The F&B Culinary Lead will be responsible to develop, cost, implement and monitor the food and beverage offering across both LEGOLAND Dubai and LEGOLAND Water park to ensure both parks provide the highest standard of food and beverages. The job holder will assist in the training and development of all food preparation staff whilst improving methods and process’ within the operation to reflect the parks HACCP program. Additionally, support and guide the F&B management team to identify and choose food suppliers for EGOLAND Dubai & Water ensuring only the best quality and cost-effective products are used. Provide the Food & Beverage team with operational day to day support whilst providing expertise knowledge to increase overall Food & Beverage guest service, quality and expectation scores. Main Duties
Food Development & Menu Creation: The Food & Beverage Culinary Lead will play a central role in developing and creating new food products and menus within the scope, set by the Head of Commercial and the F&B Operations managers. The Culinary Lead will work individually and/or with the F&B Operations managers to develop profitable food menus based on seasonal events, trend data and guest demand. Weekly food checks should be carried out by the Culinary Lead across both parks to ensure quality, specifications, menu and process’ are being accurately followed. The Culinary Lead will ensure that all recipes within the systems are kept up to date and adapt menus based on feedback or cost changes. Objectives

• Ensure all active menus are maintained and updated within the Adaco system. Bottom 3 selling / performing items to be removed and replaced each quarter.
• Carry out weekly menu checks across the parks to ensure accuracy and menu specifications are being followed by team members at all time.
• Quarterly menu changes across F&B outlets to ensure business stays on trend as well as VFM for Annual Pass Holders.
• Develop innovative menus across the parks based on current trends and populate growing food & beverages.
• Identify any training needs for F&B team members and carry out training with the support of unit managers
• Develop allergen information for all food menus to comply with HACCP procedures

Operations: The Culinary Lead will play an active role in supporting the daily operation of food and beverage by providing ‘on the job training’, service support and guidance. Daily presentation, daily production and merchandising will be reviewed by the Culinary Lead to ensure all food products are displayed correctly and produced to specifications. The Culinary Lead will attend biweekly meetings with the F&B Operations Managers to discuss unit KPI’s, wastages, variances, menu performance and seasonal offering. Objectives

• Daily operational support within Food & Beverage department to support business needs and guest satisfaction
• Attend biweekly meetings with F&B Management Team to discuss KPI’s, wastages, variances, menu performance and seasonal offerings
• Support F&B managers with any challenges with menu production, wastages or operational support
• Report weekly KPI’s in management meeting along with plans to improve & maintain current scores

Health & Safety : The Culinary Lead will support the Food & Beverage department in ensuring that Health & Safety remains the number one priority of the business by ensuring that all policies and procedures are followed always and reporting any potential Health & Safety risks. Conduct and support HACCP manager with monthly internal audits. Objectives

• Ensure all F&B team members are always following H&S process’ and procedures
• Ensure any food menus developed follow both the Merlin Entertainment Food policy and the Dubai Food Code
• Carry out Internal Hygiene Audits

Suppliers: The Culinary Lead will be supporting the F&B Operations Managers to manage all food suppliers for the food and beverage department. Objectives

• Support the F&B senior management team with communication for all F&B suppliers
• Meet with suppliers to build upon relationship and rectify and issues
• Review products and prices and identify commentative prices to support overall profit with the support of F&B senior managers

Are You a Star?
In order to be qualified for this role you should possess the below criteria: A Secondary education (or equivalent education and experience) and Food Hygiene certification are required. A college degree is preferred. Required Experience: Requires at least 5 years of progressive experience as a restaurant chef in a theme park, resort, or fine dining restaurant. Must be customer-service focused and understand customer expectations. Knowledge in food and culinary design is required. Must possess strong communication skills, both in a verbal and written format. Effective organizational and problem-solving skills with the ability to make quick decisions required. Ability to work as part of a team and to develop others within the team structure required. Job-Specific Skills:

• Advanced communication skills, written and verbal required. Being able to use written and spoken skills to explain tasks and give reasoning and directions effectively.
• Strong Leadership to motivate and engage with team members and management
• Problem Solving and solutions; Guests, Suppliers, Internal
• Management Skills; Costs, Schedules, Team Deployment
• Proactive
• Attention to Detail; Food Standards, costs, safety and team development
• Excellent Customer Service
• Interpersonal skills and the ability to work with a diverse team of assistants, team leaders, cooks, managers, servers and senior members of the resort management team.
• Team Player
• Organization
• Time management
• Financial Understanding
  

Additional Experience:

• Ability to stand for prolonged periods of time.
• Intermittent and prolonged standing and walking to move about the park site and to interact with guests and other employees.
• Ability to lift and move up to 12kg, and in some cases to do so repetitively.
• Ability to lift and move up to 12kg over your head occasionally
• Various inside and outside locations with varying temperatures and floor surfaces.
• Must be willing to work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends and holidays to support park operations.
• Must conform to park wardrobe and grooming guidelines.

The Best Part of The Story
We offer a competitive salary and benefits package which includes; comprehensive medical coverage, life and accident insurance and other generous allowances. We also care about your career development supported by Learning opportunities for those seeking a long-term future in the Company.