Executive Head Chef

Job Purpose:

The Executive Head Chef is the senior culinary leader responsible for the quality, safety, consistency, variety and value of food provision across all school dining and catering services. This includes the Primary and Secondary Dining Halls, noodle bar, snack provision, smoothie bar and school catering functions. Reporting to the Retail Services Manager, the role leads menu development, food quality, presentation, student satisfaction and kitchen team capability, while line managing the Primary Head Chef, Secondary Head Chef, School Nutritionist and wider Food Services teams. The Executive Head Chef has overall accountability for menus, recipes, food standards, kitchen operations, food safety, portion control, recipe costing, waste reduction and the consistent delivery of high-quality food services across the school.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead culinary standards across all school food service areas, ensuring consistency in food quality, taste, presentation and service readiness.
• Develop appealing, nutritious and age-appropriate menus that reflect student preferences, current food trends, international food knowledge and the needs of a diverse school community.
• Work closely with the School Nutritionist to ensure menus support balanced nutrition, dietary requirements, allergen awareness and student wellbeing.
• Provide direct leadership, coaching and support to the Primary Head Chef, Secondary Head Chef and wider kitchen teams, with direct line management responsibility for the Head Chefs and School Nutritionist.
• Review recipes, portion sizes, production methods, kitchen workflows and service standards to improve efficiency and consistency, and ensure these are implemented consistently across all food service areas
• Lead ongoing food development, including new recipes, themed menus, snack concepts, smoothie options, catering menus and seasonal menu improvements.
• Review and develop school function menus in collaboration with the Food Services Coordinator and Head Chefs, ensuring suitable variety, quality, presentation and practical delivery for school events.
• Support supplier discussions and ingredient selection to improve quality, value and menu variety, including recipe costing, portion control, food waste reduction and value for money.
• Be accountable for ensuring food safety, hygiene, allergen controls and kitchen compliance standards are consistently maintained across all Food Services areas, including leading relevant training to improve food quality, safety, consistency and variety.
• Engage with students, parents, staff and academic teams to gather feedback and translate this into practical food service improvements.
• Represent Food Services professionally in discussions relating to menu quality, catering standards and student dining experience.
• Work with the Retail Services Manager to align culinary improvements with operational priorities, staffing, budgets and service expectations, including budget planning, recipe costing, food cost control, portion control, waste reduction and value for money.

Skills and Qualifications:

Essential:

• Recognized professional culinary qualification or equivalent senior-level culinary experience.
• Progressive culinary experience, including experience in large-scale food service, catering, hospitality or a similar environment.
• Experience in a senior chef leadership role, such as Head Chef, Executive Chef, Senior Sous Chef with operational leadership responsibilities, or equivalent.
• Proven ability to lead, coach and develop experienced kitchen teams.
• Strong knowledge of menu planning, recipe development, food presentation, portion control, supplier coordination, recipe costing and cost awareness.
• Strong understanding of food safety, hygiene standards, allergen management, and kitchen compliance. •
• Strong communication and stakeholder-engagement skills, with the ability to explain culinary ideas clearly to school leaders, parents, students and non-food specialists.
• Strong English communication skills.
• Experience of working with nutritionists, dietitians or health-focused food standards.
• Experience in international cuisine, with the ability to develop suitable menus for a diverse school community.
• Understanding of sustainability in food services, including waste reduction, seasonal ingredients or responsible sourcing.
• Experience using menu planning, recipe costing, stock control or food service management systems.

Desirable:

• Experience in an international school, premium hospitality, international hotel or similar complex food service environment.
• Experience leading food service improvement projects or introducing new food concepts in a large-scale operation.

Child safeguarding statement

Bangkok Patana school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We have developed and adopted a Code of Ethics, Conduct and Safe Working Practices which explains the appropriate and inappropriate behaviour of adults towards children.

We expect all staff, volunteers and other third parties to share this commitment and to review and affirm that they have read, understood and will abide by these rules.

At our school, we use recruitment practices and pre-employment background checks to maintain the highest standards of safeguarding and child safety. Our school’s practices reflect and are aligned with the written expectations of the International Taskforce on Child Protection.

For information, please contact our Human Resources Department at**[email protected].**

Mission

Our mission is to ensure that students of different nationalities grow to their full potential as independent learners in a caring British International Community.

Vision

We develop global citizens who shape their world through independence, empathy, creativity and critical thinking.

To apply, please submit your up-to-date CV via the JobsDB portal and provide the names, email addresses, and contact details of three referees.

We reserve the right to appoint before the final deadline.