Head Chef - QT Canberra

QT Hotels and Resorts; Canberra; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Parity for all levels

50% dining & stays across EVT hotels

Movie & cinema discounts

Seasonal perks at Thredbo

Career growth opportunities

Paid parental leave

Job summary

QT Canberra is seeking a driven Head Chef to lead the kitchen operations, team culture and guest experience. You will own rostering, quality control, cost discipline and supplier relationships to shape daily operations.

As a pivotal leadership role, you’ll manage labour and food costs, mentor staff, and partner with the hotel leadership team to run the kitchen with autonomy while maintaining top quality and consistency across outlets.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading a high-volume commercial kitchen.
• Track record managing labour costs, food cost percentage and supplier negotiations.
• Strong people leadership with ability to coach and develop a team.
• Comfort with budgets, KPIs and monthly reporting.

Responsibilities

• Lead kitchen operations and team culture from rostering to service.
• Drive food cost performance without compromising quality.
• Strengthen supplier relationships for better outcomes.
• Ensure consistent food quality, presentation, and menu execution.
• Embed KPIs into daily kitchen operations for visibility.
• Mentor and develop your team and kitchen culture.
• Partner with hotel leadership to run the kitchen autonomously.

Skills

High-volume kitchen leadership

Labour cost management

Budgeting & KPIs

People leadership

Job description

QT Hotels & Resorts is EVT’s premium lifestyle hotel brand, with locations in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Pioneers behind the philosophy of ‘unexpected and unrequested’, with every guest engagement presenting an opportunity to delight, and every QT property inspired by local influence with signature quirk.

EVT has an endless range of roles and careers paths to explore across over 140 entertainment experiences like Event Cinemas and Moonlight Cinemas, 150 award winning restaurants and bars, and 80+ hotels, including QT, Rydges, Atura, LyLo, Independent Collection and Australia’s most loved year round alpine resort, Thredbo. Our ventures include a ~$2.3B property portfolio and hotel management, just to name a few. Once you’re in, there’s no limits on where your career could take you.

About the Role:

QT Canberra is looking for a driven, hands‑on Head Chef to lead our kitchen and help shape the next chapter of our food offering. This is a pivotal leadership role. You'll take full ownership of kitchen operations - from team culture and rostering through to food quality, cost discipline and supplier relationships - with real scope to leave your mark on how the kitchen runs day to day.

Key Responsibilities:

• Building a well‑run, well‑led kitchen team - reducing reliance on overtime and casual labour through smarter rostering and stronger day‑to‑day leadership
• Driving food cost performance through tighter purchasing, portion control and waste reduction, without compromising quality
• Strengthening supplier relationships to secure better purchasing outcomes
• Ensuring consistent food quality, presentation and menu execution across all outlets
• Embedding simple, trackable KPIs into daily kitchen operations (food cost %, waste, labour cost, productivity) so performance is visible and continuously improved
• Mentoring and developing your team, building a kitchen culture people want to be part of
• Acting as a genuine partner to the broader hotel leadership team, with autonomy to run the kitchen as your own

What you'll bring:

• Proven experience leading a high‑volume commercial kitchen, ideally within hotels or a comparable hospitality setting
• A track record of managing labour costs, food cost percentage and supplier negotiations
• Strong people leadership - someone who can coach, hold standards and build a stable, motivated team
• Comfort working with budgets, KPIs and monthly reporting
• Creativity balanced with commercial discipline
• The stamina and resilience for a fast‑paced, physically demanding kitchen environment

How You Work

• Daymaker ethos — no one’s too big for the small things.
• Inclusive leader — values diverse perspectives; builds belonging.

Perks from Day One

As part of EVT, you unlock Elevate Perks from your first day.

• Parity for all levels - no ivory towers.
• 50% off dining and stays across EVT hotels – QT, Rydges, Atura, LyLo and more.
• $2 movie tickets + discounts on Gold Class, Moonlight Cinema and Candy Bar.
• Seasonal perks at Thredbo.
• Rapid career growth across our hotel & entertainment network.
• Paid parental leave; community & volunteering opportunities.

Join QT Canberra and become an EVT experience creator, opportunity taker, the ultimate Daymaker.

Join and make a positive impact on our people, communities, and environment every day.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and review applications as they come in - don’t wait! We can’t wait to see the places your career will go with EVT.