Executive Chef

About Central Texas Food Bank
The Central Texas Food Bank (CTFB) is the largest hunger-relief organization in Central Texas and a proud member of the Feeding America network. From its headquarters in Austin, CTFB serves a 21-county region on a mission to increase food access by providing nutritious food, leading hunger, and poverty advocacy efforts, and transforming lives through 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 annually. We offer a collaborative and community-focused culture that values Service, Integrity, Dignity, Collaboration, and Innovation.

Position Overview 
This newly created role will lead the launch and ongoing operations of CTFB’s new Waco commercial kitchen, scheduled to open in May 2026. The Executive Chef will be responsible for building, training, and managing kitchen staff and overseeing all culinary operations. This includes developing and delivering kitchen programming such as core meal production for partner agencies, meals for existing food bank programs, summer meal initiatives, and medically tailored meals.

The Executive Chef will also manage food forecasting, standardize production recipes to ensure consistency and quality, establish presentation and quality standards, plan and price menus, and ensure proper operation and maintenance of all kitchen equipment. Compliance with all safety, sanitation, and food handling standards is a critical component of the role.

Relationships  
Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, this position oversees the performance of the meal production team, which will grow as operational needs expand. The Executive Chef is a highly visible leader within the organization and collaborates closely with teams across departments. Success in this role requires a high level of professionalism, strong interpersonal skills, and effective communication to support organizational goals.
Your 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

Your Responsibilities 

• 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 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) 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 (chemicals, food, etc.), 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 & 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
• As appropriate, 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. Ensure that team members develop the technical, leadership and professional skills necessary for success.
• 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.

Working Conditions
Hours of Operation: Generally, Monday – Friday 8:00 am- 5:00 pm, some evening and weekend hours may be required, especially during peak times, disaster response, or holidays
Environment: Working in a kitchen and fast paced environment
Travel: CTFB serves 21 counties in Central Texas and often requires same-day travel between counties, using a personal vehicle, CTFB passenger fleet and possibly occasional out of town travel for meetings, special events or meeting for some positions.

Tagged as: kitchen management, production cooking