Vice President of Culinary EAST - Compass Group, North America

CCL Hospitality Group




With people as our core and a deep commitment to exceptional hospitality, CCL Hospitality Group has a philosophy rooted in caring for the individuals who care for our guests. Our most significant competitive advantage is our team members. We constantly strive to strengthen our service culture. Every team member knows they matter and owns a stake in our success, delivering hospitality excellence.





With four distinct operating companies – Morrison Living, Unidine, Coreworks, and The Hub, we are shaping the industry’s future leaders with a culture of service focused on elevated hospitality for community living across the country. Join us and discover how we drive mutual success that leaves lasting impressions.





Division Vice President of Culinary Operations





Seeking a dynamic senior culinary leader who loves to inspire and mentor culinary leaders and hourly team members. This leadership role is responsible for delivering results through the effective leadership of and mentoring of two key culinary teams – direct-reporting regional Corporate Executive Chefs and indirect-reporting embedded System Chefs.


Join our elite team who specialize in changing the ‘old-school’ thinking about dining in a Senior Living or Behavioral Health community. Dining is one of the top two reasons a resident chooses to live in a community – and we are passionately focused on delivering exceptional meals and experiences which make that choice an easy one!


CCL Hospitality Group is the fastest growing, and largest national provider, of culinary services to a broad variety of exceptional clients. We go to market with specialized and unique brand offerings designed to fit each client and community’s diverse needs – from fine dining restaurants with extensive wine lists, to popular bistros, morning coffee shops and restaurants, to the compassionate care we offer with meals especially tailored for the medical needs of the healthcare areas of dining service.


We are a food and leadership focused team - creative about our entrepreneurial approach to delivering elevated dining services - if you want to ‘be the best part of someone’s day’ – keep reading!





Essential Functions and Key Tasks:


As a Divisional Vice President, Culinary, you will have overall accountability to meet and exceed culinary performance objectives and resident satisfaction targets within a multiple-state Divisional area(s). This is accomplished through an advanced skill set related to productive and positive interactions with clients, culinarians, operators and interconnected field support teams.





Driving all tactics and strategies to ensure the successful training and installment of our Executional Framework is one of the highest priorities of this role. This includes leading the rollout of training, ensuring consistent use of assessments, and driving improvement in community, district, system, regional and Division results. Our culinary team specializes in all parts of the Consumer Experience Delivered section – being the subject-matter-expert of the Culinary Excellence section and all other areas which have interconnectivity with culinary efforts. This includes focusing on implementing systems and behaviors that drive long-term success through the direct mentoring of your regional, system and community based culinary teams.





This position reports to the SVP, Chief Culinary Officer.





Key Tasks:



+ Directly manage regionally based team of multiple Corporate Executive Chefs. Indirectly manage system dedicated System Executive Chefs. Manage Division network of Regional Executive Chefs who are community based.


+ Develop and maintain performance-driven relationships with your direct and indirect reporting Corporate, System, and Regional Executive Chefs. Ensure high accountability through regular communication and follow-up to drive expected results in culinary excellence, food cost, waste reduction, safety and healthcare diet compliance. Ensure a consistent use of company tools.


+ Lead the Division’s culinary strategy stages including discovery, design and tactic development.


+ Inspire and motivate culinary, service, and leadership teams to identify opportunities for improvement and deliver exceptional dining experiences for residents, patients, guests, and clients. Influence culinary innovation roadmap in Division and nationally.


+ Mentor and develop talent throughout the organization, providing both remote and hands-on, shoulder-to-shoulder leadership. Lead the Division’s culinary talent strategy and planning initiatives. Critical activities include the training of your Corporate Executive Chef team as they recruit, interview, test, and onboard a deep talent pool of strong community-based culinarians. Lead Consumer Experience Training throughout the division.


+ Establish strong cross-functional leadership relationships with operations, field marketing, nutrition, finance, support, and resource teams to ensure effective communication and execution.


+ Actively participate in the development and delivery of Quarterly and Annual Business Reviews and other client business and social engagements as part of our team approach of effective relationship management. Train and mentor Corporate Executive and System Executive Chefs to be speaking experts at a variety of business meetings.


+ Maintain a record of culinary reports from Corporate and System Executive Chefs for assigned client communities, providing analysis of performance, talent observations, trends, growth opportunities, and areas of concern. Ensure collaboration with operations leaders to achieve the desired results.


+ Train and mentor team members to conduct effective community site visits, following a prescribed agenda, and the circulation of documented findings and next steps. Collaboration calls to review findings are essential for long-term impact and improvement.


+ We love growth and are proud of our high level of client retention. The Division Vice President of Culinary Operations is the leader within the Division to coordinate, train and deploy culinarians to support new business development efforts and the retention of current client partnerships. Leading new business opening planning and launch activities is critical to support our rapid growth rate. Managing turn-around improvement plans and activities are similarly critical to positive client loyalty.


+ Lead the team of Corporate and System Chefs in the regionalization and consistent use of menus that meet client budget and service expectations, leveraging the company’s expertise in supply chain, menu engineering, and special event design. Develop expert level proficiency in CCL Hospitality Group’s chosen menu technology and be able to train others to drive systematic use of its full functionality.


+ Lead the Division's culinary team in compliance with regulatory requirements, working closely with our regional and community Registered Dietitians. Ensure we are always ‘regulatory ready’ and maintain excellent scores.


+ Frequent high-visibility culinary showcase opportunities abound in this role – both require hands-on and remote coaching skills.


+ A culture of safety performance is a critical part of all roles at CCL Hospitality Group. Drive the Division’s safety strategy and execution – including report analysis, modeling a hands-on training approach, and holding everyone involved in our services to the effective and consistent use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).


+ Sustainability – drive the Division’s sustainability efforts. One key tool is our use of Compass Group’s Waste Not tools and strategy. For your Division, you will be the leader of its launch and sustainment. Effective implementation of all parts of the system and the achievement of annual target levels of waste reduction is a key area of this role’s variable compensation.


+ Perform additional activities and duties as needed to address evolving business priorities.






What it takes to drive your personal and professional success in this role:



+ Leadership and project management skills with the ability to motivate and hold self and others accountable for business results within the Division.


+ Excellent relationship building skills, verbal and written skills.


+ Creative problem solving and negotiating skills. Influencing skills are critical.


+ Impact and Influence; Emotional intelligence; Leadership presence


+ Financial acumen and strategic business thinking


+ Ability to manage all aspects of working independently without constant direct supervision.


+ Manage overhead budget in a fiscally responsible manner.


+ Can prioritize workload and meet deadlines for a variety of deliverables.






Education and Technical Experience:



+ 15+ years of full fiscal responsibility for culinary operations, including managing costs related to staffing, food production, and inventory management.


+ 5+ years managing multi-site, multi-state, complex culinary organizations.


+ Diverse culinary experience in fine dining, high-volume restaurants, offsite catering, resorts, and/or senior living communities has led to individuals being very successful in this role.


+ Experience in Senior Living or Continuing Care Retirement Communities is highly preferred.


+ Proficiency with menu management technology and proprietary systems. Expertise in MealSuite/dine.os technology is highly valued.


+ Advanced expertise in teaching and public speaking, including internal training, new business and client retention presentations.


+ ServSafe Manager Certification required.


+ Certified Executive Chef (CEC) preferred through ACF or ProChef certification Levels II or III.


+ Bachelor’s, or associate degree, in business or culinary arts preferred, with extensive professional experience considered in select cases.


+ High level of proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, CoPilot, Teams).



Work Environment:



+ Requires repetitive wrist motion and occasional lifting of weights greater than twenty-five pounds.


+ Active use of safety PPE and adherence to safety expectations.


+ Extensive travel (approximately 70 - 80% of the month) across multiple states, including frequent overnight stays, air travel, and driving.





Apply to CCL today!


CCL is a member of Compass Group USA


Click here to Learn More about the Compass Story (http://www.compass-usa.com/our-story/)





Associates at CCL are offered many fantastic benefits.






+ Medical


+ Dental


+ Vision


+ Life Insurance/ AD


+ Disability Insurance


+ Retirement Plan


+ Flexible Time Off


+ Holiday Time Off (varies by site/state)


+ Associate Shopping Program


+ Health and Wellness Programs


+ Discount Marketplace


+ Identity Theft Protection


+ Pet Insurance


+ Commuter Benefits


+ Employee Assistance Program


+ Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)



Associates may also be eligible for paid and/or unpaid time off benefits in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. For positions in Washington State, Maryland, or to be performed Remotely, click here (https://www.compass-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023_WageTransparency_CCL.pdf) for paid time off benefits information.


Compass Group is an equal opportunity employer. At Compass, we are committed to treating all Applicants and Associates fairly based on their abilities, achievements, and experience without regard to race, national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other classification protected by law.


Qualified candidates must be able to perform the essential functions of this position satisfactorily with or without a reasonable accommodation. Disclaimer: this job post is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all essential responsibilities, skills, tasks, or requirements associated with this position. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the position posted, the Company reserves the right to modify or change the essential functions of the job based on business necessity. We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with a criminal history (including relevant driving history), in a manner consistent with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the New York Fair Chance Act. We encourage applicants with a criminal history (and driving history) to apply.





Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.


CCL maintains a drug-free workplace.





Req ID: 1382327


CCL Hospitality Group


Nicholas Henderson


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