RHEA, a specialized recruitment firm in the Hospitality and Restaurant industry, is hiring:

Executive Chef (M/F) South West France 

An international luxury group comprising a portfolio of exceptional hotels, resorts, residences, and private clubs worldwide across three continents. While each property is unique, all share a crafted approach to luxury and bring the soul of the locale to life through captivating design, exceptional cuisine, spas, and gracious yet unobtrusive service.

The establishment:

Located in the southwest of France. Formerly the private vacation property of a very wealthy family, the property has been transformed into a luxury hotel and entrusted to this prestigious hotel brand for management for several months. The hotel features a renowned art gallery, a signature restaurant, a wellness space built around the original works of the old mill, a floating tennis court, a thermal baths pool house, and charming multi-story rooms carved out of restored 18th-century barns.

Role Summary

The Executive Chef will lead the epicurean positioning and culinary operations of the property to become the most sought-after gastronomic experience in the southwest of France. Responsible for developing a kitchen culture that attracts top-tier talent. The ideal candidate will excite guests with quality-driven, regional French cuisine showcasing local ingredients and thoughtfully layered epicurean experiences. A place for all seasons, using locally sourced ingredients, local wines, and local heritage to create one of France’s most coveted and special dining destinations.

Ambition to achieve the Green Star; possibly even a Michelin star, although it is not the primary objective.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned and passionate Chef, fluent in French and English, with previous experience in a luxury hotel or restaurant.

Main Responsibilities

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. The key responsibilities for this position are as follows:

Operational Expertise: Oversee culinary operations to realize the mission of being the most beloved operator of one-of-a-kind luxury hospitality experiences.

Service Excellence: Ensure the fundamentals are in place for consistent and reliable service in accordance with our service standards.

Recruitment and Culture Building: Actively participate in recruitment to make the establishment the employer of choice in the region. Responsible for building a culture of trust, pride, and joy, resulting in strong employee advocacy and engagement. Mentor and coach team members.

Operational Excellence and Quality: Lead the hotel’s epicurean positioning. Develop a Food & Beverage experience commensurate with both hotel and local guest expectations in terms of quality, variety, seasonality, and profitability.

Guest Experience: Responsible for guest advocacy and engagement by being present and leading the culinary team to continuously bridge and mitigate defects through a lens of continuous improvement.

Experiences, Programming, and Partnerships: Support unique culinary experiences and programming through daily rituals, activities, amenities, product selection, partner alignment, and space activation.

Communications and Press: Ability to tell an inspiring and passionate culinary story to strengthen our media and communications strategy.

Financials: Responsible for managing the Food and Beverage Operating Budget. Develop the right labor models and controls to deliver on budgeted margins.

Owner Relations: Effectively support owner relationships on behalf of the establishment to ensure owners maintain trust and confidence in our stewardship of their asset.

Skills and Attributes

Ability to understand business issues and operations regarding revenue, costs, profit, guest, and service expectations. Relentlessly focused on our performance and results.

Ability to collaborate on budgets and P&L to build the business and improve YOY flow through margins.

Monitors financial performance and contribution to profitability while coaching Department Heads on how they may continue to refine and improve performance.

Executive Thinking

Ability to manage sizable teams and lead with influence.

Strong stakeholder influence skills at a senior level.

Relentless pursuit of excellence.

Pragmatic, “problem-solving” approach when dealing with challenges, coupled with the ability to evolve thinking.

Digitally savvy and comfortable with data – able to turn analysis into implementable action.

Highly organized and detail-oriented with an exemplary ability to make timely decisions.

Culture Leader

Builder of culture through motivation and inspiration.

Passionate about developing and mentoring culinarians in a high-pressure, fast-moving environment.

Displays phenomenal recruiting skills, including being active with recruitment efforts in colleges and technical schools.

Obsessive curiosity about food, wines, farm produce, slow food trends, wellness, nutrition, and culinary tastemakers to continually strengthen epicurean positioning.

Qualifications

Experience: 5+ years of work experience in a senior leadership role (Executive Chef, Executive Sous Chef, or Chef de Cuisine) in luxury hospitality.

Education: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent, ideally in Hotel Management, Kitchen Management, Business, or a combination. Fluency in English and French is required.

Conditions:

Schedule: Management status Salary: (70k gross annual remuneration including housing (house with 3 bedrooms) Days off: 2 consecutive days off

Start date: No later than mid-February 2024

If you are interested, please send us your complete application to rhearecrutement@gmail.com (with a cover letter, CV with profile photo, copy of references, and photo or insta pro book).