Chef, Kitchen Lead

MINCKA; Haywards Heath; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 28,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Coaching and training access

Ownership of kitchen

Work-life daytime hours

Pension and holidays

Job summary

MINCKA in Haywards Heath is seeking an experienced and highly organised Chef / Kitchen Lead to own the kitchen and food preparation. This daytime café role focuses on operational excellence, prep planning, and maintaining high standards while ensuring service readiness.

Responsibilities include batch cooking, toasties and grab-and-go items, stock ordering, waste reduction, and ongoing kitchen improvements. Five-day week with 30-35 hours, some weekend work, no late finishes.

Qualifications

• Professional kitchen or substantial food-preparation experience.
• Highly organised with strong kitchen management.
• Ability to work quickly without compromising standards.
• Dependable and takes ownership without needing chasing.
• Can plan workload and work independently.
• Understanding of food hygiene and allergen handling.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and batch cook ingredients for cafe offerings.
• Produce toasties, sandos, grab-and-go items.
• Plan and manage daily/weekly prep levels.
• Keep kitchen organised and ready for service.
• Maintain high food hygiene and allergen standards.
• Order stock and manage rotation to reduce waste.
• Maintain a clean and safe working environment.
• Support development of new dishes and recipe improvements.
• Suggest and implement better kitchen systems and processes.

Skills

Professional kitchen experience

Highly organised

Fast and efficient work

Ownership and accountability

Food hygiene & allergen handling

Job description

Great food. Daytime hours. No late-night finishes. MINCKA is looking for an experienced and highly organised Chef / Kitchen Lead to take ownership of our kitchen and food preparation in Haywards Heath. This isn't a traditional restaurant chef role. We're a busy daytime café looking for someone who loves working with food but also enjoys the operational side of running a great kitchen: preparing ahead, maintaining high standards and making sure everything is ready when service gets busy.

You’ll take responsibility for:

• Preparing and batch cooking ingredients
• Producing our toasties, sandos, grab-and-go food and wider café offering
• Planning and managing daily and weekly prep levels
• Keeping the kitchen organised and ready for service
• Maintaining excellent food hygiene, safety and allergen standards
• Ordering stock, managing rotation and reducing food waste
• Maintaining an exceptionally clean working environment
• Supporting the development of new dishes
• Improving and simplifying kitchen systems and processes

This is an opportunity to take real ownership of your area and help shape what MINCKA's food operation becomes next.

The role is approximately 30-35 hours per week across five days, with the possibility of additional hours if preferred. Some weekend work will form part of the role, but as a daytime café, there are no late-night finishes.

Experience with food matters, but we're equally interested in how you work. You’ll be a strong fit if you:

• Have professional kitchen, chef or substantial food-preparation experience
• Are highly organised and take pride in running a clean kitchen
• Work quickly and efficiently without sacrificing standards
• Are dependable and take ownership without needing to be chased
• Can plan your own workload and work independently
• Understand food hygiene, allergens and safe food handling
• Enjoy improving systems and finding better ways of working
• Work well as part of a small, ambitious and friendly team
• Are available to work across five days, including some weekends

You don’t need a fine-dining background. We're looking for someone who can consistently produce great food while running an organised, efficient and dependable kitchen. We offer:

• Daytime café hours with no late-night finishes
• Approximately 30-35 hours per week, with the potential for additional hours
• A degree of flexibility in how your working week is structured
• Free access to coaching and training at Madisons Fitness (worth £5k per year)
• Genuine ownership of the kitchen and food-preparation operation
• The opportunity to influence and develop MINCKA's food offering
• Scope to improve systems and shape how the kitchen operates
• A supportive, ambitious independent business where your contribution will be visible and valued
• Workplace pension and statutory holiday entitlement