Job Description - Executive Chef Asian Cuisine
Position title: Executive Chef - Asian Cuisine
Department: Culinary
Report to: Culinary Director
Location: Malpensa or Rome Fiumicino with frequent domestic transfers
CCNL: Air Transport - Catering Section
Level: C
Gross annual salary: €60,000 + 15% variable performance-related salary + €5,000 welfare package
Role and Mission: responsible within our Menu Design department (Culinary department) for interacting with executive chefs and guest experience departments of airlines to define the in-flight menus and to take care of the implementation in all airport kitchens of the correct execution of the menus agreed with customers, taking care of the correct and complete communication of the specifications of the dishes, selecting and training cooks in the field and controlling the quality of the products by means of sample meal tests.
Main responsibilities
1. Designing the Asian gastronomic offer
- Designing and structuring menus consistent with the requirements of client airlines, emphasising the variety of oriental cuisines (Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, etc.).
- Ensure compatibility of recipes with the technical constraints of airline catering (regeneration times, shelf life, nutritional balance).
- Collaborate with the sales department and product development department in the realisation of new gastronomic concepts.
2. Operational supervision of production
- Planning line production Asian.
- Check the correct application of technical data sheets by stopover kitchens.
3. Team management
- Directing, training and motivating staff dedicated to Asian cuisine (batch chefs, kitchen staff, assistant chefs, etc.).
- Assess employee performance, identify training needs and support growth internal.
4. Control quality and food safety.
- Ensuring compliance with HACCP regulations and company procedures for food safety and sanitisation.
- Doing regular internal audits of the department, implementing corrective actions in case of non compliance.
- Collaborate with the quality department in case of audits by customers or health authorities.
5. Raw material management and costs
- Define the quality standards of raw materials typical of Asian cuisine (e.g. seaweed, rice, spices, raw fish, fermented sauces).
- Monitor stock utilisation and work with the warehouse to minimise waste and breakage of stock.
- Calculate and optimise food costs, identifying areas for economic-productive improvement.
6. Customer relations and sales support
- Actively participate in tasting with the airlines, presenting the dishes and illustrating their cultural, technical and logistical coherence.
- Supporting the sales department in customising offers and handling customer-specific requests.
7. Standardisation and digitisation
- Ensuring the correct compilation and updating of recipe cards in the company ERP system.
- Promoting the use of digital production monitoring and quality control tools.
8. Innovation and benchmarking
- Monitor market trends and Asian cuisines, proposing new gastronomic solutions compatible with the industrial model.
- Participating in trade fairs, events or professional networks as a representative of in-house expertise on Asian cuisine.
Required skills
- In-depth knowledge of Asian cooking techniques and raw materials (e.g. sushi, wok, dim sum, curry, noodles, fermentations).
- Operational leadership, ability to form and lead multicultural teams.
- Organisational skills and attention to detail.
- Knowledge of food safety and hygiene regulations (HACCP).
- Excellent time management skills in high productivity environments.
- Basic knowledge of IT tools and management systems (ERP, recipe cards, food cost).
Minimum requirements
- Hotel diploma or equivalent training in the culinary field.
- At least 5 years' experience as a chef specialising in Asian cuisine, of which at least 2 years in a coordinating role.
- Proven experience as head chef in organised kitchen facilities (e.g. 5-star hotels, conference centres, cruise ships etc.) is required.
- Good knowledge of Italian and Chinese; English preferred.
Contact:
rosario.ambrosino@dnata.it
alberto.piloni@dnata.it
