Executive Chef

Closing date: 2026-11-18 Hiring location: Mara Career level: Middle Qualification: Bachelor Degree Experience: 10 Years 8 Years Job Description Key Responsibilities • The Executive Chef reports into the Group Culinary Lead and the Property General Manager and is responsible for the full culinary operation at Grumeti — from kitchen leadership and food quality to community and succession impact. • Lead, mentor, and develop the Grumeti kitchen brigade, building a strong, capable team and a clear pathway and succession plan for local chefs to grow within it. • Design and deliver menus and food experiences across all Grumeti outlets that are honest to place — reflecting the Serengeti landscape, seasonality, and Tanzanian culinary tradition — while staying true to Singita's brand-wide food identity. • Continue and grow the Singita Community Culinary School (SCCS), ensuring a living succession pipeline of local culinary talent is trained, supported, and progressed into permanent roles. • Oversee day-to-day kitchen operations, including food safety, hygiene, quality control, and consistency across breakfast, lunch, dinner, bush dining, and special events. • Manage food cost, stock control, ordering, and supplier relationships, with a strong preference for local and community-based sourcing wherever possible. • Partner with the Group Culinary Lead, Lodge General Manager, and People team on recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and welfare of the kitchen team. • Support guest experience innovation where food is at play, working with the Group Culinary Lead and chefs’ team on new openings, seasonal menu changes, and special guest requests or events. • Maintain accurate kitchen records, food cost reporting, and other documentation required for group-level culinary reporting. • Uphold and represent Singita's five food principles— as the evaluating framework behind every food decision made in the kitchen. • Provide continuity of culinary leadership during the Group Culinary Lead's visits and absences, ensuring Grumeti's kitchen operations continue to run smoothly and to standard. • Act as the custodian of Grumeti's food identity, translating the group's culinary direction into menus and experiences that reflect this specific place, its landscape, and its people. • Support Grumeti's sustainability, employee wellness, and wellbeing initiatives, promoting participation and engagement across the kitchen team. • Encourage and support employee participation in community development and social impact initiatives, fostering a positive relationship between Grumeti and the surrounding communities. • Work closely with the Group Culinary Lead to ensure Grumeti's food offering stays aligned with brand-wide standards while remaining distinctly Grumeti. Skills & Experience • Minimum 8-10 years of progressive culinary experience, including at least 3-5 years in an Executive Chef or senior head chef role, ideally within luxury lodge, safari, or high-end hospitality settings. • Demonstrated experience training, mentoring, and developing local culinary talent, with a genuine commitment to succession and community upliftment. • Strong grounding in classical technique, comfortably married to seasonal, honest, ingredient-led cooking rather than imported or overly complex styles. • Experience managing kitchen budgets, food cost, stock control, and supplier/sourcing relationships, ideally including local and community-based sourcing. • Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and retain a strong, motivated kitchen team. • Menu development and creative direction experience, with the ability to design food journeys rather than standalone dishes. • Problem-solving and decision-making under the pressures of a remote, fast-paced hospitality environment. • Planning, time management, and meticulous attention to detail. • Adaptability, flexibility, and resilience — comfortable operating in a remote wilderness setting with the logistics that come with it. • Professionalism, integrity, and a collaborative, teamwork-first approach. • Proficiency with kitchen management and reporting systems, and comfortable contributing to group-level reporting. Skills required: Collaboration Skills; Communication Skills; Cooking Skills; Hospitality skills