Executive Chef, Central Kitchen (Artisan Bakery & Pastry)

Executive Chef – Central Kitchen | Artisan Bakery & Pastry | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia A fast-growing Saudi specialty coffee and bakery group is building a new large-scale central kitchen in Riyadh, and is looking for an Executive Chef to lead it. Every bakery and pastry item sold across the group's branches is produced in-house and distributed daily. The new facility is a purpose-built production kitchen of approximately 1,500 m², designed to support the group's continued expansion across the Kingdom. This is a senior operational appointment. You will own the entire production operation, leading a team of around 40 chefs, pastry chefs and bakers, and reporting into senior management. What you will own - Daily production planning and scheduling across bakery, viennoiserie and pastry lines - Product quality and consistency across every branch the kitchen supplies - Food cost, yield management, wastage and margin - Leadership, structure, recruitment and development of the production team - HACCP implementation and full SFDA compliance - Distribution readiness: packing, labelling, cold chain and dispatch - New product development, engineered for consistent large-batch production What we need: Artisan bakery and pastry must be your craft. This is the single most important requirement. We are looking for someone whose technical foundation is genuinely artisanal: laminated doughs and viennoiserie, fermentation and sourdough, breads, cakes and patisserie made properly. You should be able to set, teach and defend those standards across a large production team. Candidates from industrial or heavily automated backgrounds, or whose experience is primarily savoury, will not be a fit for this role. Large-scale central kitchen experience is essential. You will have run a central kitchen or commissary of comparable size to the new facility (1500 sqmt), producing centrally and distributing to a network of outlets. Experience of single-site production, however impressive, is not what this role requires. You must already be operating at executive level. We need a proven leader of large production teams with genuine ownership of cost, quality and people. This is not a step up for a senior pastry chef. Also required: - Demonstrable experience leading teams - Strong commercial fluency: recipe costing, yield analysis, food cost and wastage control - Working knowledge of HACCP and food safety compliance in a regulated environment - Experience standardising product across a multi-site network Location and relocation The role is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Relocation is fully supported and candidates from outside the Kingdom are encouraged to apply.