Culinary Director
- 135,000 Per Year
- New York
- Hospitality & Tourism
Woods & Co Recruitment is excited to be recruiting for a Culinary Director with a dynamic food production company. This prominent organization specializes in catering and event services, focusing on delivering exceptional culinary experiences across high-volume production, catering, and drop-off services. We are thrilled about this opportunity to join a forward-thinking business that is committed to quality, innovation, and operational excellence.
As a core leader within the organization, the Culinary Director will oversee all culinary operations, build scalable kitchen systems, develop high-performing teams, and ensure the consistent delivery of culinary standards that reflect the company's creative ethos. If you are a strategic, operational, and inspiring culinary leader with extensive experience in high-volume environments, we want to hear from you.
What’s in it for you?
- Opportunity to lead and shape a growing culinary operation
- Contribute to a well-respected company known for quality and innovation
- Collaborative work environment with a focus on continuous improvement
- The chance to develop and implement scalable kitchen systems and workflows
- Leadership role with responsibility in building and mentoring a talented team
- Ability to influence culinary standards and customer experience
- Full-time role with generally weekday hours, with flexibility based on business needs
What you’ll do:
- Drive food and hospitality standards to ensure excellence across all culinary operations and production
- Oversee research and development of seasonal menus and custom client menus in collaboration with Sales
- Maintain quality control through tastings, line checks, and staff training
- Lead daily kitchen activities including expediting, pack out, and ensuring timely, accurate service
- Manage inventory, ordering, and proper use of kitchen equipment
- Develop and continuously improve kitchen systems, SOPs, workflows, and production standards
- Build scalable kitchen infrastructure to support growth while maintaining quality
- Lead, develop, and mentor the BOH team, establishing clear expectations and accountability
- Ensure compliance with all health and safety regulations and food safety standards
- Manage staffing, scheduling, and operational efficiency to meet business demands
- Monitor and control food costs, waste, and operational expenses while delivering quality
What we’re looking for:
- 5+ years of prior culinary leadership experience, preferably in high-volume catering, commissary, or production kitchens
- Strong understanding of diverse cuisines and high-volume operations
- Demonstrated ability to build systems and lead teams at scale
- Excellent operational, organizational, and leadership skills
- Proficiency in kitchen management systems and relevant software
- Strong financial acumen and experience managing budgets
- Effective communicator with cross-department collaboration skills
- Ability to mentor, motivate, and develop a culinary team
- Discretion and leadership in employee relations
- Must be able to taste and differentiate between flavours and aromas
- Bachelor degree preferred
- Fluency in English; Spanish proficiency is a plus
If you're as passionate about this position as we are, then please don't delay and APPLY NOW! We are interviewing immediately.
For a confidential discussion, please call Sonia Lombardo at 917-525-2275 or email sonia@woodsco.global
Woods & Co recruits across a wide range of roles and industries. If this opportunity isn’t quite right for you, but you’re open to new opportunities, we’d still love to hear from you. Know someone who may be a good fit? Refer them to us and, if we successfully place them in a permanent position, we’ll send you a $250 gift voucher.
Woods & Co Recruitment is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. We do not discriminate and proudly encourage applications from everyone—including individuals from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds, members of the LGBTQ+ community, veterans, and people with disabilities of all ages.
Please note only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
