Executive Banquet Chef

POSITION PURPOSE

Accountable for the overall success of the daily culinary operations at the Westin Resort and Spa and the Cassara by Hilton. Exhibits culinary talents by personally performing tasks while leading the staff and managing all food related functions. Works to continually improve guest and employee satisfaction while maintaining the operating budget. Supervises all kitchen areas to ensure a consistent, high quality product is produced. Responsible for guiding and developing staff including direct reports. Must ensure sanitation and food standards are achieved.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Leading Culinary Team

• Utilizes interpersonal and communication skills to lead, influence, and encourage others; advocates sound financial/business decision making; demonstrates honesty/integrity; leads by example.
• Supervises and manages employees. Managing all day-to-day operations. Understanding employee positions well enough to perform duties in employees' absence.
• Encourages and builds mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
• Serves as a role model to demonstrate appropriate behaviors.
• Ensures and maintains the productivity level of employees.
• Solicits employee feedback, utilizes an "open door" policy and reviews employee satisfaction results to identify and address employee problems or concerns.
• Ensures employees understand expectations and parameters.
• Establishes and maintains open, collaborative relationships with employees and ensures employees do the same within the team.
• Celebrates successes by publicly recognizing the contributions of team members.
• Leads shifts while personally preparing food items and executing requests based on required specifications.
• Supervises and coordinates activities of cooks and workers engaged in food preparation.

Ensuring Culinary Standards and Responsibilities are Met

• Develops, designs, or creates new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
• Supervises kitchen shift operations and ensures compliance with all Food & Beverage policies, standards and procedures.
• Recognizes superior quality products, presentations and flavor.
• Ensures compliance with food handling and sanitation standards.
• Follows proper handling and right temperature of all food products.
• Ensures employees maintain required food handling and sanitation certifications.
• Maintains purchasing, receiving and food storage standards.
• Prepares and cooks foods of all types, either on a regular basis or for special guests or functions.
• Checks the quality of raw and cooked food products to ensure that standards are met.
• Assists in determining how food should be presented and creates decorative food displays.
• Administer, Monitor and Follow all of the Safety and Sanitation Guidelines set forth by the CDC and GPR including but not limited to all of the COVID-19 State and County ordinances

Ensuring Exceptional Customer Service

• Provides services that are above and beyond for customer satisfaction and retention.
• Manages day-to-day operations, ensures the quality, standards and meeting the expectations of the customers on a daily basis.
• Improves service by communicating and assists individuals to understand guest needs, providing guidance, feedback, and individual coaching when needed.
• Observes service behaviors of employees and provides feedback to individuals.
• Strives to improve service performance.
• Emphasizes guest satisfaction during all departmental meetings and focuses on continuous improvement.
• Empowers employees to provide excellent customer service.
• Sets a positive example for guest relations.

Maintaining Culinary Goals

• Achieves and exceeds goals including performance goals, budget goals, team goals, etc.
• Develops specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
• Understands the impact of departments operation on the overall property financial goals and objectives and manages to achieve or exceed budgeted goals.
• Trains employees in safety procedures.

Managing and Conducting Human Resource Activities

• Identifies the developmental needs of others and coaches, mentors, or otherwise helps others to improve their knowledge or skills.
• Identifies the educational needs of others, develops formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaches or instructs others.
• Manages payroll administration, including tracking of employee time and attendance.
• Brings issues to the attention of the department manager and Human Resources as necessary.
• Effectively creates weekly schedule to meet business demands.
• Reviews staffing levels to ensure that guest service, operational needs and financial objectives are met.
• Participates in employee disciplinary action procedures.
• Manages employee performance appraisal process, providing feedback as needed.
• Participates in the development and implementation of corrective action plans.

Other:

Regular attendance in conformance with the standards, which may be established from time to time, is essential to the successful performance of this position. Employees with irregular attendance will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

Due to the cyclical nature of the hospitality industry, employees may be required to work varying schedules to reflect the business needs of the hotel. In addition, attendance at all scheduled training sessions and meetings is required.

Upon employment, all employees are required to fully comply with Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa rules and regulations for the safe and effective operation of the hotels facilities. Employees who violate hotel rules and regulations will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

SUPPORTIVE FUNCTIONS

In addition to performance of the essential functions, this position may be required to perform a combination of the following supportive functions, with the percentage of time performing each function to be solely determined by the manager based upon the particular requirements of the hotel:

• Provides information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Analyzes information and evaluates results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Attends and participates in all pertinent meetings.

SPECIFIC JOB KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• The individual must possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities and be able to explain and demonstrate that he or she can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, using some other combination of knowledge, skills, and abilities:

• Must be able to speak, read, write and understand the primary language(s) used in the workplace.

• Must be able to read and write to facilitate the communication process.

• Requires good communication skills, both verbal and written.

• Most tasks are performed in a team environment with the associate acting as a team leader. There is minimal direct supervision.

• Must possess basic computer skills and computational ability.

• Knowledge of computer accounting programs, math skills as well as budgetary analysis capabilities required.

• Extensive knowledge of menu development, insight into marketing, cost and wage control.

• Ability to lead and perform in a fast paced work environment and high pressure situations.

• Ability to work long hours in a high stress work environment.

• Thorough knowledge of food products, standard recipes and proper preparation.

• Ability to analyze, forecast data, and make judgments to ensure proper payroll and production control.

• Ability to supervise large staff and accomplish goals on a timely basis.

• Ability to conduct meetings, menu briefings and effectively communicate with supervisors and team members both in culinary and exterior departments of the hotel (F&B Outlets Management team, Stewarding).

• Ability to create and lead in a team orientated environment.

• Ability to effectively deal with internal and external customers some of whom will require high levels of patience, tact and diplomacy and collect accurate information to resolve conflicts.

• Ability to create recipes and support material, i.e., recipe cards, descriptions, and pictures, and to read and visualize same.

• Thorough knowledge of federal, state and local laws governing equal employment opportunity and civil rights, occupational safety and health, wage and hour issues, and labor relations, including, but not limited to the following statutes and their state and local analogues (where applicable): Title VII, ADEA, Equal Pay Act, Pregnancy Discrimination Act, FLSA, ADA, OSHA, FMLA, and NLRA.

Physical Demands

• Most work tasks are performed indoors. Temperature generally is moderate and controlled by resort environmental systems; however, must be able to work in extreme temperatures like freezers (-10°F) and kitchens (+110°F), possibly for one hour or more.
• Must be able to sit at a desk for up to 5 hours per day. Walking and standing are required the rest of the working day. Length of time of these tasks may vary from day to day and task to task.
• Ability to physically handle knives, pots, mirrors, or other display items as well as grasp, lift and carry same from shelves and otherwise transport up to 50 pounds to every area of the kitchen. Ability to perform cutting skills on work surfaces, topped with cutting boards, 3 to 4 feet in height (banquet kitchen, prep kitchen, bake shop, etc.). Proper usage and handling of various kitchen machinery to include slicers, buffalo chopper, grinders, mixers, and other kitchen related equipment.
• Ability to physically self-demonstrate culinary techniques, i.e., cutting, cooking principles, plate presentation, safety and sanitation practices.
• Ability to create, build, handle, and dismantle displays up to 8 feet high, including ice carvings.
• The worker is subject to noise. There is sufficient noise to cause the worker to shout in order to be heard above the ambient noise level.
• Must be able to exert well-paced ability in limited space and to reach other departments of the resort on a timely basis.
• Must be able to lift up to 30 lbs. on a regular and continuing basis.
• Must be able to push and pull carts and equipment weighing up to 250 lbs. occasionally.
• Must be able to bend, stoop, squat and stretch to fulfill cleaning tasks occasionally.
• Requires grasping, writing, standing, sitting, walking, repetitive motions, bending, climbing, listening and hearing ability and visual acuity.
• Talking and hearing occur continuously in the process of communicating with guests, supervisors and subordinates.
• Vision occurs continuously with the most common visual functions being those of near and color vision and depth perception.
• Requires manual and finger dexterity to use and operate all necessary equipment as computers, printers, 10-key adding machine, electric typewriter, multi-line touch tone phone, filing cabinets, FAX machines, photocopiers, dolly and other office equipment as needed.

Education

• High school or equivalent education required.
• Culinary or Apprenticeship Program preferred.

Experience

• Minimum of two years' experience as a Executive Chef in a similar size operation.
• Prior supervisory experience required.
• Previous hospitality experience preferred.

Licenses or Certificates

• Ability to obtain and/or maintain any government required licenses, certificates or permits.
• Must have valid Food Handler's Card.

Attendance:

Regular attendance in conformance with the standards, which may be established by Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa from time to time, is essential to the successful performance of this position. Employees with irregular attendance / tardiness will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Upon employment, all employees are required to fully comply with Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa rules and regulations will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

This job description is not an exclusive or exhaustive list of all job functions that an employee in this position may be asked to perform from time to time.

Ownership:

This job opportunity for employment is being made available by Grand Pacific Hotel Services, L.P., the owner and the employer of all associates working at Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa. Marriott International is not the owner or operator of Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa. Marriott International is not the direct or indirect employer or joint employer of any associates working at Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa. Marriott International does not control, govern or regulate any aspect of recruitment or employment at Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa. Marriott International is not responsible for any aspect of your application, candidacy, or employment at the resort, nor shall Marriott International be liable for the data collection, use and privacy practices of the Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa's owner or operator.