Executive Chef - Waco

Waco, TX, USA|Travel, Onsite

Job Overview

Employment Type

Full-time

Compensation

Salary

Range $70,550.00 - $99,600.00

Work Schedule

Standard Hours

Flexible

Weekend Shifts

Benefits

Medical

Dental

Vision

short term disability

long term disability

Life insurance

403B retirement plan

telemedicine

Employee assistance program

Paid Time Off

Paid holidays

Outdoor seating area with garden view

On-site gym with shower

Job Description

Central Texas Food Bank (CTFB) is the largest hunger-relief organization in Central Texas and a proud member of the Feeding America network. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, CTFB serves a 21-county region with a dedicated mission to increase food access by providing nutritious food to individuals and families facing food insecurity. The organization goes beyond food distribution by leading hunger and poverty advocacy efforts and transforming lives through various programs, education, and innovative solutions. Through a combination of direct service programs and a network of approximately 250 nonprofit community partners, CTFB supports over 612,000 food-insecure individuals each year. With a collaborative and community-focused culture, CTFB upholds core values such as Service, Integrity, Dignity, Collaboration, and Innovation to create impactful and sustainable solutions to hunger in Central Texas.

This position is for an Executive Chef at the Central Texas Food Bank, specifically leading the launch and ongoing operations of a new commercial kitchen in Waco, which is scheduled to open in May 2026. As a newly created role, the Executive Chef will play a critical leadership role in building a culinary team from the ground up, training staff, and managing kitchen operations to support the food bank’s mission. The role involves developing and delivering a variety of kitchen programming, including core meal production for partner agencies, meals for existing food bank programs, summer meal initiatives, and medically tailored meals for clients who have specific dietary requirements.

In addition to culinary leadership, the Executive Chef will be responsible for overseeing food forecasting, standardizing production recipes to maintain consistency and ensure quality, establishing presentation and food quality standards, menu planning, and pricing. Maintaining proper operations and maintenance of kitchen equipment is also a key responsibility, alongside ensuring strict compliance with all safety, sanitation, and food handling standards required by local, state, and federal regulations. The position reports directly to the Chief Operating Officer and supervises the meal production team, which is anticipated to grow as operational needs expand.

Success in this role requires a high level of professionalism, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and the ability to collaborate effectively across various departments within the organization. The Executive Chef will serve as a highly visible leader who represents the food bank in professional interactions with chefs, restaurants, caterers, and food industry associations. The role offers an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the fight against hunger in Central Texas while working in a dynamic and mission-driven environment with a strong emphasis on teamwork and continuous improvement.

Job Requirements

Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts required
Minimum 4+ years of experience in managing a commercial kitchen, including supervising performance of kitchen staff
Food Manager’s Certification required
Demonstrated excellence in computer skills with proficiency in MS Office
Ability to work well with others across departments and job levels
Ability to remain highly organized while working on multiple projects
Excellent communications skills, both written and verbal
Ability to manage time efficiently and to work independently with minimum supervision
Ability to work cooperatively with other staff, volunteers, and agency personnel
Orientation to detail, accuracy, and the meeting of deadlines
Ability to represent the Food Bank in a courteous professional manner

Job Qualifications

Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts required
Bachelor’s degree in nutrition, public health or a related field preferred
Minimum 4+ years of experience in managing a commercial kitchen, including supervising performance of kitchen staff required
Food Manager’s Certification required
Demonstrated excellence in computer skills with proficiency in MS Office and the ability to move easily between programs
Ability to work well with others across departments and job levels
Ability to remain highly organized while working on multiple projects
Excellent communications skills, both written and verbal, including the ability for effective public speaking
Ability to manage time efficiently and to work independently with minimum supervision
Ability to work cooperatively with other staff, volunteers, and agency personnel
Orientation to detail, accuracy, and the meeting of deadlines
Ability to represent the Food Bank in a courteous professional manner

Job Duties

Lead menu-planning, working with network programs and clients services teams to procure and prepare food that meets program guidelines
Production of daily meals for clients following all USDA and Texas Department of Agriculture program guidelines for components, nutrition content and portion sizes
Organize, oversee and manage all food prep operations in daily operations
Order food based on food production schedules
Supervise regular inventory control of specific product lines, placing orders and supervising check-in to assure accuracy for production and culinary programs
Have knowledge of all current local health department, organizational HACCP and Food Safety SOP’s, State and Federal Guidelines
Maintain accurate files: meal production, programming, inventory and licenses/certification and other documentation as necessary, computer and hard copy
Work with kitchen and operations staff to maintain and repair kitchen facility and equipment, with operations scheduling repair services as needed
Ensure a clean, safe and organized work environment
Approve kitchen/program expenditures and be accountable for financials for all kitchen programs
Supervise and demonstrate professional culinary techniques and methods
Research and implement new food bank program initiatives related to the kitchen
Maintain and report all outcomes as required by grants and funders
Establish and maintain a working environment conducive to positive morale, individual style, quality, creativity and teamwork
Serve as the Food Bank’s primary liaison with chefs, restaurants, catering companies, and food associations as they pertain to the operation of the kitchen programs
Plan menus and oversee venue, equipment, food and service preparations
Oversee catering to include the review of catering orders, monitoring catering stock and supplies, ordering replenishments and negotiating prices
Develop a high-performance team culture focused on leadership and accountability at all levels, continuous learning, collaboration, measurement, and goal achievement by modeling the way and enabling others to act
Interview, hire, train, motivate, manage and evaluate kitchen staff
Set performance goals for team members that align to CTFB’s strategy and evaluate performance against goals on a regular basis
Effectively coach team members and provide supportive and developmental feedback to enhance performance
Actively supports organization’s values, goals and objectives by leading by example
Demonstrates support of organizational message without blaming other departments, leaders or providing personal opinions