Vice President, Culinary Excellence & Operations

The Vice President, Culinary Excellence & Operations is responsible for ensuring Tatte consistently delivers the brand promise and translates culinary innovation into flawless, scalable execution across all kitchens. This role is accountable for turning strategy into execution by building and leading the systems, standards, and capabilities that drive consistent culinary performance across café, catering, and commissary environments. Partnering closely with Innovation and L&D, this leader ensures every menu item, method, certification, and standard is operationalized and executed with precision in the field. The VP owns culinary standards enforcement and validation across all markets, reinforcing a disciplined approach to quality, food safety, and operational excellence. They build and lead a high-performing Culinary Services organization, developing leaders and scalable capabilities that improve execution consistency, strengthen café performance, and drive measurable outcomes in quality, cost control, and guest experience.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Culinary Operations Strategy & Capability

• Lead the Culinary Services organization across all markets and production environments.
• Work closely with RVP’s, Ops Service Leader, Regional Culinary Leader to achieve Tatte Excellence.
• Build the systems, tools, and structures that enable every kitchen to execute to standard.
• Partner with L&D to operationalize culinary certifications and training programs.
• Ensure kitchens have the people, process, and infrastructure needed to deliver consistent results.

Executional Readiness & Standardization

• Ensure operational readiness for all menu rollouts & product introductions developed by the Innovation Team.
• Partner with Operations and L&D to drive café-level adoption of culinary standards and methods.
• Monitor café and commissary execution through regular audits, coaching, and data-driven insights.

Talent Development & Leadership

• Build, lead, and mentor Regional Directors, Regional Managers, and Culinary Leaders across all markets.
• Partner with L&D on the design and implementation of career pathways for culinary team members.
• Foster a culture of accountability, mentorship, and continuous learning.

Food Safety, QA, and Compliance

• Serve as the executive sponsor for all food safety and sanitation programs.
• Partner with QA and Compliance to ensure 100% adherence to safety standards and audit protocols.
• Drive continuous improvement based on audit data, incident trends, and corrective action plans.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Collaboration

• Partner with Innovation, Ops, Ops Services, Sourcing, & L&D to deliver seamless execution across functions.
• Support NCOs and new market growth through culinary planning, readiness, and capability building.
• Translate strategy into measurable systems that improve cost control, waste reduction, and labor efficiency.

Budgeting, Metrics, and Performance Management

• Develop & manage the Culinary Services budget in partnership with Finance signed off on by COO.
• Define & track KPIs including execution quality, COGS, waste, certification adherence, & safety audit results.
• Use data and field feedback to drive continuous improvement initiatives.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Required:

• 12–15 years of progressive culinary or operations leadership, including multi-market or multi-unit oversight.
• Experience leading kitchen operations and team development in hospitality or restaurant environments.
• Strong understanding of food safety, QA, and kitchen productivity systems.
• Proven ability to scale people capability and operational consistency across a distributed footprint.
• Financial acumen (COGS, labor, waste) and data-driven decision-making.
• Experience leading operational transformation or system standardization at scale

Preferred:

• Culinary degree or equivalent executive culinary experience.
• Experience integrating L&D and operational systems for large-scale teams.
• Exposure to commissary and catering operations.

OUR BENEFITS & PERKS:

• Competitive pay - ranging from $185,000-$215,000 (depending on experience), and bonus potential of up to 30%
• 401(k) (with a vesting match)
• Health, dental and vision insurance
• Paid vacation time and paid sick time
• Free employee assistance program services
• Free drinks and generously discounted meals

Tatte is an E-Verify employer.