Job Description

JOB SPECIFICATION HEAD OF PATISSERIE DE FRANCE DIVISION / F&B DIRECTOR

Position Title:

Head of Patisserie De France Division / F&B Director

Reports To:

CEO / Founder / Group Leadership

Key Interfaces:

Chief People Officer (CPO), Finance Director (FD), Brand Governance

Direct Leadership Responsibility:

Lab Senior Management Marketing & Communications Management Retail Operations Management (Back of House & Front of House) Procurement Management Warehousing, Logistics & Supply Chain Management

Role Scope:

Full operational, financial, and cultural accountability for the Patisserie De France Lab, retail food operations, and F&B performance across the Group. This role carries end-to-end ownership, with no dilution of standards or accountability.

2. ROLE PURPOSE

The Head of Patisserie De France Division / F&B Director serves as the

single point of accountability

for divisional performance, profitability, operational excellence, and brand standards.

The role has full ownership across:

Central and in-store Lab production Retail BOH and FOH operations Food safety, labour compliance, and operational risk People performance, leadership capability, and discipline Brand execution, marketing alignment, and guest experience Full divisional Profit & Loss responsibility
Any underperformance, deviation, or operational failure within the division falls under this role's accountability.

This is not a coordination or oversight role.
It is a leadership role with direct ownership and execution responsibility.

3. ROLE DEFINITION (NON-NEGOTIABLE)

The role holds absolute accountability for:

Lab production planning, execution, output, and consistency Pastry and kitchen execution across all retail environments Retail and takeaway operations (BOH & FOH) Service standards and end-to-end guest experience Operational execution of marketing and communications initiatives Staffing, training, performance management, and discipline Procurement, warehousing, logistics, and stock control Food safety, labour legislation, and OHSA compliance Divisional Profit & Loss performance

Operating Principle:

If a product, service, or experience does not meet brand standards in taste, presentation, quality, or performance, it must be corrected immediately.

4. KEY RESPONSIBILITIESA. Lab & Production Leadership

Lead and control all Lab operations and production output. Enforce strict adherence to recipes, yields, portioning, and SOPs. Ensure daily quality control across core and signature products. Drive efficiency, waste reduction, and capacity optimisation. Maintain full compliance with hygiene, HACCP, and safety standards.
Retail Operations (BOH & FOH)

Own the guest experience from entry to transaction completion. Enforce service flow, pace, language standards, and upselling discipline. Ensure consistent retail presentation, merchandising, and service speed. Oversee complaint resolution and guest recovery processes.
Brand, Marketing & Communications Execution

Ensure all marketing campaigns are operationally executable and brand-aligned. Align activations with Lab and retail capacity planning. Protect brand standards across all customer-facing touchpoints. Halt initiatives that compromise brand integrity or execution quality.
People Leadership, Discipline & Compliance

Lead, evaluate, develop, and discipline management and operational teams. Enforce performance standards promptly and consistently. Ensure compliance with BCEA, LRA, OHSA, and internal policies. Partner with the CPO on recruitment, succession planning, and leadership development. Build a culture of accountability, discipline, and operational pride.
Financial Management & P&L Ownership

Own full divisional Profit & Loss accountability. Control cost of sales, labour ratios, wastage, and operating expenses. Partner with the FD on budgeting, forecasting, audits, and reporting. Drive pricing strategies and cost controls to protect margins. Ensure stock accuracy, valuation integrity, and variance management.
Procurement, Warehousing & Supply Chain

Manage supplier performance, pricing, and contractual compliance. Ensure stock availability while preventing overstocking and losses. Oversee logistics flow, storage standards, and loss prevention controls. Align procurement decisions with quality, margin, and operational objectives.
5. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

7-10+ years senior leadership experience in lab-based food production, hospitality, or retail F&B Proven multi-site operational leadership experience Strong working knowledge of food safety, HACCP, OHSA, and South African labour legislation High financial acumen with demonstrable full P&L ownership Proven ability to enforce standards and deliver results in high-pressure environments
FINAL DIRECTIVE

This role is fully empowered to:

Make decisions Enforce standards Correct deviations Escalate risks Remove operational blockers Protect margins Protect the brand
There is one standard.
There is one accountable leader.
There is one objective:

A profitable, disciplined, and consistently world-class operation.

Job Type: Full-time

Application Question(s):

Are you available immediately? Describe a role where you had full end-to-end accountability (operations, people, and financial performance). What failed under your leadership, and how did you correct it? This role owns the outcome when things go wrong.How do you personally define accountability at executive level? Have you ever inherited a poorly performing operation? What were the first 30-60 days of action you took? Describe your experience managing a central production kitchen or lab.Volumes, product mix, and number of sites supplied. How do you ensure recipe consistency, yield control, and portion accuracy across multiple locations? Give an example of how you have reduced wastage without compromising quality. Confirm whether you have had full P&L ownership.
What was the monthly turnover and cost structure?

How do you ensure service pace, language, and upselling discipline are maintained daily? Describe a situation where FOH execution damaged the brand.
What action did you take?

Have you ever stopped or changed a marketing campaign because operations could not execute it properly?
What decision did you make and why?

How do you ensure marketing activations align with lab capacity, staffing, and service flow? How do you manage underperforming managers?
Walk us through a real example.

What is your working knowledge of BCEA, LRA, and OHSA, and how do you apply it operationally? How do you control:
Cost of sales

Labour %

Wastage

Operating expenses

Describe a time you had to protect margin under cost pressure.

Work Location: In person