Executive Chef

Richmond, VA | Up to $90,000 + Bonus + Relocation Assistance

The Opportunity

This role is for a chef who can do more than run a great service.

We’re conducting a confidential search for an experienced Executive Chef to lead culinary operations for an established and growing foodservice organization in the Richmond market.

This is a high-volume, scratch-production environment with multiple production and service channels. We need a hands-on culinary leader who understands how to take great food and build the people, recipes, systems, and standards that make it consistently great at scale.

If you’re equally comfortable developing a recipe, coaching a culinary team, reviewing food cost, and improving a production system, this is worth a conversation.

What You’ll Lead

• Provide hands-on culinary leadership across kitchen operations
• Establish and maintain recipe, quality, presentation, and production standards
• Lead menu and recipe development, testing, documentation, and execution
• Oversee high-volume scratch production, including meats, soups, sauces, dressings, and prepared foods
• Train, coach, and develop kitchen leaders and culinary team members
• Build scalable prep, production, and execution systems
• Maintain consistency across multiple production and service channels
• Monitor food cost, labor, waste, yields, and operating efficiencies
• Strengthen purchasing, inventory, and product-control procedures
• Maintain rigorous food safety, sanitation, and HACCP standards
• Partner on recruiting, staffing, leadership development, and succession planning
• Identify opportunities to improve quality, efficiency, and overall culinary performance

What We’re Looking For

• 7+ years of professional culinary experience
• 3+ years in an Executive Chef, Chef de Cuisine, Executive Sous Chef, or comparable culinary leadership position
• Strong scratch-cooking background
• Experience leading high-volume culinary production
• Background in restaurants, catering, hotels, clubs, commissaries, prepared foods, or similarly complex foodservice operations
• Strong culinary training and team-development skills
• Experience with recipe development and production standardization
• Solid understanding of food costing, purchasing, inventory, labor, waste, and yields
• Strong knowledge of food safety and HACCP
• ServSafe certification or ability to obtain certification quickly
• Stable career history with an interest in long-term growth
• Hands-on leadership style—you’re comfortable working alongside your team when the operation demands it

Compensation & Benefits

Base Salary: Up to $90,000, based on experience

Plus:

• Performance-based bonus opportunity
• Relocation assistance to Richmond, Virginia
• Health benefits package
• Retirement benefits
• Paid time off
• Long-term career growth opportunities
• Opportunity to directly influence culinary standards, systems, and future operations

Great Food Is the Starting Point. Consistency Is the Job.

At this level, knowing how to cook isn't enough.

We’re looking for a culinary leader who can take scratch cooking, high-volume production, food safety, cost control, and team development and turn them into systems that work every day.

If you’re a strong culinary operator who wants the opportunity to make a measurable impact—not simply maintain someone else's kitchen—we want to talk.

For immediate and confidential consideration, send your resume to:

Tom Bull

Gecko Hospitality

tombull@geckohospitality.com

This is a confidential search. Details regarding the hiring organization will be shared with qualified candidates during the interview process.

All resumes and inquiries will be handled with strict professional confidentiality.