Vice President, Culinary

Position Overview The Vice President, Culinary is responsible for leading the culinary vision, strategy, and execution across Experience Senior Living’s portfolio of senior living communities. This role sets the standard for an exceptional, hospitality-driven dining experience while ensuring culinary operations are scalable, financially responsible, operationally consistent, and aligned with the needs and preferences of residents. The Vice President, Culinary will provide strategic and functional leadership to community culinary teams and divisional culinary resources. This individual will establish companywide standards, develop culinary talent, drive menu and concept innovation, optimize food and labor costs, and partner closely with Operations, Health & Wellness, Development, and other functional leaders to continually elevate the resident dining experience. The ideal candidate combines a passion for food and hospitality with strong business and operational leadership. They are equally comfortable developing a culinary vision, coaching senior culinary leaders, evaluating community performance, and using financial and operational data to drive improvement. Key Responsibilities Culinary Strategy & Resident Experience Develop and lead the organization’s culinary and dining strategy, ensuring alignment with Experience Senior Living’s brands, hospitality philosophy, and resident experience standards. Establish a differentiated culinary vision that reflects resident preferences, evolving dining trends, and the expectations of a high-quality senior living experience. Create and maintain companywide culinary standards while allowing appropriate flexibility for local markets, resident preferences, and community needs. Drive continuous innovation across menus, dining venues, service models, special events, and culinary programming. Regularly evaluate the resident dining experience and identify opportunities to improve food quality, presentation, variety, service, and overall satisfaction. Partner with community and operational leadership to respond to resident feedback and develop sustainable solutions to dining-related opportunities. Operational & Financial Leadership Provide strategic oversight of culinary operations across the portfolio, including food production, dining services, staffing models, purchasing, inventory, sanitation, and kitchen operations. Establish and monitor key culinary performance indicators related to food cost, labor, resident satisfaction, quality, productivity, and operational execution. Partner with community and divisional leadership to develop annual culinary budgets and ensure performance against established financial targets. Identify opportunities to improve purchasing, food utilization, inventory management, labor efficiency, and overall culinary profitability without compromising quality or resident experience. Lead initiatives to standardize and streamline culinary processes, systems, tools,…