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About the Role

The Director Culinary Operations is the senior culinary and production leader responsible for overseeing a high-volume, complex airline catering operation functioning as an industrial-scale food manufacturing production department. This role ensures the safe, compliant, efficient, and cost-effective production of high-quality meals across multiple airline customers, while leading teams, enforcing strict process controls, and driving continuous improvement through data, standardization, and advanced production techniques. The Director of Culinary Operations operates at the intersection of culinary excellence, industrial engineering, food safety, and operational leadership, ensuring all outputs meet regulatory requirements, airline specifications, and internal "gold standard" quality benchmarks.

Responsibilities

Consistently meets or exceeds regulatory and industry standards, including Health Department requirements, USDA and FDA regulations, as well as HACCP, GMP, and stringent airline-specific protocols.
Partners with QA Support teams in the design, execution, and continuous improvement of robust sanitation programs, ensuring that cleaning schedules, validation processes, and verification mechanisms are rigorously followed.
Places a strong focus on allergen management and the prevention of cross-contamination, safeguarding both product integrity and consumer well-being.
Ensures full traceability and control throughout the production lifecycle, embedding food safety and operational discipline into the DNA of the kitchen organization.
Operates as the senior production leader of a high-volume, industrialized food manufacturing environment.
Orchestrates complex, multi-line, multi-shift operations, ensuring that production flows seamlessly across kitchens and assembly lines.
Establishes and reinforces standardized processes, driving consistency and eliminating variability.
Is accountable for optimizing kitchen throughput, maximizing efficiency, and ensuring on-time and in-full delivery to assembly (i.e. Make & Pack) in a fast-paced and demanding operational environment.
Owns the end-to-end food production planning process, including the Master Production Schedule (MPS) for the kitchen and detailed production sequencing required to meet dynamic customer demand.
Leverages ERP and MRP systems to ensure accurate material planning, capacity alignment, and real-time execution tracking.
Implements structured process control mechanisms to reduce variability, enhance predictability, and improve overall system performance.
Collaborates closely with planning, procurement, and logistics functions to ensure a synchronized and efficient supply chain.
Implements Total Quality Management (TQM) principles across the entire food production and assembly operation.
Establishes and enforces "gold standard", recipe accuracy, specifications, and procedures that define excellence in product quality and consistency.
Ensures that every product meets rigorous standards before reaching the customer.
Places strong emphasis on portion control and uniformity.
Is fully accountable for operational performance, owning a comprehensive set of KPIs that reflect both efficiency and effectiveness.
Identifies trends, gaps, and improvement opportunities, driving both corrective and preventive actions.
Plays a key role in building a culture where decisions are grounded in data and performance management is embedded at every level of the operation.
Ensures strict adherence to FIFO principles, safeguarding product freshness while minimizing waste and obsolescence.
Actively monitors and manages key cost drivers, including food cost (COGS), waste levels, recipe yield accuracy and inventory variances, taking corrective action where necessary.
Fosters a high-performance culture characterized by accountability, discipline, and continuous improvement.
Is responsible for designing and implementing comprehensive training programs that reinforce food safety, process adherence, and operational excellence.
Invests in long-term capability building, developing future leaders and establishing robust succession pipelines to sustain organizational success.
Brings a strong understanding of modern food processing technologies and their application in a large-scale production environment.
Works closely with multiple stakeholders, including Supply Chain Planning, Buyers, Quality Assurance, Process Engineering, Maintenance, and Commercial teams.
Ensures alignment between production capabilities and customer requirements, navigating operational constraints while maintaining service excellence.
Drives strategic initiatives, innovation, and transformation efforts with corporate functions, contributing to the long-term success and competitiveness of the organization.

Requirements

Minimum 10+ years of hands-on leadership experience in large-scale food manufacturing/production environments (strongly preferred).
Minimum 10+ years of hands-on leadership experience in airline catering or high-volume institutional catering.
Proven experience as Production Manager/Culinary Operations Leader.
Experience implementing Lean food production/manufacturing and Continuous Improvement methodologies.
Demonstrated experience with ERP/MRP systems (MPS, production planning).
Employees at gategroup are expected to live our Values of Excellence, Integrity, Passion and Accountability.
Must be able to lift, push, pull and move product, equipment, supplies, etc., in excess of twenty-five (25) pounds.
Regularly, stands, bends, lifts, and moves intermittently during shifts of 10+ hours.
In a normal production kitchen facility there may be physical discomfort due to temperature and noise.

Skills

Deep knowledge of food safety systems (HACCP, GMP, FDA/USDA compliance).
Deep knowledge of industrial-scale food production processes.
Deep knowledge of production planning and scheduling.
Strong understanding of KPIs and operational financial drivers.
Strong understanding of inventory and cost control.
Hands-on capability with batch control, process standardization, and quality systems.
Strong understanding of modern food processing technologies (e.g., sous-vide, hot-fill processing, pasteurization, shelf-life extension techniques).

Location

Unit

Work Type

Full-Time
Exempt

Experience Level

10+ years

Education Level

Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Process Engineering, Food Engineering, or related field (preferred).
Culinary qualifications are a plus but not mandatory.

Salary/Compensations

150K - 160K Per Year

Benefits

Paid time off
401k, with company match
Company sponsored life insurance
Medical, dental, vision plans
Voluntary short-term/long-term disability insurance
Voluntary life, accident, and hospital plans
Employee Assistance Program
Employee Discounts
Weekly pay for union employees
Free hot healthy meals for unit operations roles

About the Company

We’re looking for motivated, engaged people to help make everyone’s journeys better.
gategroup is an equal opportunity employer committed to workforce diversity.
If you want to be part of a team that helps make travel and culinary memories, join us!

Equal Opportunity

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status or other category under applicable law.
For further information regarding Equal Employment Opportunity, copy and paste the following URL into your web browser: http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf