Banquet Head Chef

Description

Job Title: Banquet Head Chef
Location: José Andrés Group at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach – Miami Beach, FL
Reports To: Executive Chef / Executive Culinary Leadership
Department: Culinary – Banquets & Events
Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt
Salary Range: $115,000–$120,000 per year + Bonus + Benefits

About José Andrés Group & The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach

José Andrés Group (JAG), led by Chef José Andrés, is known for creating exceptional dining experiences through culinary innovation, outstanding hospitality, and a values-driven culture.

At The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach, José Andrés Group brings its culinary vision to one of Miami Beach's premier luxury destinations. The property offers an extensive collection of indoor and outdoor event spaces for weddings, corporate gatherings, social celebrations, receptions, conferences, and large-scale events.

The Banquets Culinary team plays an essential role in bringing these experiences to life, combining the culinary creativity and standards of José Andrés Group with the precision, personalization, and service expected within a luxury hotel environment.

Position Summary

The Banquet Head Chef is the senior culinary leader responsible for overseeing all banquet and event culinary operations for José Andrés Group at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach.

This highly organized, hands-on leadership position owns the complete culinary execution of events—from menu development, tastings, BEO review, purchasing, production planning, staffing, and cost management through final plating and service.

Working closely with Executive Culinary Leadership, Banquet Operations, Event Sales, and hotel partners, the Banquet Head Chef ensures every event is executed with exceptional quality, consistency, presentation, and attention to detail while achieving established food cost, labor, sanitation, and operational goals.

The ideal candidate brings significant luxury hotel, banquet, catering, or large-scale event experience and is equally comfortable developing a team, leading a client tasting, planning production for a 1,000+ guest event, managing financial performance, and being hands-on in the kitchen during execution.

Key Responsibilities

Banquet Culinary Leadership

• Lead all culinary operations for banquets, weddings, corporate functions, receptions, meetings, social celebrations, and special events.
• Maintain overall responsibility for culinary preparation, production, presentation, and execution of assigned events.
• Ensure every event reflects JAG culinary standards and the expectations of a luxury hospitality environment.
• Maintain an active and visible leadership presence during production and major events.
• Oversee simultaneous events of varying sizes, service styles, and culinary requirements.
• Establish clear standards for food quality, flavor, temperature, portioning, presentation, and consistency.
• Anticipate operational challenges and proactively develop solutions.
• Serve as the primary culinary leader for banquet and event operations.

BEO & Event Planning

• Review all upcoming Banquet Event Orders (BEOs) to understand menus, guest counts, service styles, timelines, dietary requirements, and special requests.
• Participate actively in BEO, event-planning, and operational meetings.
• Translate BEO requirements into detailed production plans, prep lists, staffing plans, and timelines.
• Identify equipment, product, labor, and production requirements well in advance of each event.
• Review changes to BEOs and ensure updated information is communicated accurately to the culinary team.
• Partner with Event Sales and Banquet Operations to evaluate customized culinary requests.
• Ensure allergies, dietary restrictions, VIP requirements, and special requests are clearly documented and executed.
• Coordinate culinary timelines with Banquet Operations to ensure proper service pacing.

Culinary Production & Execution

• Oversee production for plated dinners, buffets, receptions, passed hors d'oeuvres, chef-attended stations, breakfasts, lunches, breaks, and customized event experiences.
• Establish daily and weekly production schedules based on event forecasts.
• Ensure appropriate pars, mise en place, and production quantities based on guaranteed guest counts.
• Monitor food throughout preparation, cooking, holding, transportation, plating, and service.
• Ensure food maintains appropriate temperature, texture, flavor, and presentation throughout event execution.
• Oversee large-volume plating to ensure consistency across every guest experience.
• Maintain organized production, staging, refrigeration, and banquet kitchen areas.
• Ensure events are prepared and executed according to established timelines.

Menu Development & Tastings

• Partner with Executive Culinary Leadership on banquet menus, seasonal offerings, and customized culinary experiences.
• Support menu development that reflects the culinary identity and standards of José Andrés Group.
• Lead client tastings for weddings, VIP events, corporate programs, and other significant business.
• Partner with Event Sales to develop customized menus and creative culinary solutions.
• Evaluate menu items for quality, scalability, operational feasibility, and profitability.
• Maintain accurate recipes, specifications, portion standards, and plating guides.
• Balance creativity and innovation with the ability to execute consistently at scale.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, train, and develop Banquet Sous Chefs, culinary supervisors, cooks, and supporting culinary team members.
• Recruit and onboard culinary talent in partnership with JAG People & Culture and Culinary Leadership.
• Establish clear expectations for performance, professionalism, quality, sanitation, and accountability.
• Delegate production and event responsibilities effectively based on team experience and business needs.
• Conduct culinary briefings and communicate event priorities clearly.
• Provide regular coaching, feedback, recognition, and development opportunities.
• Identify high-potential team members and support internal growth and advancement.
• Foster a positive, respectful, inclusive, and high-performing kitchen culture.
• Lead by example with professionalism, humility, urgency, and attention to detail.

Labor & Staffing

• Develop culinary staffing plans based on event volume, complexity, and forecasted business.
• Build and maintain schedules that support business needs while achieving established labor goals.
• Monitor daily labor, overtime, and productivity.
• Adjust staffing and deployment based on changes in guest counts, timelines, and event requirements.
• Ensure appropriate culinary coverage for simultaneous events and production periods.
• Partner with People & Culture on recruitment, retention, performance management, and team development.

Financial Performance, Food Cost & Inventory

• Take ownership of banquet food cost, purchasing, inventory, yields, portion control, and waste.
• Forecast product requirements based on BEOs and guaranteed guest counts.
• Maintain appropriate inventory and pars based on upcoming business.
• Monitor purchasing, product usage, production quantities, overproduction, and waste.
• Identify opportunities to improve profitability and operational efficiency without compromising quality.
• Maintain accurate recipes, yields, portions, and production standards.
• Protect high-value products through appropriate inventory controls and handling.
• Partner with Receiving and Purchasing to ensure products meet established quality and specification standards.
• Participate in inventories, budgeting, forecasting, and financial reviews as required.

Food Safety, Sanitation & Compliance

• Maintain exceptional standards of cleanliness, sanitation, organization, and food safety throughout banquet culinary operations.
• Ensure compliance with applicable Florida and local health requirements, JAG standards, and property food-safety procedures.
• Maintain proper temperature control throughout preparation, holding, transportation, and service.
• Ensure proper cooling, labeling, dating, storage, and product-rotation procedures.
• Maintain strict allergen and cross-contact protocols.
• Ensure culinary team members receive appropriate food-safety training.
• Maintain equipment and work areas in safe, sanitary, and service-ready condition.
• Maintain inspection readiness at all times.

Luxury Guest & Client Experience

• Understand and deliver against the elevated expectations associated with luxury hotel events.
• Lead client tastings and participate in culinary planning meetings when appropriate.
• Develop creative solutions for customized culinary requests while protecting quality and operational execution.
• Maintain discretion and professionalism when supporting VIP, celebrity, high-profile, and luxury clientele.
• Respond quickly and thoughtfully to culinary feedback or concerns.
• Partner with Event Sales and Banquet Operations to create memorable and personalized culinary experiences.

Collaboration & Hotel Partnership

• Build strong working relationships between José Andrés Group and The Ritz-Carlton hotel teams.
• Partner closely with Banquet Operations, Event Sales, Stewarding, Receiving, Purchasing, Engineering, and other departments.
• Maintain clear communication regarding menus, timelines, guest counts, dietary needs, staffing, and operational changes.
• Participate in BEO meetings, tastings, leadership meetings, and post-event reviews.
• Support a seamless transition between sales, planning, culinary production, and event execution.
• Represent José Andrés Group professionally in all interactions with hotel partners, clients, vendors, and guests.

Requirements

What We're Looking For

• 7+ years of progressive professional culinary experience, with significant leadership responsibility.
• 3+ years in Banquet Chef, Head Chef, Chef de Cuisine, Executive Sous Chef, or comparable senior culinary leadership capacity preferred.
• Luxury hotel, high-end catering, large-scale banquet, or high-volume event culinary experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience successfully executing large-format events of several hundred to 1,000+ guests.
• Extensive experience reading, planning, and executing from BEOs.
• Experience with plated events, luxury weddings, buffets, receptions, action stations, corporate meetings, and customized culinary experiences.
• Strong culinary fundamentals and sophisticated understanding of production at scale.
• Proven ability to lead and develop Sous Chefs and large hourly culinary teams.
• Strong financial acumen, including food cost, labor, purchasing, inventory, yields, portion control, and waste management.
• Experience developing production plans and staffing strategies based on forecasted event volume.
• Exceptional organization, planning, communication, and time-management skills.
• Ability to remain composed, decisive, and solution-oriented during high-volume and high-profile events.
• Exceptional attention to detail and presentation.
• Strong food-safety, sanitation, and allergen knowledge.
• Positive, collaborative, and hands-on leadership style.
• Culinary degree or equivalent professional experience preferred.
• Appropriate Florida food-safety certification or ability to obtain required certification.
• Flexible availability including early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and extended hours based on event schedules.

Success in This Role

Success as Banquet Head Chef will be demonstrated through:

• Exceptional and consistent culinary execution across events of varying size and complexity.
• Accurate execution of BEOs, menus, timelines, dietary requirements, and guaranteed guest counts.
• Strong client and guest satisfaction with culinary experiences.
• Achievement of food cost, labor, productivity, and waste-management goals.
• Effective planning and execution of multiple simultaneous events.
• Development, engagement, and retention of a high-performing culinary team.
• Strong sanitation, food-safety, and inspection performance.
• Effective collaboration between JAG Culinary, Event Sales, Banquet Operations, and Ritz-Carlton hotel partners.
• Successful execution of VIP, wedding, corporate, social, and high-profile events.
• Positive contribution to the culture and overall success of José Andrés Group at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach.

In Return, We Offer You

• Competitive base salary of $110,000–$120,000 per year
• Performance-based bonus eligibility
• Comprehensive health & wellness benefits
• Retirement savings opportunities
• Paid time off
• Employee dining and partner discounts
• Culinary training and professional development
• Leadership development and mentorship
• Career advancement opportunities throughout José Andrés Group
• The opportunity to lead banquet culinary operations within a luxury South Beach hotel environment
• The opportunity to execute everything from intimate luxury gatherings to large-scale events alongside experienced culinary and hospitality teams

Equal Opportunity Employer - José Andrés Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer and participates in the federal E-Verify Program.