanitation, allergen, health department, and company safety standards.
• Conduct kitchen inspections and ensure locations remain clean, organized, safe, and inspection-ready.
• Partner with restaurant leadership to address deficiencies and ensure corrective actions are completed.

Vendor & Product Management

• Maintain vendor and supplier relationships while ensuring product quality, consistency, availability, and competitive pricing.
• Partner with vendors and Operations to identify cost-saving opportunities without sacrificing food quality or the guest experience.
• Assist with product changes, substitutions, purchasing initiatives, and communication to restaurant teams.

What We're Looking For

• Multi-unit culinary leadership experience, preferably in pizza, casual dining, or high-volume restaurants.
• Strong knowledge of food cost, labor management, inventory, scheduling, and restaurant operations.
• Proven ability to coach and develop both hourly team members and salaried leaders.
• Strong food safety, sanitation, and kitchen operations knowledge.
• Excellent communication, organization, accountability, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to be both a strategic leader and a hands-on presence in our restaurants.
• Availability to travel between locations and work evenings, weekends, or holidays when business needs require.