Executive Pastry Chef

About this position

About Nemesis

Nemesis was founded in Vancouver, Canada, in 2017 with a simple ambition: to create a culture of memorable experiences through coffee, food, and genuine hospitality. Today we operate five Nemesis locations across British Columbia, alongside our sister concepts, Dope Bakehouse and BamBam. Each has its own identity and creative direction, but all are connected by the same foundation: genuine hospitality, uncompromising quality, curiosity, and a commitment to keep evolving what we do.
In 2026, Nemesis was recognized as the number one specialty coffee shop in Canada and number fifteen globally. We are proud of that recognition, but it has only reinforced what matters most to us: doing the work well, staying curious, caring about the details, and continuing to improve.
We are now taking our next major step: New York City. Our arrival marks Nemesis's first expansion into the United States and one of the most meaningful chapters in our growth to date.
At the centre of this expansion is our New York flagship, a purpose built hospitality space bringing together specialty coffee, pastry, food, design, and culture under one roof. Behind it sits a bespoke pastry kitchen with professional grade equipment and dedicated production infrastructure, built to support an ambitious, progressive pastry program. The kitchen will be the culinary and production hub for Nemesis in the United States, supplying the flagship, future locations across the city, and a growing wholesale business.
This will be more than another Nemesis kitchen. It will establish what Nemesis pastry looks, tastes, and feels like in New York, while creating the foundation for our future growth throughout the city.
We are looking for an Executive Pastry Chef who wants to help build it.


The opportunity

We are seeking an Executive Pastry Chef to join our opening leadership team and lead the pastry program of our first United States flagship. As one of the founding leaders of Nemesis New York, you will play a central role in shaping the menu, building the opening kitchen team, establishing production standards, and creating the kitchen culture that will define Nemesis pastry in the United States.
You will work alongside coffee professionals, chefs, bakers, creatives, and operators who care deeply about their craft, take the work seriously, and learn from one another. Our goal is to build a pastry program that feels distinctly Nemesis while belonging naturally in New York.
This role suits a true creative with the business skills to turn that creativity into a commercial reality. You set a high standard while remaining humble. You lead as much through training and mentoring as through decision making. You can balance ambitious, boundary pushing pastry with the consistency and discipline required to run a high volume production kitchen. You will have meaningful ownership over the development of the program and its team from the very beginning.
We care as much about how you lead as what you have made. We are looking for someone warm, calm, curious, and grounded. Someone who cares deeply about the work without needing to make the work about themselves. Someone who gives people clarity and guidance, listens well, shares credit freely, and understands that great ideas can come from anywhere. You should have a point of view, but also the curiosity to let that point of view continue to evolve.
This is also a role for someone who enjoys both sides of the work. You may spend one moment refining the lamination on a croissant dough or the balance of a new seasonal filling, and the next working through food cost, labour, or a P&L. We do not see those as opposing responsibilities. The best pastry programs depend on both.


What you'll do

• Lead the opening and ongoing operation of the Nemesis New York pastry program.
• Recruit, onboard, train, mentor, and develop an outstanding pastry and baking team, including the Pastry Sous Chef.
• Establish and continually evolve the recipes, production standards, and quality benchmarks that define Nemesis pastry in New York.
• Build a kitchen culture rooted in craft, communication, accountability, curiosity, and mutual respect.
• Oversee all R&D, ensuring recipes are scalable, consistent, and technically excellent.
• Craft original recipes and build a year round seasonal calendar that reflects New York's ever changing produce and culinary landscape.
• Develop a diverse, evolving menu for the flagship, future locations, and current and new wholesale accounts.
• Set the standard for innovative, boundary pushing pastry in the New York market.
• Partner closely with the General Manager and with coffee, culinary, creative, and operations leadership to deliver a cohesive experience across the space.
• Build production systems and processes that allow the kitchen to perform consistently as volume grows across retail and wholesale.
• Develop future kitchen leaders through coaching, feedback, training, and meaningful opportunities for progression.
• Own inventory, purchasing, production planning, labour targets, and food cost controls.
• Manage pastry budgets and forecasting, monitor key kitchen and financial performance indicators, and translate them into meaningful action.
• Maintain full compliance with HACCP principles, New York City Department of Health regulations, and all food safety standards.
• Lead through busy production days and challenging situations with confidence, composure, and sound judgement.
• Build relationships with suppliers, growers, partners, and the wider New York food community.
• Help establish the operational foundation that will support future Nemesis locations throughout New York.

We expect our pastry leaders to keep raising their own standards and their team's, while building a kitchen where people feel supported, trusted, and empowered to grow.

Craft and creativity. You approach pastry with genuine curiosity, always refining technique, exploring new flavours and formats, and pushing what is possible without losing sight of what makes a product excellent to eat. You understand that creativity means nothing without the technical discipline to execute it consistently.

Consistency and scalability. You know that a brilliant recipe is only as good as its ability to be replicated, day after day, location after location, account after account. You build the systems, documentation, and training that let quality hold steady as volume and complexity grow.

Humility and respect. You lead a kitchen, but you never stop being part of it. You are as willing to laminate a batch alongside your team as you are to sign off a menu, and you are honest about the limits of your own knowledge. Some of the best ideas in a kitchen come from the cooks closest to the work, and you make room for them.

Self awareness and empathy. You understand that the mood of a kitchen often starts with the person leading it. You pay attention to how your words and decisions land, invite honest feedback on your own leadership, and recognize that each baker learns and performs differently. You can be understanding without letting the standard slip.

Optimism and responsibility. When a new product does not work, a supplier lets you down, or a wholesale order lands at the worst possible moment, you look for the way through rather than the reason it went wrong. You take ownership of the program's results, learn quickly from setbacks, and model the attitude you want your team to bring.

Judgement and common sense. You know when a problem needs a week of testing and when it needs a quick, practical decision before the next bake. You keep a clear head under pressure and weigh every call against what is best for your team, the guest, and the long term health of the program.

Warmth and composure. You set a steady, positive tone, even in the middle of the busiest production push. You can deliver hard feedback kindly, hold the bar high without the kitchen feeling tense, and make sure every member of the team feels valued for what they bring.

Curiosity and collaboration. You arrive with a clear vision for the program and stay genuinely open to shaping it with others. You seek out the perspectives of your team and your colleagues across coffee, front of house, and culinary, and you draw on food, design, and culture to create pastry that feels unmistakably Nemesis rather than a copy of what already exists.

Business acumen. You are a true creative with the commercial instincts to match. You are comfortable with food cost, labour planning, and P&L, and able to turn ambitious ideas into a sustainable, profitable program.

Growth and development. You treat every recipe, system, and menu as something that can still get better, including your own ideas. Just as importantly, you invest in the people around you. The bakers and pastry leaders who grow under you are one of the truest measures of your own success.


What you bring

• Five or more years of pastry leadership experience, including at least three years as a Head Pastry Chef or Executive Pastry Chef within a respected, high volume bakery, cafe, restaurant, hotel, or hospitality organization.
• A genuine passion for pastry and for the memorable guest experiences it creates.
• Expert level knowledge of classical and contemporary pastry technique, including laminated doughs, viennoiserie, chocolate work, and large scale production systems.
• Proven experience recruiting, training, mentoring, and developing high performing kitchen teams.
• A leadership style grounded in humility, accountability, communication, warmth, and respect.
• Proven experience in R&D, recipe development, and scaling production without compromising quality.
• Strong understanding of inventory management, purchasing, labour planning, and cost controls.
• Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, food cost, and P&L analysis, and the ability to translate performance into practical decisions.
• Working knowledge of HACCP principles and New York City Department of Health regulations.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills.
• Confidence operating in a high volume, guest facing bakery environment.
• The ability to collaborate effectively across coffee, front of house, culinary, creative, and operations teams.
• A thoughtful point of view and genuine curiosity about food, design, and culture, with the judgement to turn influence into something original rather than simply imitate what already exists.
• Comfort moving between the creative and commercial sides of the business, protecting the craft while understanding the numbers that sustain it.
• A desire to continually learn, improve, and challenge the status quo.
• Comfort operating within an ambitious, growing company where systems and structures will continue to evolve.
• Experience within specialty coffee or wholesale is valuable, but great pastry leadership matters most.

What we offer

Joining an opening team is different from stepping into an established kitchen. Alongside the opportunity to help shape the program from its foundation, we want to provide the support, clarity, and room to grow that allows great people to do their best work.

• Competitive base salary of $80,000 to $100,000, with performance based bonus potential.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Paid time off, plus sick leave.
• Retirement savings plan, including 401(k).
• Staff meals and product discounts across Nemesis, Dope Bakehouse, and BamBam.
• Kitchen tool and uniform allowance.
• A founding leadership position with meaningful ownership over building the opening pastry team and program.
• Leadership development and progression opportunities as Nemesis expands throughout New York.
• Relocation and housing support for candidates moving from outside New York. Visa or work authorization support may be considered where appropriate.

Build what's next

We are not looking for someone to simply maintain a bakery. We are looking for someone who wants to build one. Someone who sees an empty kitchen, a new team, and a new city as an opportunity to create something meaningful.
Our Executive Pastry Chef will be one of the people responsible for translating nearly a decade of Nemesis craft and hospitality in Vancouver into something that feels authentic to New York, while helping us evolve along the way. This is an opportunity to build a team, establish a program, shape a menu, and help define Nemesis pastry in the United States from day one.
We want to build a place that people are proud to work in, return to, and care about. The person leading pastry should care just as deeply about the people, the craft, the details, and the work required to make that happen.

Location

New York .

The source lists New York but does not specify a city. Check the original listing for the work location and any remote-work conditions.

How to apply

Review the vacancy and complete the application on the employer or recruitment partner’s website. Requisition ID: WJ-3238414678.