Regional Culinary Specialist - Texas - Mesquite, TX

Atria Senior Living is a leading organization dedicated to creating vibrant communities where employees thrive in their professional roles while helping residents flourish in their homes. With a commitment to fostering supportive environments, Atria Senior Living offers outstanding career opportunities accompanied by comprehensive benefits, including paid holidays and paid time off, health, dental, vision, and life insurance, retirement savings plans with employer matching, and tuition reimbursement for U.S.-based communities. These benefits are designed to promote a healthy work-life balance and provide advancement opportunities, making Atria a sought-after employer in the senior living industry. The role of Regional Culinary Specialist at Atria Senior Living is a pivotal leadership position within the culinary services department. This role involves providing overall leadership, support, and guidance to culinary staff across multiple communities. The Regional Culinary Specialist ensures that culinary operations adhere to high standards, focusing on quality, safety, and compliance. Additionally, they play a critical role in supporting community-level culinary leadership by stepping in to manage kitchen operations when needed and establishing strong foundations for newly hired culinary leaders. This position demands extensive travel, up to 100 percent, reflecting the responsibility of overseeing culinary excellence across various sites. In this capacity, the Regional Culinary Specialist is tasked with evaluating the food programs, enhancing the culinary knowledge of staff, ensuring all culinary procedures are followed meticulously, and managing budgets related to food and labor. They are responsible for interviewing, hiring, training, developing, and evaluating culinary staff within their region. This leadership extends to motivating and coaching teams to implement the brand’s dining vision, creating a culture of superior customer service, and driving process improvements that support the organization’s profitability. A critical component of the role is ensuring compliance with all food safety regulations, including the HACCP program and state-specific quality standards. The Regional Culinary Specialist acts as a catalyst for continuous improvement, working closely with community teams to maintain and exceed Quality Enhancement scores and successfully navigating state inspections. This includes implementing culinary strategies that enhance profitability and ensuring all culinary and sanitation standards are met through regular evaluations and timely follow-ups. Candidates for this role must possess a minimum of five years of culinary experience in the hospitality industry, strong organizational and time management skills, and the ability to resolve customer and employee issues effectively. They must also be Serve Safe certified, proficient in basic computer applications such as Microsoft Word, Outlook, and Excel, and hold a valid driver's license with the ability to meet company vehicle and travel policies. Given the extensive travel requirements, candidates must be prepared to represent the company across multiple locations, ensuring consistent culinary excellence and operational compliance. This highly dynamic and impactful role offers a unique opportunity to lead culinary teams in a supportive environment while contributing to the overall success of Atria Senior Living’s communities.

• High school diploma or general education degree (GED)
• Five or more years of culinary experience in the hospitality industry
• Serve Safe certified
• Basic computer skills including Microsoft Word, Outlook, and Excel
• Valid driver’s license
• Compliance with company motor vehicle and travel policies
• Ability to travel up to 100 percent of the time
• Ability to resolve problems of dissatisfied customers and/or employees
• Strong organization and time management skills