How To Become A Corporate Executive Chef: What It Is and Career Path

What is a corporate executive chef and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Patti Stobaugh

A corporate executive chef generally oversees the daily kitchen and culinary operations of a dining establishment. They incorporate their culinary expertise with business strategies to meet customer needs and ensure the success of their establishment. Corporate executive chefs make sure that food is of the highest possible quality and that it meets all safety regulations. They also handle some administration tasks, such as hiring, training, and firing kitchen staff.

Corporate executive chefs work closely with a head chef and other kitchen staff to ensure best practices are employed. They also work hand in hand with establishment owners to approve menus and budgets. A successful corporate executive chef should have culinary skills, business skills, communication skills, leadership skills, and people management skills.

A corporate executive chef usually works long hours, including the weekends, because they are often at work before and after restaurant closing time.

What general advice would you give to a corporate executive chef?

Patti Stobaugh

Owner, PattiCakes Bakery and Stoby's Restaurant

Being humble and willing to learn will take you far in your career, not just in the beginning. If you have the desire to open your own food service business, go to work for a business that has a great reputation. That will give you the opportunity to learn so much.

ScoreCorporate Executive ChefUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $77,701

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.2

Growth rate 15%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.71%

Asian 11.22%

Black or African American 10.71%

Hispanic or Latino 16.46%

Unknown 5.27%

White 55.63%

Gender

female 9.09%

male 90.91%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

9.2

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

0.2

Work life balance is

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a corporate executive chef

Explore corporate executive chef education requirements

Most common corporate executive chef degrees

Associate

57.5 %

Bachelor's

27.6 %

Master's

4.1 %

Start to develop specific corporate executive chef skills

Skills	Percentages
Culinary	20.28%
Menu Development	7.62%
Food Safety	7.11%
Kitchen Operations	7.02%
Corporate Chef	5.27%

Complete relevant corporate executive chef training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New corporate executive chefs learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a corporate executive chef based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real corporate executive chef resumes.

Gain additional corporate executive chef certifications

Corporate executive chef certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific corporate executive chef certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for corporate executive chefs include Certified Executive Chef (CEC) and Certified Culinary Administrator (CCA).

More About Certifications

Research corporate executive chef duties and responsibilities

Manage 4-5 chefs , 2 caf managers , 2 meat managers and 70-80 hourly associates.
Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
Implement HACCP to ensure efficient, safe and sanitary food production are followed.
Develop ready-to-eat and microwavable sandwiches, wraps, pastas, soups and sauces for national and local foodservice businesses.

Get corporate executive chef experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a corporate executive chef. The most common roles before becoming a corporate executive chef include executive chef, sous chef team lead and chef.

Prepare your corporate executive chef resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your corporate executive chef resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a corporate executive chef resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable corporate executive chef resume templates

Build a professional corporate executive chef resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your corporate executive chef resume.

Apply for corporate executive chef jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a corporate executive chef job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do corporate executive chefs rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Corporate executive chef reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020

Pros

Design & creating food making customer happy cooking every area as line, prep, steam, broil, grill, creating comfort food desserts and catering. Ordering and managing a kitchen

Cons

Nothing to complain about love being a chef

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019