Executive Head Chef

Anglicare Sydney; Sydney; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work options

Salary packaging up to $15,900

Accommodation & meals salary packaging

Professional development

Employee discounts

Employee Assistance Program

Fitness Passport

Job summary

Anglicare Sydney is seeking an Executive Head Chef to lead culinary strategy across the Retirement Living portfolio, overseeing Cornerstone Café, and governance for Signature Cafés and Restaurants.

You will drive menu innovation, food quality, safety standards, and chef development, delivering consistent, high‑quality dining experiences for residents while ensuring operational excellence.

This is a senior, multi-site role with a focus on nutrition, hospitality, and sustainable business outcomes.

Qualifications

• Recognised Commercial Cookery qualification and food safety certification.
• 10+ years' culinary experience, including 5+ years in an Executive Chef or multi-site leadership role.
• Proven success leading multi-site café, restaurant, or hospitality operations.
• Strong expertise in menu development, food quality, cost management, and kitchen performance.

Responsibilities

• Lead culinary strategy and food philosophy across the Retirement Living portfolio.
• Drive menu development, food quality, presentation, and innovation.
• Establish culinary standards and operational excellence across multiple sites.
• Monitor food costs, waste, productivity, and kitchen performance.
• Ensure food safety, dietary compliance, and nutritional standards.
• Coach, mentor, and develop chefs and culinary teams.
• Partner with Procurement and stakeholders to improve quality, value, and efficiency.
• Provide culinary input into kitchen design, equipment selection and hospitality projects.

Skills

Menu development

Food quality

Cost management

Kitchen performance

Leadership

Education

Commercial Cookery qualification

Food safety certification

Job description

• Shape the Culinary Vision - Lead and influence the food strategy, standards, and resident dining experience across a significant Retirement Living portfolio.
• Drive Innovation at Scale - Create contemporary dining experiences, lead menu innovation, and elevate culinary excellence across multiple cafés and restaurants.
• Develop High-Performing Teams - Mentor and inspire chefs across the portfolio, building capability, consistency, and a strong hospitality-focused culture.

Do you want a career that means more? At Anglicare Sydney, we bring the strength, the support, and the strategy to make it happen.

We're a well-respected not-for-profit that's been serving society's most vulnerable for 170 years. Each year, we achieve life-changing outcomes for the 40,000+ people who rely on our person-centred support. And now, we're extending our reach and impact even further.

As our Executive Head Chef, you will lead culinary strategy across the Retirement Living portfolio, overseeing Cornerstone Cafe, and providing governance for Signature Cafés and Restaurants. You will drive menu innovation, food quality, safety standards, chef development, and operational excellence to deliver consistent, high-quality dining experiences for residents.

Your opportunity

Reporting to the Senior Leadership and as the Executive Head Chef, you will be responsible for setting the culinary vision and standards across the portfolio, ensuring residents enjoy contemporary, high-quality dining experiences every day. You will play a critical role in creating exceptional dining experiences that balance innovation, nutrition, hospitality, quality, and commercial sustainability.

With integrity and resilience, you will:

• Lead the culinary strategy and food philosophy across the Retirement Living portfolio.
• Drive menu development, food quality, presentation, and innovation.
• Establish culinary standards and operational excellence across multiple sites.
• Monitor food costs, waste, productivity, and kitchen performance.
• Ensure food safety, dietary compliance, and nutritional standards.
• Coach, mentor, and develop chefs and culinary teams.
• Partner with Procurement and key stakeholders to improve quality, value, and efficiency.
• Provide culinary input into kitchen design, equipment selection and hospitality projects, including new developments and refurbishments.

What you'll bring

You will be a passionate and strategic culinary leader with extensive experience leading multi-site food operations, developing high-performing teams, and delivering innovative food strategies. You will bring expertise in menu development, food quality, food safety, commercial performance, and stakeholder engagement, with a proven ability to enhance resident experiences while driving operational excellence and sustainable business outcomes.

What's required:

• Recognised Commercial Cookery qualification and food safety certification.
• 10+ years' culinary experience, including 5+ years in an Executive Chef or multi-site leadership role.
• Proven success leading multi-site café, restaurant, or hospitality operations.
• Strong expertise in menu development, food quality, cost management, and kitchen performance.

What's preferred:

• An understanding of service environments where customer experience is key
• A passion for creating food experiences that bring people together
• Demonstrated ability to develop high-performing culinary teams.
• Strong commercial acumen and stakeholder management skills.

We provide meaningful opportunities and choice, both for the individuals and communities we support and the dedicated people here who make it happen.

At Anglicare, you'll get the security, stability and opportunities that come with a strong, well-established organisation that's ready for the future. You'll belong to a community of kind, humble and respectful people of all faiths and backgrounds. You will also be supported to gain new knowledge, deepen your experience and expertise, and shape a rewarding career.

On top of that, here are just some of the tangible benefits you will enjoy in a career with us:

• Flexible work options to get the most out of work and life
• Pay less tax on your income and increase your take home pay. With salary packaging, up to $15,900 of your income is tax free.
• Spend up to $2,650 on accommodation, meals, and entertainment also tax free with salary packaging.
• Ongoing professional development and leadership training to advance your career
• Exclusive discounts to over 400 retailers
• Employee Assistance Program and Fitness Passport with discounts to over 800 gyms for you and your family

Are you ready for a career that means more?

Anglicare is as wonderfully diverse as the customers and communities we support. While we are guided by our Christian-based values, our team includes people of all faiths and backgrounds who share our commitment to serving others, and we value the diverse perspectives they bring. We strongly encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people of all ages, genders, abilities, and cultural backgrounds.