THE EXECUTIVE CHEF OPPORTUNITY AT CAT CAY YACHT CLUB
Located on a private island in the Bahamas on the western edge of the Great Bahama Bank, Cat Cay
Yacht Club is looking for an executive chef who is a hands-on leader, mentor and experienced
culinarian to lead its culinary operations in paradise.
Click here to see a video about this opportunity
CAT CAY YACHT CLUB AND ISLAND
The pristine and charming island of Cat Cay is two and one quarter (2 ¼) miles long and a half (½)
mile wide (at the widest part of the island) and is made up of a combination of coral, limestone,
and sand. This island was once the stronghold of notorious pirates, including Morgan and
Blackbeard, and is now the home of the Cat Cay Yacht Club; one of the outstanding playgrounds of
the world. The name Cat Cay was given by pirates because the shape of the island resembled the cat
line of a sailing vessel.
The island, now a luxury private club, is also a stop for visiting day yachters and an official
port of entry for the Bahamas. Cat Cay is located 50 miles SE of Miami and is only 30 minutes away
by air. A 1,950-foot runway on the east side of the island provides easy access to the island from
Florida. Once ashore the only transportation on the island is by foot, bicycle or golf cart. The
natural beauty of the island and the ability to have a safe-haven away from the hustle and bustle
of everyday life is the ultimate allure of Cat Cay.
Over the years, Cat Cay Yacht Club has managed to combine the best features of private island life
with the infrastructure of a major resort. Many members own luxurious beachfront homes, play tennis
or golf on well- maintained inland facilities, dock their yachts in the protected marina, explore
pristine beaches, and dine in the island’s gourmet and casual restaurants. Members treasure the
ultimate luxury of having a private island paradise to share with family and invited guests at
their private island homes. Casual elegance in a family-focused setting best describes the culture
of Cat Cay Yacht Club.
CAT CAY YACHT CLUB MISSION
“Cat Cay Yacht Club is a unique and historic private Bahamian island, dedicated to providing a warm
and personal family experience”
CAT CAY YACHT CLUB SERVICE STANDARDS
Cat Cay Yacht Club provides exceptional service to members, guests, visitors and co-workers through
the following ten service standards.
- We value the presence of our members, their family and guests on the island, and strive to
warmly welcome them and ensure they are enlightened on all we have to offer. - We strive to be purpose driven as opposed to simply functional; building a positive,
professional relationship with our members and each other. - We use polite language to enhance the member experience by maintaining a warm, professional
demeanor. - We always maintain Cat Cay standards by wearing our name tags, proper uniform attire while on
duty. - We listen carefully to member complaints using positive eye contact, body language, and compassionately apologizing; offering resolution, going beyond expectations and to the best of our abilities following through for change and minimal reoccurrence.
- We recognize the strengths and weaknesses of our staff and will work diligently in providing them with knowledge, tools and authority to resolve the problem and ensure excellent service.
- We respect the investment membership has made in our work environment and take personal and professional responsibility for its cleanliness and upkeep.
- We strive to ensure a positive work environment by assisting others to achieve peak performance, not only in our specific departments, but neighboring ones as well.
- We use the 4-point greeting; answering the telephone within three rings and with a smile.
- Everyone is responsible for upholding our mission and service standards. It reaffirms our purpose and commitment to service excellence.
CAT CAY YACHT CLUB BY THE NUMBERS
• $10M gross revenue
• $1.1M F&B revenue
• 162 members
• $18,000 annual dues
• 65 % a la carte; 35 % banquet
• 80 employees
• 10 kitchen employees
• 3 kitchens
CAT CAY YACHT CLUB WEB SITE:
www.catcayyachtclub.com
FOOD & BEVERAGE OPERATIONS
Dining at Cat Cay Yacht Club is a delightful culinary experience with lots of a la carte options
for members to choose from.
History lives on in the Nauticat restaurant and lounge (seats 72) where pieces of the original
Kitten Key Bar have been re-constructed. This montage of signatures of members and famous island
visitors is a special tribute to years gone by. Nauticat offers indoor and outdoor dining options
and is open for lunch (12:00 – 3:00 p.m.) and dinner (6:00
– 9:00 p.m.). Open to visiting yachtsmen, the Nauticat is a perfect place to dine on Bahamian
favorites overlooking the marina.
Bu’s Bar (seats 48), on the marina, is a popular haunt day or night. This open-air, tiki style bar
serves members, guests, and visiting yachtsmen alike, who order off the Nauticat menu.
The Cone Bar (seats 34) and the Victoria Dining Room (seats up to 250) are outlets that are
exclusively for the use of members and their guests and offers diners a casually elegant evening.
Dinner is served in the Victoria Dining Room from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. during the nine holiday weekends
and in the Cone Bar on any evening when reserved. The Victoria Dining Room is mostly used for
special events.
The Pool Café serves lunch from 12:00 – 3:00 p.m. during the active holiday weekends.
In addition to the restaurants, carry out, delivery, and catering services are available to
members’ homes and yachts.
There are three kitchens at Cat Cay Yacht Club. Two newly renovated kitchens (renovated in 2018)
are located at the clubhouse – the a la carte and banquet kitchens. There is also a smaller kitchen
located at the Pool Café that serves lunch on active holiday weekends.
The heart of Cat Cay is the camaraderie shared amongst members and guests. Throughout the year, and
especially on holiday weekends, Cat Cay is alive with activities for the young and young at heart.
Sporting events include fishing tournaments, golf scrambles, tennis round-robins, and the
much-anticipated annual Member Olympics. The Club is open year-round (365 days) and is busiest from
late April to Labor Day weekend. The club is particularly active during the following holiday
weekends: President’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and New Year’s.
EXECUTIVE CHEF JOB DESCRIPTION
The Executive Chef (EC) at Cat Cay Yacht Club is a hands-on chef that leads by example. He or she
is responsible for all food production; developing menus, food purchase specifications and recipes
and supervises all kitchen personnel.
The EC develops and monitors food and labor budgets for the department and maintains the highest
professional food quality and sanitation standards.
The EC is a team builder who mentors kitchen staff and develops a pipeline of talented and creative
individuals. In addition to delivering quality and consistency in all culinary operations, the EC’s
prime directive is to develop and mentor the Chef de Cuisine to eventually become executive chef.
This is a critical role for the EC.
The EC is responsible for ensuring that all food is consistently outstanding – from standard club
fare to innovative offerings and special culinary events throughout all dining venues. The EC
understands that quality and consistency in producing and delivering the “Captain Haigh Burger” is
just as important to the member experience as producing a five-course wine dinner. Consistency is
imperative at Cat Cay Yacht Club and the EC should have standards, recipes, checklists and
processes in place that ensure quality and consistency in every meal that is served.
The EC treats all employees with respect and, in return, requires that of his or her team. The EC
is also responsible for leading the product knowledge training for FOH personnel through daily
pre-meal meetings and food knowledge training programs.
The EC creates and updates menus often, incorporating specials, and developing and documenting
recipes and controls to ensure consistency. Creativity, not just variety, is essential in planning
menus and events for the members of Cat Cay Yacht Club.
The EC leads the Heart-of-the-House (HOH) initiative in accident prevention, training, sanitation,
and safety standards. The EC pays sharp attention to detail, enforces the highest standards of
sanitation and safety. The EC ensures that all HOH staff approach the standards with the same high
level of focus.
The EC has a proven track record of controlling food and labor costs. He or she is adept at
creating and managing a budget, providing and checking standards of food purchase specifications,
and negotiating pricing and contracts to control food quality and costs. He or she also keeps a
close watch on minimizing waste.
The EC is the face of culinary operations and should be comfortable conversing and interacting in
both heart- and front-of-house settings as he or she interfaces with multiple and diverse
constituencies (members, staff, vendors, etc.) throughout the day. The EC is visible and responsive
to club member and team member requests striving to find creative ways to accommodate requests. The
attitude – “The answer is ‘yes,’ what is the question?” – is an integral part of delivering the
“Cat Cay Experience.”
The EC works as a strategic and operational partner with the managers and staff of Cat Cay Yacht
Club to develop information sharing, good communication, superior internal and external customer
relationships and high- performance teamwork to achieve Club objectives.
The EC is someone who always seeks opportunities for improvement, and instills this mindset into
his or her team, while at the same time epitomizing the perspective of being readily open and
embracing of input.
Cat Cay Yacht Club values its employees and provides healthy employee meals for up to 80-100
employees and contractors per day for lunch. Cat Cay’s F&B staff and contractors residing in the
contractors’ quarters are also served dinner.
The EC is an energized, positive presence and displays a strong work ethic. The position requires a
high-energy, committed, and dedicated professional who recognizes that during busy holiday
weekends, long work days are needed to achieve a high level of member satisfaction. The Club also
encourages staff to take time to re-energize and find a balance of dedication to the Club and
personal time.
Consistency is imperative at Cat Cay Yacht Club and the EC should have standards and processes in
place that ensure consistency in every meal that is served – in both a la carte and banquet
operations. Processes, planning and training should also ensure that ticket times are kept to a
minimum.
The EC is an experienced planner, well-organized, good with logistics and a problem-solver. Because
of transportation, shipping and availability of product constraints, the EC must be flexible and
resourceful while keeping a calm demeanor when problems arise.
Ultimately, the Executive Chef of Cat Cay Yacht Club is an important and positive face of culinary
operations and is an integral part of the overall success of the operation. The responsibility to
lead this facet of the organization from a passionate, creative, supportive, progressive and
team-focused perspective is of critical importance for long-term success.
INITIAL PRIORITIES OF THE EXECUTIVE CHEF
• Evaluate and set appropriate and necessary standards of operation, execution, sanitation, and
delivery within kitchen operations; taking ownership of the entire experience from acquisition, to
production to final delivery of the end-product while working closely with the FOH team.
Additionally, the EC creates standardization, processes and training to ensure quality and
consistency throughout all dining venues.
• Mentor the Chef de Cuisine to prepare him to take over as executive chef. In addition, evaluate,
recruit and continue to build, develop, train and mentor the kitchen team. Continue to create a
culture among the staff that encourages creativity and passion for the work that they perform and
respect for fellow employees.
• Learn the culture of the club and build trust with members and morale with staff. Listen to
members, learn member and staff names, and learn culinary/dining requirements (allergies, etc.) and
preferences.
• Evaluate menus and provide new and exciting culinary experiences for Cat Cay Yacht Club
members and guests in both a la carte dining and member events, while balancing creative menu
offerings with classic club fare. Integrate more healthy menu options into the menu.
• Provide creative plate and buffet/action station presentations.
• Analyze and evaluate ticket times and production and then identify and incorporate new
processes to improve efficiencies in service.
• Plan and manage to budget goals.
• Consistently exceed member expectations for quality, taste, presentation, variety and
creativity. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
The Executive Chef of Cat Cay Yacht Club reports to the Clubhouse Manager. The kitchen staff totals
approximately 10 team members including a Chef de Cuisine, cooks, and dishwashers.
The EC works with the Clubhouse Manager, Dining Room Manager and Events Manager to ensure that
member expectations are met and attends all food and beverage staff and management meetings. The EC
conducts weekly meetings with his or her department to provide open lines of communication and
share pertinent club information.
CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS
The successful candidate:
• Is a strong and passionate leader and culinary professional with a proven track record of
providing high-level services with a personality that is commensurately appropriate to Cat Cay
Yacht Club. Previous private club experience is desirable.
• Has successfully led quality a la carte and banquet culinary operations. Candidates with
excellent seafood experience and experience providing innovative, healthy and clean food will be
favored.
• Is a confident, proactive team builder who has a history of attracting, developing and
retaining team members.
• Has excellent communication skills and is personable and approachable in nature. Candidates
must be comfortable interacting with members, guests, staff and vendors. Successful candidates also
must be open to feedback and possess exceptional listening skills.
• Can consistently define, execute on and achieve goals and objectives. This includes proven and
verifiable leadership qualities with the demonstrated ability to direct, coordinate and control all
facets of an active culinary operation.
• Has verifiable strengths in inspirational leadership and financial performance. Successful
candidates are adept at managing food and labor budgets as well as negotiating prices and contracts
with vendors.
• Possesses computer skills including but not limited to Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel.
Experience with Jonas POS software and other technologies is a plus.
• Has a strong work ethic and understands that longer hours in the high season will be offset by
work/life balance in the off-season.
EDUCATION, CERTIFICATION AND OTHER QUALIFICATIONS
• Candidate should possess a degree in Culinary Arts and/or Hospitality Management and ten
year’s food production and management experience as an executive chef in a private club and/or
4-5-Star hotel or resort.
• A Bachelor’s degree in Food Service Management is preferred.
• Candidate should be a documented Hospitality Educator. Certified Executive Chef certification
is a plus.
• Must be certified in food safety.
• Candidate must be able to travel, without restriction, to the United States as well as
maintain a network of continuing education opportunities both domestically and abroad.
• School-aged children are not permitted to live on the island with the candidate because there
are no schools located on the island.
SALARY & BENEFITS
Salary plus annual and holiday bonuses are offered along with excellent benefits include lodging,
utilities, DirecTV, internet access, full medical coverage, and airfare to Florida for two people
once per month.
This person will be working for Cat Cay Yacht Club, LTD., and therefore will be working for a
foreign company and will be eligible for the IRS Foreign Income Tax Credit. This credit allows
eligible U.S. citizens to deduct up to $92,500 from their total foreign income when they file their
income taxes.
INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO APPLY
Please upload your resume and cover letter (in that order) using the link below. You should have
your documents fully prepared to be attached when prompted for them during the online application
process.
Your cover letter should clearly state why you want to be considered for this position at this
stage of your career and why Cat Cay Yacht Club and living on an island in the Bahamas will likely
be a fit for you if selected.
IMPORTANT:
Save your resume and letter in the following manner:
“Last Name, First Name Resume” “Last Name, First Name Cover Letter”
(These documents should be in Word or PDF format)
Note: Once you complete the application process for this search, you are not able to go back in and
add additional documents.
For directions on how to upload your resume and cover letter visit this page.
Click here to upload your resume and cover letter.
If you have any questions, please email Nan Fisher: nan@kkandw.com
LEAD SEARCH EXECUTIVE
Lisa Carroll
Search Executive
KOPPLIN KUEBLER & WALLACE
561-596-1123
lisa@kkandw.com
