Head Chef

Job Description: Head Chef
Company: Savor Of Life Sdn Bhd
Position Title: Head Chef
Department: Culinary / Operations
Reports To: Operations Director / CEO
Location: Malaysia

Role Purpose
The Head Chef is responsible for leading the culinary vision, menu innovation, kitchen operations, food quality standards, and team development at Savor Of Life. This role ensures that all food produced reflects the brand’s commitment to delicious, nutritious, plant-based cuisine while supporting business growth across retail, events, catering, and product development channels.

Key Responsibilities
1. Culinary Leadership
* Lead the development of creative, high-quality plant-based menus aligned with Savor Of Life’s brand direction
* Standardize recipes for scalability across outlets, catering, and production environments
* Ensure consistency in taste, presentation, and portioning
* Translate brand positioning into strong culinary identity
2. Menu Innovation & Product Development
* Design seasonal menus and new product launches
* Support development of packaged food SKUs and ready-to-eat concepts
* Improve existing recipes for cost efficiency and scalability
* Collaborate with marketing on campaign-based menu launches
3. Kitchen Operations Management
* Oversee daily kitchen workflow and execution standards
* Implement SOPs for food preparation, storage, hygiene, and service
* Monitor food costing and control wastage
* Ensure compliance with food safety regulations (HACCP / local requirements)
4. Catering & Event Execution
* Lead menu planning for corporate catering and large-scale events
* Ensure production readiness for high-volume service
* Coordinate kitchen logistics with operations teams
* Maintain consistency across event deployments
5. Team Leadership & Training
* Recruit, train, and mentor kitchen staff
* Build second-line leadership within the kitchen team
* Conduct regular skill training and performance reviews
* Foster a culture of excellence, ownership, and teamwork
6. Cost Control & Procurement
* Manage ingredient sourcing strategies with purchasing team
* Optimize supplier selection based on quality and cost
* Maintain target food cost margins
* Track inventory planning for production efficiency
7. Brand Alignment & Quality Assurance
* Ensure all food reflects Savor Of Life’s plant-based health positioning
* Maintain presentation standards aligned with brand expectations
* Support customer feedback improvement cycles
* Participate in tasting panels and product validation

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
* Menu innovation pipeline delivery
* Food cost percentage performance
* Recipe standardization completion rate
* Catering execution quality score
* Kitchen team retention and capability development
* Customer satisfaction related to food quality
* Speed of new product rollout readiness

Qualifications & Experience
* Minimum 5–8 years of professional kitchen experience
* At least 2–3 years in a leadership role (Sous Chef / Head Chef level)
* Experience in plant-based cuisine preferred (or strong willingness to specialize)
* Experience supporting catering or high-volume production environments
* Strong understanding of food costing and kitchen systems

Skills & Competencies
* Culinary creativity and innovation mindset
* Strong operational discipline
* Leadership and people development capability
* High attention to detail and consistency
* Ability to scale recipes for production environments
* Cross-team collaboration with marketing and operations

Preferred Attributes
* Passion for plant-based nutrition and healthy living
* Experience supporting retail-ready product development
* Experience working with central kitchens or multi-outlet brands
* Familiarity with SOP documentation systems

Success Profile (What Great Looks Like)
Within the first 6 months, the Head Chef should:
* Standardize core recipes across the business
* Strengthen kitchen execution consistency
* Improve food cost control visibility
* Launch at least 2–3 new menu or product improvements
* Build a structured kitchen training system
Within 12 months, the Head Chef should:
* Establish a scalable culinary system for catering and retail expansion
* Develop a strong second-line kitchen leadership team
* Support launch readiness for new product channels
* Elevate Savor Of Life’s culinary reputation in the plant-based space

Working Relationships
Internal:
* Operations Team
* Marketing Team
* Supply Chain / Procurement
* Finance Team
External:
* Ingredient suppliers
* Event partners
* Production partners (if applicable)