Executive Head Chef

Allscreens Nationwide Ltd; Torquay; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay + tips

Perkbox discounts

Hotel staff discounts 25% off F&B

Staff rate £25 B&B across group

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

Job summary

The Imperial Torquay, part of Brownsword Hotels, is seeking a hands-on Head Chef to lead our kitchen team. You will develop menus, ensure top quality and safety, and drive profitability across multiple venues within the hotel.

Ideal candidates bring experience from similar luxury properties, strong leadership, and a passion for guest-focused dining. The role offers opportunities for progression within a renowned hotel group and a competitive benefits package.

Qualifications

• Hands-on chef with leadership experience in a busy hotel kitchen.
• Experience in similar style property as Head Chef or Senior Sous Chef.
• Strong knowledge of food safety and hygiene regulations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage kitchen operations with high standards of food quality and presentation.
• Develop and update menus aligned with brand, guest expectations, and seasonal trends.
• Oversee food preparation and production across restaurants, bar, banqueting and events.
• Recruit, train, and mentor kitchen staff to build a high-performing team.
• Control food and labour costs while maintaining profitability targets.
• Ensure compliance with all food safety and health regulations.
• Manage purchasing, supplier relationships, stock control, and inventory.
• Collaborate with hotel management on strategic planning and guest experience initiatives.
• Monitor guest feedback and implement improvements.

Skills

Team leadership

Food safety

Menu planning

Cost control

Kitchen operations

Staff training

Education

Culinary qualification

Job description

Location:The Imperial Torquay is a magnificent 19th Century 152-bedroom Victorian four-star hotel, and offers breath taking sea views, plus a host of leisure facilities, making it fun and picturesque location to work in.

Just a short walk from the main train station and town centre, the hotel is really accessible for our employees.

Some staff car parking is available on site, as is free use of all the hotel's leisure facilities, including our gym and swimming pools.

Hours:Full time

Role:As part or our team, we welcome your passion, natural warmth and humour to ensure our guests have an amazing experience every time. We’re seeking friendly, warm and cheerful individuals who are happy to work together as a team and, importantly, want to have fun. We welcome candidates who are new to the industry as well as experienced ones - what matters most to us is that you have a positive and engaging personality, you are self-motivated and enjoy the buzz and excitement of a busy hotel atmosphere.

For this role you will need to bea hands-on Chef who leads from the front, be knowledgeable about food together with food safety practices and be a strong leader who can motivate the team. You should also have previous experience within a similar style property as a Head Chef or an experienced Senior Sous Chef ready for the next role.

What you'll be up to:

• Lead and manage all kitchen operations, ensuring high standards of food quality, presentation, and consistency.
• Develop, plan, and update menus that align with the hotel's brand, guest expectations, and seasonal trends.
• Oversee food preparation and production across restaurants, bar, banqueting and special events.
• Recruit, train, mentor kitchen staff to build a high-performing culinary team.
• Control food costs, labour costs, and kitchen budgets while maintaining profitability targets.
• Ensure compliance with all food safety, hygiene, health, and safety regulations and standards.
• Manage purchasing, supplier relationships, stock control, and inventory management.
• Collaborate with hotel management on strategic planning, guest experience initiatives, and revenue growth opportunities.
• Monitor guest feedback and implement continuous improvements to food quality and service standards.
• Design innovative, commercially viable menus that balance guest preferences, food trends, operational efficiency, and profitability

To say thank you, we have many perks:

• Competitive pay – We are proud that everyone who joins our group gets a competitive a rate of pay, irrespective of age, plus you get service charge and tips on top.
• Treat yourself once in a while with lots of retail and hospitality perks through our Perkbox platform.
• Excellent discounts across our family of hotels – you will be entitled to 25% off food & beverage in our hotels plus we offer an amazing staff rate of £25 B&B per person across the group & your friends and family get special rates too.
• We understand it’s OK not to be OK, so we offer an externally run confidential helpline for any support you require about anything you might need as part of our Employee Assistance Programme.
• We sustain you physically too, meals when you are on duty are free.
• Everyone can learn and develop - our development pathways are unique to us and are the best in the business.
• We provide lots of opportunity to progress and move up – we have made hundreds of internal promotions, including to General Manager level.
• We like to say a special thank you for every year you are with us - our milestone awards include Champagne, afternoon tea, or dinner for you and someone special. When you reach the big milestones, you receive extra special gifts on top like longer hotel stays, extra days off and a unique gift especially chosen for you.

About our family of hotels

We bring a family of hotels together under one roof, ready to welcome guests with open arms, warm hearts and experiences that are simply memorable.

Each of our hotels are unique, individual, and quirky in personality. Quality is fundamental to everything we do, and it is the simple things that matter. We believe everyone should feel included, special and welcome, and that applies to our team and our guests.

We have very unique hotels in very special locations, from the award winning Gidleigh Park in Devon, the 900-year-old Amberley Castle to our beautiful London town house, Sydney House Chelsea – to see the whole group, take a look herewww.brownswordhotels.co.uk