Executive Pastry Chef

Company Description Raffles Hotels & Resorts The Birthplace of stories and legends since 1887, Raffles is a legendary brand, steeped in history and loved by generations past, present and future. Raffles, at distinguished landmark addresses around the world, is the vibrant heart of its destination, curating experiences that are culturally enriching, intellectually stimulating and always respectful of local communities, heritage and the environment. Raffles Dubai An architectural surprise inspired by an Egyptian aesthetic, 5-star Raffles Dubai offers the luxury of city-centre space, impeccable service and sophisticated Asian style. A 15-minute drive from Dubai International Airport, it is ideally located in the business and shopping district, adjacent to Wafi Mall and close to the magnificent Khan Murjan souk and the convention centres. About the Application Process: At Raffles, we want to bring out your highest potential. Shortly after applying, you will receive an email from our partner AssessFirst prompting you to create a profile and complete a questionnaire. This is a mandatory step for your candidacy to be considered as it enables us to explore your compatibility with this role and our culture of luxury excellence. Job Description We invite you to join the world of luxury hospitality at Raffles Dubai as our new Executive Pastry Chef. You are responsible for the overall Pastry leadership, operational performance, financial management, and quality standards of the hotel's Pastry, Bakery, Chocolate, Confectionery, and Dessert operations. The role leads the development of exceptional pastry experiences across restaurants, afternoon tea, banquets events, weddings, IRD, VIP amenities, and seasonal celebrations, while ensuring consistency with the hotel's luxury positioning, brand standards, and commercial objectives. Key Roles & Responsibilities Quality Standards, Culinary Direction & Product Innovation • Ensure consistency and highest quality in food taste, temperature and presentation • Ensure the quality and cleanliness of all food displays with maximum creativity • Establish the overall pastry and bakery vision and culinary direction for the hotel. • Develop innovative and distinctive pastries, desserts, cakes, chocolates, confectionery, breads, viennoiserie, and plated desserts. • Create signature products that reflect the hotel's luxury identity and culinary positioning. • Lead seasonal menu development, afternoon tea concepts, festive collections, and special culinary promotions. • Develop bespoke products and presentations for VIP guests, weddings, private events, and special occasions. • Maintain a balance between classical techniques, contemporary trends, local influences, and operational practicality. • Conduct regular product tastings, menu reviews, benchmarking, and innovation sessions. • Ensure all products meet defined standards for taste, texture, presentation, portioning, and consistency. Operations • Direct the daily operation of all pastry and bakery production areas. • Develop production plans based on occupancy, forecast, outlet requirements, events, and business levels. • Maintain appropriate par levels and ensure timely supply to all hotel outlets. • Check all set-ups for restaurant and banquet functions. Responsible for the correct timing during service and that food served is always of the highest standards • Coordinate all Restaurant / Banquet / food production, and all specific duties to chefs and other staff under his/her supervision • Monitor and implement portion control established with the recipe cards and the butcher test; minimize waste and spoilage • Establish and maintain standardized recipes, specifications, production procedures, and presentation standards. • Ensure pastry displays, afternoon tea, buffets, plated desserts, amenities, and event products reflect five-star luxury standards. • Maintain readiness for LQA, brand, internal, and external quality assessments, where applicable. • Monitor guest feedback and implement improvements that enhance the overall pastry experience. • Ensure seamless coordination with restaurants, banquets, room service, events, stewarding, stores, purchasing, and other culinary departments. • Ensure effective communication among the kitchens and with other departments. • Work closely with receiving and storeroom to ensure received goods meet Hotel’s quality standards specifications • Supervise food tasting sessions and guide chefs for new menu implementation • Attend meetings with Executive Chef to discuss future business strategy and review ongoing action plan progress, and other departmental meetings as required • Update menu recipe cards and menu planning for promotions Training/ Development • Conduct staff training and on-the-job training on kitchen skills and new menu items • Lead, motivate, coach, and develop the pastry and bakery team. • Establish clear performance standards, responsibilities, and accountability. • Manage staffing requirements, production schedules, and departmental organization. • Conduct regular briefings, training, demonstrations, performance reviews, and development discussions. • Identify high-potential talent and establish succession and career-development plans. • Build a culture of creativity, discipline, teamwork, accountability, and continuous improvement. • Support recruitment, onboarding, and retention of pastry talent. • Encourage participation in competitions, masterclasses, supplier demonstrations, and professional development opportunities. • Guide employee orientation for new hires • Ensure staff adhere to hotel regulations re: fire, safety and emergency procedures Financial, Commercial & Resource Management • Own the pastry department's food-cost performance and contribute to overall culinary financial targets. • Maintain accurate recipe costing, yields, portion control, and theoretical food-cost calculations. • Monitor actual versus theoretical food cost and investigate variances. • Control inventory, purchasing, production quantities, waste, and high-value ingredient usage. • Develop commercially viable products without compromising luxury standards. • Participate in menu pricing and profitability reviews. • Prepare annual operating CAPEX planning. • Evaluate new equipment and technology based on quality, productivity, sustainability, and return on investment. • Maintain proper controls over purchase orders and requisitions • Monitor monthly food inventory turnover and slow moving items • Ensure purchasing, receiving and all storage are efficiently handled • Review food cost analysis on a daily basis to in line with budget and forecast • Work closely with Finance, Purchasing, and suppliers to optimize cost and resource utilization. Hygiene and Sanitation • Maintain full compliance with HACCP, food safety, allergen management, sanitation, and hotel regulatory requirements.

The job posting does not provide a distinct 'Requirements', 'Qualifications', or 'Minimum qualifications' section. It only outlines duties and responsibilities across multiple blocks (quality standards, operations, training/development, financial management, hygiene) without listing explicit candidate requirements such as years of experience or certifications.

Quality Standards, Culinary Direction & Product Innovation: ensure consistency and highest quality in food taste, temperature and presentation; ensure quality and cleanliness of all food displays with maximum creativity; establish overall pastry and bakery vision and culinary direction for the hotel; develop innovative pastries, desserts, cakes, chocolates, confectionery, breads, viennoiserie, and plated desserts; create signature products reflecting luxury identity; lead seasonal menu development, afternoon tea concepts, festive collections, and special culinary promotions; develop bespoke products for VIP guests, weddings, private events, and special occasions; balance classical techniques with contemporary trends and local influences; conduct regular tastings, menu reviews, benchmarking, and innovation sessions; ensure products meet standards for taste, texture, presentation, portioning, and consistency. Operations: direct daily operation of all pastry and bakery production areas; develop production plans based on occupancy, forecast, outlet requirements, events, and business levels; maintain par levels and ensure timely supply to outlets; check set-ups for restaurant and banquets; coordinate duties with chefs and staff; monitor portion control and minimize waste; establish standardized recipes, specifications, production procedures, and presentation standards; ensure displays and events reflect five-star luxury; readiness for quality assessments; monitor guest feedback and implement improvements; coordinate with restaurants, banquets, room service, events, stewarding, stores, purchasing, and other departments; effective communication across kitchens and departments; ensure received goods meet quality standards; supervise tastings and guide menu implementation; attend meetings with Executive Chef and update recipe cards. Training/Development: conduct staff training and on-the-job training; lead, motivate, coach, and develop pastry/bakery team; establish performance standards and accountability; manage staffing and production schedules; conduct briefings, training, performance reviews, and development discussions; identify high-potential talent and succession plans; foster creativity, discipline, teamwork, and continuous improvement; support recruitment, onboarding, and retention; encourage participation in competitions and masterclasses; guide orientation; ensure safety regulations are followed. Financial, Commercial & Resource Management: own pastry department’s food-cost performance and contribute to culinary financial targets; maintain recipe costing, yields, portion control; monitor actual vs theoretical food cost and investigate variances; control inventory, purchasing, production quantities, waste, and high-value ingredients; develop commercially viable products without compromising luxury; participate in menu pricing and profitability reviews; prepare annual CAPEX planning; evaluate new equipment/technology for quality, productivity, sustainability, ROI; maintain controls over purchase orders; monitor monthly inventory turnover; ensure purchasing, receiving, and storage are efficient; review daily food cost analyses; collaborate with Finance, Purchasing, and suppliers to optimize cost and resource use; Hygiene and Sanitation: maintain HACCP, food safety, allergen management, sanitation, and regulatory compliance.