Executive Chef Resume Example
An executive chef resume that states the brigade led, the budget owned across outlets, and the food cost cut this year.
Priya Raghavan
Executive Chef · Multi-Outlet Kitchen Leadership
Tucson, AZ · (520) 555-0198 · p.raghavan@email.com · linkedin.com/in/priyaraghavan
Profile
Executive chef with 16 years leading kitchens, now running a 40-person brigade across three outlets on a $3.2M food and labor budget. Cut food cost by 4 points and built a bench that fills every sous chef opening internally.
Leadership Experience
Executive Chef
2019 – Present
Sonoran Hospitality Group, Tucson, AZ
- Lead a 40-person kitchen brigade across three outlets, owning a $3.2M annual food and labor budget.
- Cut food cost from 32% to 28% in 18 months by rebuilding purchasing specs and portioning.
- Redesigned menus twice a year around seasonal sourcing, lifting average check by 11%.
- Promoted five line cooks to sous chef and built the kitchen's first structured training program.
- Manage health department relationships directly, holding clean inspections across all three outlets.
Executive Sous Chef
2014 – 2019
Harbor Street Kitchen, Tucson, AZ
- Ran daily kitchen operations for a 220-seat restaurant, supervising 18 cooks across two shifts.
- Built prep and ordering systems that cut weekly food waste by 22%.
- Standardized recipe cards and plating photos for 60 menu items to keep consistency across shifts.
- Stepped in as executive chef for six months during a leadership transition with no service disruption.
Sous Chef
2010 – 2014
The Elm Room, Tucson, AZ
- Managed the pass and station assignments for a 12-cook line during nightly dinner service.
- Ran weekly inventory counts and vendor ordering for a $60K monthly food budget.
Core Skills
Menu development
P&L management
Team leadership
Vendor negotiation
Food cost control
Staff training
Health compliance
Systems
Inventory management softwarePOS reporting toolsScheduling softwareRecipe costing spreadsheets
Certifications
ServSafe Manager Certification
National Restaurant Association
Certified Executive Chef (CEC)
American Culinary Federation
Education
A.A.S. in Culinary Arts
2010
Scottsdale Community College
The person, employers and dates are invented; the duties, tools and credentials are the ones this job really asks for.
20terms employers filter on
- Menu development
- Food cost control
- Vendor negotiation
- Team leadership
- Food safety
- Inventory and ordering
- Recipe costing
- Labor scheduling
- Purchasing
- Sanitation
- Documentation
- Scheduling
- Team Collaboration
- Training
- Time Management
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Reporting
- Attention to Detail
- Reliability
What holds up
- 01 / 05Outlets and volume.Covers per service and outlets run beat any adjective.
- 02 / 05Food-safety credential dated.Handler or manager card with year.
- 03 / 05Cost discipline.Food cost held to target is a chef’s claim; make it with a number.
- 04 / 05Prep and pars ownership.Opening a station ready is the daily test of the job.
- 05 / 05Kitchens named honestly.The reader knows the local rooms; accuracy builds trust.
What does not
- 01 / 05"Passion for food" as the lead.Every cover letter says it; ticket times persuade.
- 02 / 05Menus you plated but did not build.Claim the station, not the chef’s menu.
- 03 / 05Hiding short stints.Kitchen tenure runs short everywhere; gaps read worse than moves.
- 04 / 05Culinary school over line years.After the first job, the line record leads.
- 05 / 05Ignoring sanitation.Health-inspection readiness is management material.
FAQ
Questions about this executive chef resume example
Short answers to what people ask before they send this resume.
Use this exampleIs two pages acceptable?
Yes, and at this level often expected. What is not acceptable is a second page of duties rather than outcomes.
How far back should the history go?
Roughly fifteen years in detail; older roles compress to a line each. The early history establishes trajectory, not capability.
Should I include a summary?
Yes. At this level a reader wants scope — team size, budget, region — in the first three lines, before deciding whether to keep reading.