Company description

By drawing inspiration from the flavors and traditions of celebrated global cuisines and delivering unparalleled food and hospitality experiences, ecco gets more produce, meat, fish, and shellfish directly from regenerative farms and food producers onto guests’ plates, and more dollars into farmers’ pockets.

The company was born out of chef-restaurateur Spike Gjerde’s trailblazing approach developed at Woodberry Kitchen– and now includes La Jetée in the Canopy hotel, Bar Dalí, and Cafe Terracotta at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Next year, our company will grow to include an ambitious italian market, a university cafe, and more.

There, Gjerde became the only chef in Baltimore’s history to take home a James Beard Award for “Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic.” Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema has called Woodberry Kitchen “the Chez Panisse of our region.”

We prioritize deliciousness alongside environmental and community impact. We measure our success as a company in dollars returned to growers.

Job description

As our food company rapidly expands, we are searching for an HR director to oversee a new Human Resources department including all employee relations matters, onboarding and payroll, employee benefits, administration, and compliance.

The right individual is passionate about facilitating high quality food employment and has experience as a Human Resource manager in a hospitality context. Experience working in restaurants is preferred. The new HR director will have to work to establish a fundamentally new department, building on existing infrastructure.

Responsibilities:

• Manage all HR functions. Work to build a well functioning department by establishing processes for each area of Human Resources.

• Work to establish an HR presence at each restaurant location across Baltimore including regular on-site presence and engagement with management.

• Manage payroll for 150 employees with 100% accuracy. Work to ensure management systems around time management work exactly as designed.

• Provide ongoing support to management and employees regarding employee matters. Follow well established procedures to resolve issues. Manage all employee documentation.

• Manage employee benefits administration including CareFirst plans, deductions, 401k plans, and bonus program tracking and implementation.

Your work will help our company establish a national presence in hospitality and regenerative agriculture. Each day, your job is to challenge your team and yourself to improve– creating dining destinations, delicious food & beverage, and a thriving business. Make today better than yesterday, tomorrow better than today.

Compensation

this position is: salaried, varies DOE, $65,000.00 - $80,000.00

Application instructions

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Deadline

October 31, 2026