Head Chef
Pneuma | Westwood, New Jersey
Full-Time | Opening Leadership Position
Pneuma is an all-day caffè, restaurant, and market opening in Westwood, New Jersey. Our food program is built around high-quality ingredients, thoughtful preparation, consistency, and an approachable style of cooking. The concept brings together a café, fresh pasta, Roman and New York-style pizza, seasonal salads, hot prepared foods, sandwiches, pastries, smoothies, gelato, and a retail market under one roof.
We are looking for an experienced, hands-on Head Chef to lead our kitchen and help build Pneuma's culinary program from the ground up.
This is not a position for someone who wants to manage from an office. We are looking for a chef who loves cooking, developing people, creating systems, and maintaining an exceptionally organized kitchen.
The Role
The Head Chef will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership and execution of Pneuma's entire savory food program. You will work directly with ownership to develop and refine the menu, establish kitchen systems, train the opening team, and create the standards that will define Pneuma as we grow.
Our menu spans several areas, so the ideal candidate is a well-rounded chef who is equally comfortable with restaurant service and production cooking.
The kitchen will be equipped with modern, high-capacity equipment designed to support both à la carte service and efficient batch production. We are looking for someone who understands how to use great equipment, organization, and technique to produce excellent food consistently rather than unnecessarily complicating it.
Responsibilities
- Lead all day-to-day kitchen operations and culinary execution.
- Recruit, train, schedule, manage, and develop the BOH team.
- Work directly with ownership on menu development, testing, and continuous improvement.
- Oversee preparation and service across pasta, pizza, entrées, salads, sandwiches, soups, braises, and prepared foods.
- Build recipes, prep procedures, station guides, pars, and production schedules.
- Establish systems that allow the kitchen to handle both daily restaurant service and larger-scale prepared food production.
- Maintain exceptional standards for food quality, consistency, cleanliness, organization, and presentation.
- Manage ordering, receiving, inventory, storage, and vendor relationships.
- Control food and labor costs while maintaining ingredient and quality standards.
- Monitor yields, waste, portioning, and recipe costing.
- Maintain proper food safety, sanitation, labeling, cooling, reheating, and storage procedures.
- Ensure compliance with local health department requirements.
- Maintain equipment and establish proper cleaning and preventative maintenance procedures.
- Create a positive, disciplined kitchen culture built around professionalism, accountability, teamwork, and respect.
- Lead by example and be willing to work stations, prep, cook, and solve problems alongside the team when necessary.
- Help establish Pneuma's culinary standards and systems as the business grows.
What We're Looking For
The ideal candidate has significant professional kitchen experience, including experience in a Sous Chef, Chef de Cuisine, Executive Chef, or comparable leadership position.
Experience with Italian and Mediterranean cooking, fresh pasta, pizza, high-volume production, prepared foods, or all-day restaurant concepts is particularly valuable.
More importantly, we are looking for someone who:
- Is an excellent cook first and foremost.
- Has strong leadership skills without bringing ego into the kitchen.
- Understands how to build and manage a kitchen team.
- Is extremely organized and systems-oriented.
- Understands food cost, labor cost, inventory, purchasing, and waste management.
- Can translate recipes and ideas into repeatable systems that other cooks can execute consistently.
- Appreciates great ingredients and relatively simple food executed at a very high level.
- Understands both restaurant service and production cooking.
- Is comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-volume environment.
- Takes cleanliness and organization seriously.
- Communicates clearly with ownership, FOH leadership, and the kitchen team.
- Wants to help build something rather than simply inherit an existing kitchen.
Our Food Philosophy
Pneuma is focused on food that people genuinely want to eat regularly.
We believe great food starts with great sourcing, strong fundamentals, and disciplined execution. Our approach emphasizes high-quality flours, fresh pasta, long-fermented doughs, thoughtfully sourced proteins and produce, house-made sauces and prepared foods, and cooking methods that prioritize flavor and ingredient quality.
The goal is not overly complicated or precious food. It is exceptionally well-executed, ingredient-driven food that can be served consistently every day.
Opening Opportunity
Because this is an opening position, the Head Chef will have the opportunity to influence the kitchen before the doors open. You will work closely with ownership on final menu development, recipe testing, kitchen organization, hiring, training, opening pars, prep systems, and service procedures.
We are looking for someone who wants to take real ownership of the kitchen and grow with Pneuma for the long term.
Compensation: Competitive hourly rate based on experience
Schedule: Full-time, including nights, weekends, and holidays as required by the business
Location: Westwood, NJ
Pay: $16.00 - $25.00 per hour
Work Location: In person
