Executive Chef- Delta Guelph Conference Centre, Guelph, ON

Hotel Equities, a multi-award-winning hotel development and hospitality management company, is currently searching for a remarkable Executive Chef for the Delta Hotels Guelph Conference Centre in Guelph, ON.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Red Seal Certification in Cook/Culinary Trade is strongly preferred.
• Previous Executive Chef, Chef, or senior culinary leadership experience in a full-service hotel environment in Ontario.
• Proven experience managing hotel restaurants, banquet, catering, and high-volume culinary operations.
• Strong knowledge of Ontario food safety, sanitation, occupational health and safety, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Demonstrated experience with food cost control, menu planning, purchasing, inventory management, labor management, and culinary budgeting.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to recruit, train, coach, and develop culinary team members.
• Ability to maintain consistently high standards of food quality, presentation, service, and guest satisfaction.
• Flexible availability, including evenings, weekends, holidays, and peak business periods, based on operational requirements.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, high-volume hotel environment and respond to changing business demands.
• Strong communication, organization, problem-solving, and leadership skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with Food & Beverage, Operations, Sales & Catering, and other hotel departments.
• Food Handler Certification and other applicable Ontario food-safety certifications are required.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Overall Culinary Operations

• Lead and oversee all culinary operations for the hotel, including restaurant, banquets, catering, room service/IRD
• Ensure consistent food quality, presentation, portion control and execution across all outlets.
• Establish and maintain culinary standards, recipes, preparation procedures and plating standards.
• Be hands-on and visible in the operation, particularly during peak periods and major events.

2. Banquet & Catering Operations

• Take overall culinary responsibility for all banquet and catering events.
• Work closely with Sales, Catering and Banquets to review BEOs, menus, guarantees and special requirements.
• Plan food production, staffing, timing and execution for weddings, conferences, meetings and other large functions.
• Ensure banquet food is delivered on time, at the correct temperature and according to contracted specifications.
• Develop and maintain banquet menus that are competitive, profitable and operationally practical.
• Control banquet food waste, overproduction and spoilage.
• Ensures KPI for Banquet Food Quality are met in line with Marriott benchmarks

3. Restaurant Operations

• Oversee daily restaurant kitchen operations and ensure consistent execution during breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• Develop seasonal and profitable menus in conjunction with the F&B/Restaurant leadership.
• Monitor guest feedback, food quality and presentation and take corrective action.
• Ensure appropriate staffing and production levels based on forecasted covers and business levels.

4. Financial Management – Very Important

• Own the culinary department's food cost and kitchen labour performance.
• Develop and manage the annual culinary budget and forecasts.
• Establish food-cost targets and monitor actual results against budget.
• Review food cost, labour cost, waste, spoilage, portion control and purchasing variances.
• Implement corrective action when food or labour costs exceed budget.
• Identify opportunities to reduce costs without compromising guest experience or quality.
• Participate in menu engineering to maximize contribution margins.

5. Purchasing & Inventory

• Manage purchasing in line with Avendra for HE, receiving, storage and inventory controls.
• Work with approved vendors to obtain competitive pricing and consistent quality.
• Maintain appropriate par levels for restaurant and banquet operations.
• Conduct regular physical inventories and investigate significant variances.
• Minimize waste, spoilage, theft and unnecessary purchases.
• Ensure proper rotation and storage of all food products.

6. Labor Management

• Develop kitchen schedules based on occupancy, restaurant covers, banquet volume and forecasted business.
• Manage labor productivity and staffing levels against budget.
• Ensure appropriate staffing for large banquet events without excessive overtime.
• Recruit, train, coach and develop culinary employees.
• Cross train staff to improve flexibility and productivity.
• Conduct performance reviews and address performance issues promptly.

7. Food Safety & Ontario Compliance

• Ensure compliance with all applicable Ontario food safety, public health, workplace safety and sanitation requirements.
• Maintain proper food temperatures, storage, labelling and handling procedures.
• Ensure required food-handler/food-safety certifications are maintained.
• Maintain clean and sanitary kitchens, coolers, freezers, preparation areas and stewarding areas.
• Correct deficiencies identified through health inspections or internal audits.

8. Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach and develop the culinary leadership team, including Sous Chefs, Banquet Chef and line-level culinary staff.
• Establish clear performance expectations and hold team members accountable.
• Create a culture of teamwork, professionalism and accountability.
• Conduct regular kitchen meetings and training.
• Develop succession plans and internal culinary talent.
• Maintain strong communication collaboration with F&B, Banquets, Sales, Engineering and the General Manager.

9. Guest Experience

• Personally monitor food quality and guest satisfaction.
• Respond to significant guest complaints relating to food quality or service.
• Review guest satisfaction and banquet/event feedback and implement improvements.
• Maintain consistent standards across both high-volume banquet production and à-la-carte restaurant service.
• Creates a culture of chefs coming out and speaking with guests

10. Menu Development

• Create and update restaurants, banquets and catering menus, being innovative.
• Ensure menus reflect market demand, seasonality and hotel positioning.
• Calculate recipe costs and selling margins.
• Standardize recipes and portion sizes, and establish pickup charts as needed.
• Introduce new products and concepts while maintaining financial discipline.

PLEASE NOTE THIS JOB DESCRIPTION IS NOT DESIGNED TO COVER OR CONTAIN A COMPREHENSIVE LISTING OF ACTIVITIES, DUTIES OR RESPONSIBILITIES THAT ARE REQUIRED OF THE EMPLOYEE FOR THIS

Area

Key Accountability

Food Cost

Achieve budgeted food cost %

Kitchen Labor

Achieving budgeted labor cost and productivity

Banquets

Execute events according to BEO, timing and quality standards

Restaurant

Maintain food quality, consistency and guest satisfaction

Waste

Reduce food waste/spoilage and monitor waste logs

Inventory

Maintain accurate inventory and investigate variances

Purchasing

Buy within approved pricing/vendor programs

Guest Satisfaction

Improve food-related guest/banquet scores

Food Safety

100% compliance with required standards

Training

Maintain ongoing culinary and food-safety training

Budget

Meet or exceed departmental financial targets

DESIRED SOFTWARE PROFICIENCIES: NONE

EDUCATION / EXPERIENCE:

• High school or equivalent education strongly preferred.
• 3 years of culinary management experience required.
• Catering experience in a managerial capacity required.
• Experience managing a kitchen, developing staff, and managing food costs required.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to stand and maintain well-paced mobility for up to 4 hours.
• Ability to bend, stoop, squat, stretch, and lift to 50 lbs. regularly.
• Ability to lift and carry food items or trays weighing up to 30 lbs.
• Ability to push and pull carts and equipment weighing up to 250 lbs.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU:

• The salary range for this position will be $75,000 to $80,000.
• Health and dental insurance
• RRSP with company match
• Vacation and Sick Pay
• Paid Holidays
• Daily Pay
• Hotel Brand discounts
• Discount programs for shopping, travel, tickets and more.
• Access to our Talent team to help you reach your career growth goals.