The Senior Process Owner – CRA/APTs owns the end to end standards, workflows, performance, and capability development for CRA (Central Recipe Assembly) and APTs (Advanced Production Techniques) across North America. This role provides expert level leadership in operational excellence for culinary production processes, ensuring consistent adherence to recipe standards, safety, quality, and efficiency.

The SPO serves as the regional authority for CRA/APTs, leading training, implementation, stabilization, and continuous improvement efforts while coaching kitchen leaders and partnering with Change Enablement, QA, and Production Planning teams.

Annual Hiring Range/Hourly Rate:

• $120,000- $125,000/Per Year
• This position is eligible for incentive pay of 10% of the annual base salary, dependent upon successful attainment of company, team, and individual goals.

Benefits

• Paid time off
• 401k, with company match
• Company sponsored life insurance
• Medical, dental, vision plans
• Voluntary short-term/long-term disability insurance
• Voluntary life, accident, and hospital plans
• Employee Assistance Program
• Commuter benefits
• Employee Discounts

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. Training, Onboarding & Capability Building
(in partnership with Change Enablement)
Lead training and onboarding of new chefs, sous chefs, specialists, and culinary teams across regions in CRA/APTs processes.
Teach company standards, recipe specifications, menu compliance, and culinary production best practices.
Build a strong internal pipeline of CRA/APTs subject matter experts and future culinary leaders.
Develop and maintain training materials, job aids, and SOPs specific to CRA/APTs workflows.

2. Operational Support & Task Force Deployment
Deploy as needed to units requiring immediate operational support in CRA/APTs.
Diagnose workflow issues, stabilize kitchens, and reinforce end to end CRA/APTs SOPs.
Coach teams to improve speed, accuracy, safety, and recipe consistency.
Support urgent recovery situations and post implementation ramp up.

3. CRA/APTs Implementation & Process Governance
Lead regional CRA/APTs rollout activities, including training, workflow setup, and operational readiness.
Oversee process validation, gap analysis, and the alignment of production steps to standards.
Partner with QA to ensure compliance with Bio testing, HACCP, and CCP1/CCP2 requirements.
Monitor post implementation performance, meeting weekly with sites regarding tracking, productivity, and adherence.

4. Cross Functional Alignment & Food Cost Optimization
Work with Production Planning teams to align CRA/APTs workflows with demand, capacity, and operational constraints.
Ensure correct recipe quantities are produced to reduce food cost, prevent overproduction, and minimize waste.
Provide continuous feedback to Core Processes, CI, and Ops leadership to improve workflows and templates.

5. Leadership Development & Culture
(in partnership with Change Enablement)
Coach chefs, sous chefs, and supervisors to build strong operational leadership with deep CRA/APTs expertise.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Support behavior change and adoption of new culinary and production practices.
6.Performs special projects and other duties as assigned by department management in support of operations.

Core Competencies and Requirements

Education
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, Operations, or related field.
Lean/6-Sigma certification preferred.

Work Experience
At least seven (7) years of progressively responsible professional experience in culinary operations, food production leadership, or high volume kitchen operation.
Experience implementing recipe driven production systems (CRA/APTs or similar).
Strong knowledge of HACCP, QA compliance, and food safety standards.

gategroup Competencies Required to be Successful in the Job:

• Thinking – Information Search and analysis & problem resolution skills
• Engaging – Understanding others, Team Leadership and Developing People
• Inspiring – Influencing and building relationships, Motivating and Inspiring, Communicating effectively
• Achieving – Delivering business results under pressure, Championing Performance Improvement and Customer Focus

Demonstrated Values to be Successful in the Position

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the individual(s) assigned to this position.  They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required.  Management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties and to assign other duties as necessary.  In addition, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.