We are seeking an Executive Chocolate Chef with strong industrial manufacturing expertise to lead and innovate within our large-scale chocolate production facility. This role requires a unique combination of culinary creativity, technical chocolate mastery, and industrial production leadership. The Executive Chocolate Chef will be responsible for overseeing end-to-end chocolate production, product development, quality assurance, and hygiene standards while ensuring consistency, efficiency, and compliance with food safety regulations.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and manage all chocolate production operations across multiple lines
- Develop innovative chocolate recipes, including pralines, fillings, ganache, drages, and seasonal collections
- Ensure consistent quality, taste, texture, and visual appeal of all products
- Standardize recipes, formulations, and production processes
- Supervise, train, and develop chocolatiers and production teams
- Control raw material usage, yield, wastage, and production costing
- Coordinate with procurement on cocoa, couverture, ingredients, and packaging materials
- Ensure full compliance with food safety, hygiene, and HACCP/ISO standards
- Conduct production planning aligned with demand forecasts
- Oversee tempering, moulding, enrobing, cooling tunnels, and packaging processes
- Collaborate with marketing and sales teams on new product launches
- Monitor, maintain, and optimize chocolate machinery and equipment
Key Requirements
Industrial Chocolate Production Management
- Minimum 10 years experience in large-scale chocolate or confectionery manufacturing
- Proven ability to manage multiple production lines (tempering, enrobing, moulding, cooling tunnels, drage coating, wrapping)
Technical Chocolate Expertise
- Strong knowledge of tempering curves, viscosity control, fat bloom prevention, and cooling tunnel calibration
- Ability to troubleshoot technical production issues (crystallization defects, humidity control, enrobing/moulding faults)
Leadership & Team Management
- Demonstrated experience leading and training production teams of 100+ staff
- Ability to develop skill levels across operators, chocolatiers, and packaging teams
Innovation & Product Development
- Proven capability to create new chocolate flavours and long shelf-life products
- Strong balance between artisanal quality and scalable industrial production
Operational Excellence
- Solid background in production planning, scheduling, and raw material control
- Knowledge of OEE, Lean Manufacturing, or continuous improvement practices
Quality & Food Safety Compliance
- In-depth understanding of GMP, HACCP, ISO/FSSC 22000 standards
- Commitment to delivering consistent quality, hygiene, and safety across all lines
Qualifications & Experience
- Diploma or Degree in Culinary Arts, Pastry, Chocolate & Confectionery
- 812 years of experience in chocolate or confectionery production
- Prior experience in factory or large-scale manufacturing environments preferred
