Executive Chef

Joseph's Classic Market is a well-established food retailer renowned for its commitment to fresh, made-from-scratch prepared foods crafted with care every day. As a company that values quality, tradition, and excellence, Joseph's Classic Market has earned a strong reputation for delivering delicious meals across various formats such as hot bars, grab-and-go selections, catering services, and seasonal menus. The market thrives on offering its patrons not just food but an experience that combines culinary artistry with outstanding customer service. Employees here are part of a passionate team dedicated to maintaining high standards and fostering a welcoming, community-focused atmosphere. This is a dynamic and fast-paced environment that encourages growth, learning, and internal leadership development, especially within its culinary ranks. They believe in investing in their employees and providing opportunities to build meaningful careers within the food service industry. The employment type for the Executive Chef position is full-time, embracing an environment that values leadership, creativity, and operational excellence in the kitchen.

The role of Executive Chef at Joseph's Classic Market is a pivotal position responsible for overseeing the entirety of the prepared foods operation. This includes supervising production across all areas such as hot bar items, grab-and-go meals, soups, salads, entrées, and catering orders. The Executive Chef ensures that all food is prepared consistently and according to precise recipes that uphold the company's quality standards. They play an instrumental role in scheduling production to align with sales forecasts and peak traffic periods, managing special menus for holidays and events, and orchestrating a seamless culinary experience from prep to plating.

Beyond food preparation, the Executive Chef embodies the critical role of enforcing stringent food safety and sanitation standards. They oversee compliance with protocols such as ServSafe, HACCP, and conduct regular documentation of temperature logs and cooling procedures. Maintaining clean and organized workstations and storage areas, managing weekly deep-cleaning schedules, and preparing for internal and external audits are all part of ensuring a safe and hygienic kitchen environment.

Cost control and inventory management are also integral responsibilities of the Executive Chef. This includes ordering ingredients through approved vendors, maintaining organized inventory systems for dry and fresh goods, minimizing waste through strategic prep and repurposing plans, and managing food cost targets alongside labor productivity. Additionally, the Executive Chef coordinates closely with front-end teams especially around catering supply inventories to ensure operational fluidity.

A key aspect of the leadership role involves hiring, training, and guiding a diverse team that includes cooks, prep staff, and kitchen porters. The Executive Chef fosters a culture of accountability, teamwork, and pride within the culinary department, conducting daily pre-shift huddles, providing ongoing coaching, professional development, and managing attendance and performance with structured corrective actions when necessary.

Customer service extends into this role through the oversight of catering order production and packaging to ensure accuracy, timely readiness, and top-notch presentation. Handling last-minute changes in catering demands with professionalism and supporting the customer service team with product knowledge and collaboration underscore the Executive Chef's contribution to the guest experience.

Communication and reporting form a vital part of the job, with responsibilities including submitting detailed weekly reports on production, waste, and labor to the Store Manager. Active participation in department head meetings and seasonal menu planning fosters teamwork across culinary and retail departments such as deli, bakery, meat, and grocery. The Executive Chef also develops training materials and guides for new team members to ensure consistency and quality throughout the kitchen.

This leadership opportunity offers a chance to grow within the company while sharpening skills in food cost control, labor management, production planning, and multi-department collaboration. With a focus on creativity and operational discipline, the Executive Chef helps shape the future of Joseph's Classic Market’s culinary offerings and upholds the brand’s dedication to freshness and customer satisfaction. This is a full-time position offering competitive pay along with comprehensive benefits, making it an excellent career path for motivated culinary professionals passionate about both food and leadership.