Brand Lead Chef - Arcade

Arcade Covent Garden; Greater London; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Refer a friend bonus

Wage access to earned wages

Birthday / career milestones budget

50% off food in Arcade restaurants

50% off food in JKS restaurants within

Counselling and healthcare services

Hospitality Action support

Team parties

Job summary

Arcade Covent Garden is seeking a commercially minded Brand Lead Chef to own one flagship brand within our fast-paced kitchen at Covent Garden. You’ll lead a small team, ensure product quality and drive profitability in a high-volume environment.

Take ownership of hero brand operations, champion menu execution, control costs, and collaborate with Site Operations Manager to optimise performance and guest experience.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Senior Sous Chef or Head Chef in a high-volume kitchen.
• Strong leadership and team-building skills to manage a small kitchen team.
• Commercial focus with ability to drive sales and manage costs.
• Excellent standards in food safety and quality.

Responsibilities

• Deliver exceptional food quality and consistency across services.
• Lead a small team and foster an accountable kitchen culture.
• Drive weekly and monthly sales targets and optimise revenue.
• Control labour, stock, and waste to protect profitability.
• Collaborate with Site Operations Manager to address challenges quickly.

Skills

Leadership

Food quality

Commercial mindset

Job description

About Arcade:

Arcade incubates and scales exciting food brands in partnership with talented chefs and creators. We're redefining modern hospitality by combining entrepreneurial food concepts with operational excellence and high-volume delivery. With multiple brands operating under one roof, Arcade offers a fast-paced, dynamic environment where ambitious hospitality professionals can make a real impact.

About The Role:

We're excited to open applications for our Brand Lead Chef opportunities across four of our Arcade brands; Hero, Pablos, Solis, and Gracey's Pizza at Covent Garden.

As a Brand Lead Chef, you will take ownership of one dedicated brand, becoming the driving force behind its day-to-day success. Whether leading Hero, Pablo's, Solis, or Gracey's Pizza, you'll run your kitchen like it's your own business, leading a small team, championing product quality, and delivering strong commercial performance.

This role is perfect for a commercially minded chef who thrives in a high-volume environment and wants to play a key role in the success of one of Arcade's exciting chef-led concepts.

As a successful Brand Lead Chef at Arcade, you will:

• Deliver exceptional food quality and consistency in every service
• Lead and inspire a small team, creating a positive and accountable kitchen culture
• Drive weekly and monthly sales targets while identifying opportunities to maximise revenue
• Manage labour budgets effectively through smart scheduling and team deployment
• Control food costs, stock levels, ordering, and waste to deliver strong profitability
• Ensure full compliance with food safety, health & safety, and hygiene standards
• Work closely with the Site Operations Manager to drive performance and solve challenges quickly

We'd love to hear from you if you:

• Bring proven experience as a Senior Sous Chef, Head Chef, Kitchen Manager, Brand Lead Chef, or similar leadership role within a high-volume hospitality environment
• Take real pride in product quality and consistently delivering exceptional food experiences
• Run your kitchen with an ownership mindset and understand the importance of commercial performance
• Have a strong understanding of sales, labour, food cost, and stock management
• Know how to balance operational excellence with delivering an outstanding guest experience
• Have experience leading, motivating, and developing small kitchen teams
• Bring excellent organisational and problem-solving skills and perform well under pressure
• Maintain high standards of food safety, compliance, and operational discipline

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

Working at Arcade:

Our teams are the most important part of our business, translating our passion for genuine hospitality to our guests every day. We are proud to work with industry-leading talent and recognise the importance of offering our teams the tools, guidance and experience necessary to build confidence and grow.

At Arcade, we're more than just a restaurant group... We're a collective of bold, diverse food and drink brands driven by creativity, collaboration, and a passion for hospitality. We believe in growing together, empowering our people, and creating opportunities to thrive across all areas of the business. Whether onsite, behind the scenes or head office, working at Arcade means being part of something exciting, fast-moving, and truly unique in the hospitality industry.

Benefits of being part of the team:

• Refer a friend bonus
• Internal wage advance facility to instantly access the wages you've earned
• A restaurant recognition budget for Birthday goodies and career milestones
• 50% off food in our restaurants for you and your loved ones
• 50% off food in JKS restaurants within Arcade for you and your loved ones
• Access to counselling, remote GP/physio services, legal advice and more through
• Hospitality Action 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year
• Summer and Christmas team parties where we all down tools and have some fun!

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