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Position Description

Pit Master

Horseshoe Bay Sporting Club

BUILD TEXAS'S NEXT GREAT BARBECUE.

We are building one of the best barbecue programs in Texas. Not a country‑club kitchen with a smoker out back. Not a banquet line cranking out brisket for weddings. A real, serious, honest program — and we are looking for the Pit Master who is ready to build it.

Horseshoe Bay Sporting Club sits on a legacy ranch in the Texas Hill Country — a private shooting club for members of The Club at Horseshoe Bay. We have the property, the budget, the membership demand, the team support, and the freedom to do this right. We want the person who knows, in their gut, they could be one of the best in Texas if they had the right shot — and is ready to take it.

This is a foundational seat. The Pit Master we hire will build the program from the ground up — pits, menu, team, standards, identity. And the work spans two pits: the club program at HSBSC and an all‑new destination barbecue spot at Horseshoe Bay Resort that you will help build from the ground up.

Their name will be on it. Their voice will define it. And if it goes the way we plan, members and guests will drive from across Texas to eat what comes off this property.

A quote: "If we get this right, people drive in for the shooting and stay for the brisket."

Position Summary

The Pit Master owns the barbecue program at Horseshoe Bay Sporting Club end to end — pits, meat, menu, team, standards, identity — and runs two distinct pit programs: the club program at HSBSC and an all‑new destination barbecue spot at Horseshoe Bay Resort, built out with your direct involvement.

This is a creative leadership role with the daily reality of a working pit. You are not a banquet chef. You are not a kitchen manager. You are the person whose name and craft define what comes off the smokers at HSBSC, and whose hands are on the pits to make sure it stays that way.

This is a build‑from‑zero seat. There is no existing program to inherit, no menu to maintain, no team to manage. The pits, the smokehouse layout, the meat sourcing, the daily cook plan, the side program, the desserts, the service flow — all of that is yours to design with our full operational and capital support.

Title

Pit Master

Reports To

General Manager (with founder access on creative direction)

Location

Horseshoe Bay Sporting Club & Horseshoe Bay Resort — Horseshoe Bay, TX

Compensation

$110,000 – $130,000 base, salaried, exempt.

Competitive benefits.

Schedule

Full‑time, on‑site. Pit hours are pit hours — early starts, long cooks, weekend service.

Classification

Full‑time, salaried, exempt

Entity

Horseshoe Bay Sporting Club Operating Co. LLC

Start Date

Mutually agreed — preference for prompt onboarding to lead the build‑out

What You’ll Do

• The Pit Program
  • Pit Design & Build — spec the smokers — wood, steel, capacity, configuration. We’ll buy what you specify. If you have a builder you trust, we’ll work with them. If you want offset stick burners, you get offset stick burners. If you want a custom rig, we’ll build it.
  • Meat Sourcing — own the relationships — direct ranchers, wholesale, dry‑aging programs, regional partnerships. Quality starts upstream. The budget is there to do this right.
  • Cook Program — daily smoke schedule, prep cycle, hold strategy, service‑day choreography. You set the standards and the team executes against them.
  • Quality Standards — bark, smoke ring, render, slice, presentation. The standard is whatever you say it is — and whatever you say has to hold up against the best in Texas.
• Menu & Concept
  • Menu Architecture — brisket and ribs are the spine — beyond that, the menu is yours. Sausage program, sides, breads, sauces, smoked specialties, seasonal features. We have opinions, but you have the pen.
  • Regional Voice — Central Texas, East Texas, German‑Czech influence, modern Hill Country interpretation — wherever you take it, the voice should be coherent and yours. Don’t try to be every BBQ joint at once.
  • Side Program — the truth is most BBQ programs lose to their sides. Ours won’t. Hire and train for the sides like they’re the entrée. Beans, slaw, potato salad, greens, breads — give them the same rigor.
  • Beverage Pairing — coordinate with our Lead Bartender on beer and bourbon pairings. The smoke and the spirits should belong together.
• Team & Training
  • Build the Line — hire your own pit crew, prep team, and service line. We’ll back you with recruiting support and competitive comp. Your standards, your hires, your culture.
  • Training Program — document the standards. Train the team to your spec. Build a kitchen culture where the work is taken seriously and the people are taken care of.
  • Mentorship Track — if the right young pit cook comes through and wants to learn the trade, we want this to be a place where that happens. Apprenticeship is part of how the craft survives.
  • Hospitality Standard — members will know your name and your team’s names. The kitchen is part of the member experience, not separate from it. The bar we hold across the network: we are the best part of our members’ day.
• The Build‑Out (Year One Focus)
  • Smokehouse Design — work with our team and contractors to spec the smokehouse build — workflow, ventilation, prep stations, cold storage, service line. You know what you need to do the work right; we build to your spec.
  • Resort Destination Build — take a direct hand in building out the all‑new destination barbecue spot at Horseshoe Bay Resort — concept, pits, menu, and standards — working alongside the resort team. Two pits, one standard: yours.
  • Sourcing Infrastructure — stand up the supplier relationships, the receiving cadence, the inventory system, the cost controls. Boring but essential.
  • Soft‑Open & Iteration — plan the first 90 days of service deliberately. Member previews, friends‑and‑family service, calibration of pace and pricing. Get the rhythm right before you scale it.
  • Identity & Story — work with our Marketing Director on the program’s voice and positioning. Your story is the program’s story — we’ll help you tell it well, but we won’t speak for you.

The Growth Path

Earn the Name. Most pit master jobs are static — you run the pits, you cash the check, you do it again next week. We don’t see this seat that way. Rhythm is an early‑stage company building a network of clubs across the Hill Country, and the right Pit Master is stepping into something with room to grow.

From this seat, the path forward is real — and we’ll shape it together as the work unfolds. It is not promised. It is earned.

The Path Forward

Pit Master → Named Pit Master of HSBSC Build it, run it, earn it. Become the named Pit Master of HSBSC’s program — your reputation tied to this property, this membership, this craft. The Texas BBQ press starts paying attention. Members travel to eat what you cook. Your name becomes the answer when people ask who’s doing the best brisket in the Hill Country.

Who You Are

We are not interested in résumés full of corporate kitchen titles. We are interested in pit time, hands, fire, and a body of work.

• Real Pit Time — you’ve put in real years on real pits — whether that’s as #2 at a flagship Texas joint, running your own program, or building a serious following on your own steam. You may not be the named name yet. You’ve got the chops to be.
• Hungry to Build — you feel it in your gut: with the right platform, you could be one of the best in Texas. You’re not waiting for permission — you’re waiting for the right shot.
• A Builder, Not a Maintainer — you want to build something. The idea of inheriting a program someone else designed doesn’t excite you. Designing the pits, the menu, the team, the standards — that’s the seat that pulls you in.
• Honest About the Craft — you know what good barbecue is and what bad barbecue is. You don’t apologize for the standards, you don’t lower them when service gets busy, and you don’t pretend something is good when it isn’t.
• A Hospitality Person at Heart — you want members to feel taken care of. You want the team to feel respected. You understand that BBQ is hospitality with a smoker attached, not a vending machine.
• Calm Under Pressure — service days are service days. Big events are big events. The right Pit Master gets through them without losing their composure or letting the standards slip.
• Long Game — you are looking for a place to plant a flag, not a stepping stone. A career seat. The right candidate stays for years and builds a body of work here.
• A Good Human — you take care of the team. You give credit. You handle setbacks like an adult. You leave politics and ego at the gate.

Background That Translates

None of this is required, but any of it is a meaningful signal:

• Strong #2 at a Top Texas Joint — you’ve been running pits behind a named pit master at a serious, destination‑level Texas operation — the kind people line up for at sunrise, or the next‑generation programs still earning that line. You’ve earned the chops. You’re ready for the lead seat.
• Built Your Own Program — you opened a place. You ran it. You know what it costs, in dollars and in sleep, to put real BBQ on a plate every day.
• Competition Background — sanctioned competition circuits — regional, national, or world‑championship level — competition cooking isn’t the same as service cooking, but the discipline translates.
• Destination Hospitality — lodge, ranch, resort, or private club background — particularly any kitchen where the operation runs on real ingredients and real standards.
• Self‑Taught and Earned It — some of the best pit masters in Texas don’t have a culinary school line on their résumé. We don’t care about the credential. We care about the work.

What We Offer Compensation

• Base Salary — $110,000 – $130,000, calibrated to experience and the depth of work behind you. Salaried, full‑time, exempt.
• Relocation Support — moving to the Hill Country? We’ll help. Real relocation package on the table for the right person.
• Housing Conversation — we are open to a discussion about on‑property or near‑property housing for a candidate where that matters. Not a promise — but not a no.

Benefits

• Competitive Benefits — a competitive benefits package comes with the seat. Full details shared during the hiring process.
• Equipment Investment — we invest in the pits, the smokehouse, the knives, the tools. You spec what you need to do the work right; we make it happen.
• Property Access — use of HSBSC and other Rhythm properties under team‑member terms — including range time, hunting and fishing access, dining.
• Press & Recognition Support — we will actively support your brand, your press appearances, and your standing in the Texas BBQ community. Your name belongs to you, not us.

The Property

HSBSC sits on legacy ranch land in the Texas Hill Country, an hour outside Austin. The setting is stunning — open country, big sky, the kind of place members and guests are happy to spend a full day. The kitchen and pit program will be a destination within a destination, with the property itself doing half the work of the visit.

Why This Role Matters

Texas BBQ is a craft tradition. The state has roughly a dozen genuinely great programs at any given moment — places where the work, the standards, and the identity all align. We want to build the next one.

We are not delusional about what that takes. It takes a real Pit Master with real chops, given real resources and real freedom, then trusted to do the work over years. That’s the pitch. We have the resources. We have the property. We have the membership. We are looking for the person.

If you are that person — if you’ve been waiting for a seat where the ownership group respects the craft, where the budget is real, where the freedom is real, and where you can plant a flag and stay — we’d like to talk.

About The Network

Three Clubs. One Company.

Rhythm Outdoors operates three properties across the Texas Hill Country, built on the C.L.E.A.R. framework — Community, Lifestyle, Education, Adventures, Restaurant & Retail. We partner with landowners to preserve legacy ranch land while creating places where people reconnect with themselves, each other, and the outdoors.

• Hog Heaven Sporting Club — our members club outside Austin in Dripping Springs — sporting clays, wingshooting, hunting, and a clubhouse culture built around camaraderie.
• Packsaddle Precision & Training — a 2,000‑acre precision rifle and training facility with a 3,750‑yard range, 10 minutes from HSBSC — the hard‑skills hub of the network.
• Horseshoe Bay Sporting Club — where this seat lives. Private members club for members of The Club at Horseshoe Bay, operated in partnership with The Club at Horseshoe Bay.

How to Reach Us

This isn’t a generic application. We are not looking for a polished résumé and a cover letter — we are looking for the right person and a body of work. If you read this and felt your shoulders drop because someone finally described the seat you’ve been ready for, send us a note.

Tell us where you’ve cooked, what you’ve built, and what you’d build here. A résumé is fine but not required. A photo of your bark is more useful. Pictures of pits you’ve run or rebuilt are even better.

Honest writing about the craft is what we’re looking for.

If you have a body of work — a place you ran, a program you built, statewide press recognition, a video, a podcast appearance — send the link. We will watch it, listen to it, read it. We will respect your time and respond honestly.

Horseshoe Bay Sporting Club

An equal opportunity employer.

Horseshoe Bay Sporting Club Operating Co. LLC | Rhythm Outdoors