Hotel Equities, a multi-award-winning hotel development and hospitality management company, is currently searching for a remarkable Executive Chef for the Delta Hotels Guelph Conference Centre in Guelph, ON.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

- Red Seal Certification in Cook/Culinary Trade is strongly preferred.

- Previous Executive Chef, Chef, or senior culinary leadership experience in a full-service hotel environment in Ontario.

- Proven experience managing hotel restaurants, banquet, catering, and high-volume culinary operations.

- Strong knowledge of Ontario food safety, sanitation, occupational health and safety, and applicable regulatory requirements.

- Demonstrated experience with food cost control, menu planning, purchasing, inventory management, labor management, and culinary budgeting.

- Strong leadership skills with the ability to recruit, train, coach, and develop culinary team members.

- Ability to maintain consistently high standards of food quality, presentation, service, and guest satisfaction.

- Versatile availability, including evenings, weekends, holidays, and peak business periods, based on operational requirements.

- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, high-volume hotel environment and respond to changing business demands.

- Strong communication, organization, problem-solving, and leadership skills.

- Ability to work collaboratively with Food & Beverage, Operations, Sales & Catering, and other hotel departments.

- Food Handler Certification and other applicable Ontario food-safety certifications are required.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Overall Culinary Operations

- Lead and oversee all culinary operations for the hotel, including restaurant, banquets, catering, room service/IRD

- Ensure consistent food quality, presentation, portion control and execution across all outlets.

- Establish and maintain culinary standards, recipes, preparation procedures and plating standards.

- Be hands-on and visible in the operation, particularly during peak periods and major events.

2. Banquet & Catering Operations

- Take overall culinary responsibility for all banquet and catering events.

- Work closely with Sales, Catering and Banquets to review BEOs, menus, guarantees and special requirements.

- Plan food production, staffing, timing and execution for weddings, conferences, meetings and other large functions.

- Ensure banquet food is delivered on time, at the correct temperature and according to contracted specifications.

- Develop and maintain banquet menus that are competitive, profitable and operationally practical.

- Control banquet food waste, overproduction and spoilage.

- Ensures KPI for Banquet Food Quality are met in line with Marriott benchmarks

3. Restaurant Operations

- Oversee daily restaurant kitchen operations and ensure consistent execution during breakfast, lunch and dinner.

- Develop seasonal and profitable menus in conjunction with the F&B;/Restaurant leadership.





- Monitor guest feedback, food quality and presentation and take corrective action.

- Ensure appropriate staffing and production levels based on forecasted covers and business levels.

4. Financial Management – Very Important

- Own the culinary department's food cost and kitchen labour performance.

- Develop and manage the annual culinary budget and forecasts.

- Establish food-cost targets and monitor actual results against budget.

- Review food cost, labour cost, waste, spoilage, portion control and purchasing variances.

- Implement corrective action when food or labour costs exceed budget.

- Identify opportunities to reduce costs without compromising guest experience or quality.

- Participate in menu engineering to maximize contribution margins.

5. Purchasing & Inventory

- Manage purchasing in line with Avendra for HE, receiving, storage and inventory controls.

- Work with approved vendors to obtain competitive pricing and consistent quality.

- Maintain appropriate par levels for restaurant and banquet operations.

- Conduct regular physical inventories and investigate significant variances.

- Minimize waste, spoilage, theft and unnecessary purchases.

- Ensure proper rotation and storage of all food products.

6. Labor Management

- Develop kitchen schedules based on occupancy, restaurant covers, banquet volume and forecasted business.

- Manage labor productivity and staffing levels against budget.

- Ensure appropriate staffing for large banquet events without excessive overtime.

- Recruit, train, coach and develop culinary employees.

- Cross train staff to improve flexibility and productivity.

- Conduct performance reviews and address performance issues promptly.

7. Food Safety & Ontario Compliance

- Ensure compliance with all applicable Ontario food safety, public health, workplace safety and sanitation requirements.

- Maintain proper food temperatures, storage, labelling and handling procedures.

- Ensure required food-handler/food-safety certifications are maintained.

- Maintain clean and sanitary kitchens, coolers, freezers, preparation areas and stewarding areas.

- Correct deficiencies identified through health inspections or internal audits.

8. Leadership & Team Development

- Lead, coach and develop the culinary leadership team, including Sous Chefs, Banquet Chef and line-level culinary staff.

- Establish clear performance expectations and hold team members accountable.

- Create a culture of teamwork, professionalism and accountability.

- Conduct regular kitchen meetings and training.





- Develop succession plans and internal culinary talent.

- Maintain strong communication collaboration with F&B;, Banquets, Sales, Engineering and the General Manager.

9. Guest Experience

- Personally monitor food quality and guest satisfaction.

- Respond to significant guest complaints relating to food quality or service.

- Review guest satisfaction and banquet/event feedback and implement improvements.

- Maintain consistent standards across both high-volume banquet production and à-la-carte restaurant service.

- Creates a culture of chefs coming out and speaking with guests

10. Menu Development

- Create and update restaurants, banquets and catering menus, being innovative.

- Ensure menus reflect market demand, seasonality and hotel positioning.

- Calculate recipe costs and selling margins.

- Standardize recipes and portion sizes, and establish pickup charts as needed.

- Introduce new products and concepts while maintaining financial discipline.

OTHER DUTIES

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOT DESIGNED TO COVER OR CONTAIN A COMPREHENSIVE LISTING OF ACTIVITIES, DUTIES OR RESPONSIBILITIES THAT ARE REQUIRED OF THE EMPLOYEE FOR THIS

Area

Key Accountability

Food Cost

Achieve budgeted food cost %

Kitchen Labor

Achieving budgeted labor cost and productivity

Banquets

Execute events according to BEO, timing and quality standards

Restaurant

Maintain food quality, consistency and guest satisfaction

Waste

Reduce food waste/spoilage and monitor waste logs

Inventory

Maintain accurate inventory and investigate variances

Purchasing

Buy within approved pricing/vendor programs

Guest Satisfaction

Improve food-related guest/banquet scores

Food Safety

100% compliance with required standards

Training

Maintain ongoing culinary and food-safety training

Budget

Meet or exceed departmental financial targets

DUTIES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND ACTIVITIES MAY CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE.

DESIRED SOFTWARE PROFICIENCIES: NONE

EDUCATION / EXPERIENCE:

- High school or equivalent education strongly preferred.

- 3 years of culinary management experience required.

- Catering experience in a managerial capacity required.

- Experience managing a kitchen, developing staff, and managing food costs required.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

- Ability to stand and maintain well-paced mobility for up to 4 hours.

- Ability to bend, stoop, squat, stretch, and lift to 50 lbs. regularly.

- Ability to lift and carry food items or trays weighing up to 30 lbs.

- Ability to push and pull carts and equipment weighing up to 250 lbs.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU:

- The salary range for this position will be $75,000 to $80,000.

- Health and dental insurance

- RRSP with company match

- Vacation and Sick Pay

- Paid Holidays

- Daily Pay

- Hotel Brand discounts
- Discount programs for shopping, travel, tickets and more.

- Access to our Talent team to help you reach your career growth goals.

📌 Executive Chef- Delta Guelph Conference Centre, Guelph, ON
🏢 Hotel Equities
📍 Guelph