Executive Chef at Havn Club (San Diego)

Havn Club is a premium, private-chef style meal delivery service for high-performing professionals. We build chef-crafted, high-protein menus using premium ingredients and no seed oils, packaged in reusable glass with a concierge-style, text-based ordering experience. We’re not a traditional meal-prep outfit—we’re a modern, health-forward culinary brand with exacting standards and an elevated aesthetic.

• Creative freedom, weekly: You’ll lead a rotating menu with real R&D time—new sauces, marinades, and sides, refined for consistency at scale.

• Impact > tickets: This is a production kitchen, not late-night service. Focus on taste, systems, and quality—no FOH chaos.

• Premium canvas: High-quality proteins and produce, health-driven techniques (olive oil, avocado oil, ghee), and plating designed to look great on camera.

• Build something: Help shape SOPs, vendor standards, and kitchen culture as we scale output (500–1,000 meals per weekend) and expand to new hubs.

• Own weekend culinary operations: Lead a small team (prep cooks/runners) to execute the full cook-pack workflow on time and to spec.

• Menu & R&D: Design weekly, high-protein menus; iterate on marinades/sauces and sides that hold/reheat beautifully in glass.

• Standards & scaling: Write and enforce SOPs; convert recipes to grams; set yields, batch sizes, and QC checkpoints for 500–1,000 meals.

• Procurement & costing: Source premium ingredients, manage inventory and waste, and maintain target food costs without compromising quality.

• Plating & packaging: Train the team on consistent portioning, labeling, and visual standards for photography-ready presentation.

• Food safety & compliance: Maintain a spotless kitchen, temperature logs, and traceability throughout production.

• Team leadership: Schedule, train, and coach prep team; run efficient pre-shift briefings; debrief with actionable improvements.

• Experience: 5+ years in professional kitchens with 2+ years leading a station or team; fine dining required; catering/meal-prep experience preferred.

• Systems mindset: You love converting chef’s intuition into repeatable processes (gram weights, yields, cook curves, hold times).

• High-volume excellence: Proven ability to scale flavor and consistency across large batches under tight timelines.

• Health-forward craft: Fluency in high-protein, clean-ingredient cooking (no seed oils) with excellent seasoning and texture control.

• Leadership: Calm under pressure, clear communicator, respectful coach; you set the tone for pace, cleanliness, and pride in work.

• Food safety: ServSafe Manager (or ability to obtain quickly).

• Nice to have: Vendor network in San Diego; comfort with basic spreadsheets (for batch plans, costing, production timelines).

• In-person at our San Diego, CA kitchen.

• Core hours: Fridays ~2–8 PM for prep & staging; Saturdays ~9 AM–5 PM for full production and pack-out (hours may flex with demand).

• $35/hour, depending on experience.

• Significant growth in scope and hours as we scale output and expand to additional hubs. Clear path to Culinary Lead/Director for the right builder.