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Executive Chef Job Description: Top Duties and Qualifications

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An Executive Chef, or Head Chef, is responsible for the successful management of a restaurant’s kitchen. Their duties include designing menus, managing restaurant staff and organising financial budgets.

Executive Chef duties and responsibilities

An Executive Chef role covers a wide range of skills from developing satisfactory menus to problem-solving. Some of the main responsibilities of an Executive Chef are:

  • Creating an overall vision and plan for the restaurant
  • Designing innovative restaurant menus to suit the theme of the restaurant
  • Designing new dishes to fit the menu and keeping customers returning to try new dishes
  • Developing menus and item pricing
  • Sourcing unique ingredients for the menus, and keeping stock levels fully up-to-date
  • Keeping the kitchen fully equipped with all the tools and inventory
  • Ensuring that the quality of food is consistently high and that hygiene standards are exceeded
  • Organising, employing, training new staff and motivating staff in the kitchen and on the restaurant floor
  • Organising budgets and finances for the kitchen
  • Assisting kitchen staff with food prep and recipe creation
  • Purchasing food and supplies from vendors approved by the company

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Indeed’s Employer Resource Library helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.

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What does an Executive Chef do? 

Executive Chefs supervise other kitchen staff of and are responsible for making the administrative decisions for a restaurant. They usually work long hours, with 12-hour days being common. Their job involves creating menus, designing new dishes and ensuring a high quality of food is delivered from the kitchen to the customer. Executive Chefs may run an industrial kitchen with a large number of employees or a small restaurant kitchen with only a few assistants.

Executive Chef skills and qualifications

A successful Executive Chef will have various prerequisite skills and qualification these include:

  • Excellent knowledge of culinary ingredients and practices
  • Technical cooking skills
  • Creative skills
  • Proven leadership skills and the ability to motivate staff
  • Ability to delegate tasks
  • Ability to work in challenging environments, while maintaining high standards
  • Organisational and administrative skills
  • Food hygiene and food preparation qualifications

Executive Chef experience requirements

Executive Chefs will need at least seven years of experience working in fast-paced and challenging kitchen environment. This is a job that a chef needs to work their way towards through their career, gaining experience in as many different kitchen roles as possible.

An Executive Chef will also need proven experience of working in previous chef and kitchen roles, such as a Sous-Chef or even a Kitchen Porter, to show that they understand the workings of a kitchen. They should also have a good knowledge of food and sanitation regulations.

Ideally, an Executive Chef will have previous experience in a leadership role within the kitchen, for example, in an Assistant Head Chef role. They will have experience designing menus and creating new dishes, as well as managing stock and dealing with situations that may arise in the kitchen that call for leadership.

Executive Chef education and training requirements

Executive Chefs need to have at least basic high school diploma General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) such as English and maths or HNC or above culinary qualification. Employers may require candidates to earn a Bachelor’s or Associate’s Degree in the Culinary Arts. They may also require Executive Chefs to gain relevant training or complete an apprenticeship for one to three years. Employers may also ask candidates to provide industry-recognised certifications—such as the Diplôme de Cuisine and the Grand Diplôme—to make sure new hires have advanced foodservice knowledge based on safety, preparation, nutrition and techniques.

Executive Chef salary expectations

According to Indeed Salaries, the average salary for an Executive Chef is £44,743 per year. The salary of an Executive Chef varies depending on factors, such as the type and size of the restaurant, geographical location and experience.

Job description samples for similar positions

If Executive Chef isn’t the exact job description that you are looking for, then there are similar job description samples available too:

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Executive Chef job description FAQs

Two chefs, one wearing a red headband, review a laptop and take notes at a wooden table in a kitchen setting.

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