Head Chef

The Pinnacle; Shire of Yarra Ranges; On-site; AUD 85,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

The Pinnacle, a Melbourne pub in Fitzroy North, is seeking a working Head Chef to take full ownership of the kitchen. The role covers the food, the team, the numbers and the standards in a busy venue with seven days trade.

You will lead menu development, drive cost control, recruit and train your brigade, and work closely with the General Manager to ensure the venue runs as one operation with exceptional quality.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as Head Chef or Sous Chef ready to step up in high-volume venue.
• Demonstrated ownership of food cost, gross profit and labour.
• Full working rights in Australia.

Responsibilities

• Menu development, specs and recipe cards, supplier decisions.
• Hiring, training and developing your brigade with clear accountability.
• Manage food cost, gross profit, and labour targets through rostering and stock.
• Maintain food safety, compliance, and pass standards.
• Collaborate with General Manager and FOH to run venue as one operation.

Skills

High-volume kitchen

Food cost management

Team leadership

Punctuality

Education

Trade qualification in commercial cookery

Food Safety Supervisor certification

Job description

We're looking for a Head Chef in Fitzroy North! Take on a great venue, a solid team, and a big summer. $85-100k + super.

The Pinnacle is a proper Melbourne pub — busy, well run, and built on doing the simple things exceptionally well. The kitchen runs at volume and the standard stays high. The team is tight, and the people here take genuine pride in what leaves the pass.

With seven days trade, and a tight-knit team, it's a hands-on kitchen and a close one. We're looking for a working Head Chef to take full ownership of the kitchen: the food, the team, the numbers and the standards.

They set the menu, build and lead the back of house team, hold food quality and safety, and deliver the kitchen's contribution to the venue's financial performance. This is a working Head Chef role — close to the pass rather than administrative — but the accountability is complete. The food, the team, the numbers and the standards all sit here.

The Role

• The food -Menu development and direction, quality and consistency, specs and recipe cards, supplier and product decisions.
• The team -Hiring, training and developing your brigade. Clear communication, real accountability, and a kitchen people want to stay in.
• The numbers -Food cost and gross profit to target, labour managed through the roster, ordering, stock and waste.
• The standards -Food safety, compliance, prep done before service, sections set, the pass moving without a scramble.
• The relationship with the floor -Working with the General Manager and FOH so the venue runs as one operation, not two.

What we're looking for

You've led a high-volume kitchen and you know consistency is a discipline, not luck. You run tight food and labour costs without letting quality slip. You're calm under pressure, direct with your team, and you lead by example on punctuality, prep and presentation.

Specifically

• Proven experience as a Head Chef, or as a Sous Chef ready to step up, in a venue of comparable standard and volume
• Demonstrated ownership of food cost, gross profit and labour
• Confidence building rosters to a labour budget and to staff entitlements
• A real track record of developing chefs — people who stayed and progressed
• Trade qualification in commercial cookery or equivalent experience
• Food Safety Supervisor certification, or the ability to obtain it before you start
• Full working rights in Australia

What good looks like at six months

• Food and labour percentages hitting target month on month, not in a single strong month
• The food going out to the same standard on services you don't work
• Your brigade stable and developing, with the next leaders coming from inside it

Why this role

This is a kitchen you'll genuinely run, in a venue that backs its leaders. You'll have full autonomy over the food and the team, an owner who is engaged rather than absent, and a management team that invests in the people leading its venues.