Head Chef (Food Services Lead) – Generous Package for the right applicant

Yarram & District Health Service; Yarram; On-site; AUD 95,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary packaging

Meals benefit

Onsite gym

Onsite cafe

Supportive team

Professional development

Beautiful location

Job summary

Yarram & District Health Service in Yarram, VIC is seeking a Head Chef (Food Services Lead) to drive day-to-day food services. You will lead a high-standard kitchen, build menus for aged care residents, and report to the General Manager of Operations on staffing, budgets, and compliance.

The role requires Cert IV Commercial Cookery or equivalent, strong leadership, and experience in high-volume institutional catering, with a focus on HACCP and food safety.

Qualifications

• Cert IV Commercial Cookery or equivalent.
• Head Chef / Senior Chef leadership.
• High-volume institutional catering experience.
• Roster, supervision, coaching.
• Knowledge of food safety legislation and HACCP.
• Healthcare/aged care experience desirable.

Responsibilities

• Lead the kitchen team and maintain high standards of quality, hygiene, presentation and professionalism.
• Deliver meals that are consistent, well-cooked and thoughtfully presented, with residents' experience as the key measure.
• Build and deliver menus aligned to the approved Aged Care meal roster, incorporating resident preferences and feedback.
• Ensure meals meet dietary and texture needs where required, without compromising quality or presentation.
• Oversee food safety systems (cleaning schedules, temperature control, storage, allergens) and ensure incident reporting when required.
• Manage rosters, leave coverage, delegation, coaching and performance follow-up.
• Lead ordering and stock control, minimise waste, monitor cost pressures, and maintain strong supplier coordination with General Manager of Operations oversight.
• Provide regular updates to the General Manager of Operations and escalated risks promptly (food safety, equipment failure, supply disruption).
• Maintain accurate records and documentation for audits and operational governance.

Skills

Leadership

Team leadership

High-volume catering

Kitchen management

Food safety HACCP

Administration

Education

Cert IV Commercial Cookery

Job description

Head Chef (Food Services Lead) – Generous Package for the right applicant

Yarram & District Health Service – Yarram VIC

Reporting to the General Manager of Operations, you will lead the day-to-day delivery of Food Services across YDHS, ensuring safe, consistent, high-quality meals and service in line with the YDHS Food Safety Plan, relevant legislation, and HACCP principles. This is a leadership role requiring a suitably qualified Chef with strong Head Chef capability - able to run a structured, high-standard kitchen and build a positive, accountable team culture. You will work closely with and report regularly to the General Manager of Operations on performance, staffing, budgeting, compliance, and improvement priorities. You will also build and deliver menus based on YDHS's approved Aged Care meal roster, ensuring meals reflect the tastes and preferences of residents and meet all dietary requirements.

Key responsibilities

Lead the kitchen team and maintain high standards of quality, hygiene, presentation and professionalism

Deliver meals that are consistent, well-cooked and thoughtfully presented, with residents' experience as the key measure

Build and deliver menus aligned to the approved Aged Care meal roster, incorporating resident preferences and feedback

Ensure meals meet dietary and texture needs where required, without compromising quality or presentation

Oversee food safety systems (cleaning schedules, temperature control, storage, allergens) and ensure incident reporting when required

Manage rosters, leave coverage, delegation, coaching and performance follow-up

Lead ordering and stock control, minimise waste, monitor cost pressures, and maintain strong supplier coordination with General Manager of Operations oversight

Provide regular updates to the General Manager of Operations and escalated risks promptly (food safety, equipment failure, supply disruption)

Maintain accurate records and documentation for audits and operational governance

About you

Cert IV Commercial Cookery and/or Cert IV Kitchen Management (or equivalent)

Head Chef / Senior Chef / Kitchen Manager experience (leadership, compliance, workflow, costs)

High-volume/institutional catering experience

Team leadership experience (rostering, supervision, coaching)

Strong admin capability (rosters, records, supplier coordination)

Sound knowledge of food safety legislation and HACCP

Healthcare/aged care/hospital experience (desirable)

Continuous improvement/waste reduction initiatives (desirable)

Current Victorian Driver's Licence (desirable)

National Police Record Check completed within the last 12 months prior to commencement

About us

The Yarram and District Health Service (YDHS) is based in Yarram, 220 kilometers south east of Melbourne on the South Gippsland Highway in rural Victoria. We provide our community with Acute Inpatient services, Dialysis, Urgent Care, Aged Care, Respite Care, Primary Health, Community Services and an Integrated Health Care Centre. Our consumers and community are at the core of every decision we make. YDHS want to attract and retain the best staff to provide an exceptional service to our community. We promote and develop opportunities for people to contribute to and encourage innovation, leadership and collaboration. We are committed making YDHS a Centre of Excellence in everything we do.

What’s on offer

• Diverse service.
• Salary packaging up to $9,000 per annum.
• Meals/Entertainment benefit up to $2,650 per annum.

• Free access to a brand-new state of the art, onsite gymnasium.
• Brand new onsite Cafe.
• Experienced and friendly team to offer support at all times.
• Access to continuing professional development to improve skills and knowledge.
• Beautiful location - Yarram is a major hub for surrounding areas.

Diversity and inclusion

We embrace workforce diversity and actively encourage applications from across our community including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with linguistically diverse backgrounds, people of all genders and gender identities and people with disabilities.