Prep Chef - Third Wave BBQ / Central Production Kitchen

Optura; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 80,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Third Wave BBQ’s Central Production Kitchen in Carnegie is hiring a Prep Chef to support high-volume production. You will work under the Head Chef, learning the art of smoking while handling meat prep, salads, sauces and pastry.

You’ll gain hands‑on experience with brisket, ribs and more, doing shift-based, unsupervised evening smoke work as you grow. This role offers full-time hours across days and weekends.

Qualifications

• At least 2 years’ experience in a busy commercial kitchen.
• Sharp knife skills and real speed, without cutting corners.
• Reliability and discipline to work unsupervised.
• Comfort with physical work—big cuts and big batches.

Responsibilities

• Prep, trim and season meat for all stores.
• Learn to smoke and cook to spec, then run evening smoke shifts unsupervised.
• Make salads, sauces and pastry that go out with it.
• Portion, label and pack orders for venues.
• Follow recipes and specs exactly, every batch.

Skills

Kitchen experience

Knife skills

Fast pace

Reliability

Job description

Prep Chef - Third Wave BBQ / Central Production Kitchen

Prep Chef | Big BBQ. Serious Volume. Learn the Art of Smoking.
Third Wave BBQ | Central Production Kitchen, Carnegie
$80,000–$85,000 + super | Full-time

The food the world watches starts here.

Third Wave BBQ is more than a restaurant group. We’re one of the most-followed restaurant brands on the planet, with our social content reaching up to 200 million views a month.

Slow-smoked meats. Loaded burgers. Outrageous specials. Food that stops people scrolling and brings them through the doors.

Behind every headline dish is great preparation. Our central production kitchen in Carnegie preps a few hundred kilos of meat a week for all our stores, plus the salads, sauces and pastry that go with it.

We’re looking for a Prep Chef to join the team.
You’ll work under the Head Chef that runs our production kitchen, and learn the art of smoking properly.

Why join Third Wave?

• A craft for life. Smoking is a skill that stays with you. Learn it properly, on brisket, ribs and more.
• Volume that builds skill. A few hundred kilos of meat a week. You’ll get faster, sharper and more consistent every shift.
• Real responsibility. Once you’re trained up, evening smoke shifts are yours to run on your own.
• A site with momentum. Carnegie is also home to The Underdog, our new sports bar brand.
• Work directly with owners and management. No corporate layers, decisions actually get made.
• Grow with us. As Third Wave expands, production grows with every new venue. Learn it inside out and there’s somewhere to go.

What you’ll do

• Prep, trim and season meat for all our stores.
• Learn to smoke and cook to spec, then run evening smoke shifts unsupervised.
• Make the salads, sauces and pastry that go out with it.
• Portion, label and pack orders for the venues.
• Follow recipes and specs exactly, every batch.
• Keep food safety, cleanliness and organisation at a high standard.

Who we’re looking for

You bring:

• At least 2 years’ experience in a busy commercial kitchen.
• Sharp knife skills and real speed, without cutting corners.
• The reliability and discipline to work unsupervised.
• Comfort with physical work — big cuts and big batches.
• Pride in doing the basics properly, every time.
• Full-time availability across days, nights and weekends.
• Flexibility when the roster changes.

Smoking or butchery experience is a bonus. Strong fundamentals and a genuine desire to learn matter more.

Big social presence. No pressure to be on camera.

Love showing what happens behind the smoke? There may be opportunities to get involved.

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