Head Chef

Amberley Castle - Kitchen; Amberley; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A luxury hotel in Amberley is seeking a passionate Head Chef to lead their kitchen team. In this role, you will be responsible for preparing delicious dishes and managing kitchen operations while ensuring high standards of cleanliness and safety. The position offers a competitive pay rate, service charge, and opportunities for growth within the hotel family. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience and be dedicated to teaching and mentoring junior staff.

Benefits

Competitive pay

Service charge and tips

25% off food & beverage at hotels

Confidential support helpline

Free meals on duty

Development opportunities

Internal promotion opportunities

Milestone awards

Qualifications

• Previous experience working as a Head Chef in a similar environment.
• Ability to manage a busy kitchen and maintain high standards.
• Familiarity with allergen training is crucial.

Responsibilities

• Run a busy kitchen and prepare exciting dishes for guests.
• Keep up to date with allergen training.
• Ensure cleanliness and organization in the kitchen.
• Write allergen matrices for guest safety.
• Manage food ordering and inventory.

Skills

Knife skills

Food safety knowledge

Leadership in kitchen management

Knowledge sharing with junior staff

Job description

Location

Located in the picturesque village of Amberley in the beautiful West Sussex countryside, Amberley Castle is a unique luxury hotel steeped in over 900 years of history. With 4 AA red stars, 3 AA rosettes, and a member of Relais & Châteaux, Amberley Castle gives our team the chance to work in a castle with quality and style.

SERVICE CHARGE – We pay our team service charge each month! This service charge all goes into one pot, and 100% of that service charge is then shared amongst all the team at the hotel‑every penny received is paid out to the team. Service charge can be in the region of £300 a month (close to £3,600 per year) over and above base pay, for a full time employee.

The hotel may also be able to offer off‑site staff accommodation in our 2 staff houses (within walking distance to the hotel) in order to help the newest members of the team to re‑locate, so they can settle into life at the hotel and local area in comfort.

Send us a Whatsapp message with FAMILYFIRST to [phone] to find out more, chat to us and apply (or apply the normal way, whichever works best for you!)

Position Overview

Come and join our team as a Head Chef and let your passion and personality shine.

Our culture is important to us, and we encourage everyone in our teams to show thoughtfulness towards each other and our guests.

As a Head Chef, you will be running a busy kitchen, creating exciting and delicious dishes to be served to guests. This role would suit someone who has worked in a similar environment, at a similar level previously.

Key Responsibilities

• As a skilled chef, you’ll get to really put those knife skills to the test, cooking with the finest of ingredients.
• We want to keep everyone safe, so you’ll need to keep up to date with the latest allergen training.
• Being one team, everyone in the kitchen is responsible for keeping it clean.
• Labeling your food is important to prevent spoilage or mis‑identification.
• As an experienced chef, we encourage you to share your knowledge with new, budding CDP’s, KP’s and Commis coming into the industry.
• You’ll be responsible for managing the kitchen.
• You’ll write the allergen matrix, to ensure that all our guests are kept safe.
• Keep on top of ordering, via Procure Wizard, so we never run out of food.

Work/Life Balance

We always try to be fair with our rotas. We just ask that you can be flexible with us, so we can be flexible with you in return.

Perks and Benefits

• Competitive pay – everyone who joins our group gets a competitive 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 offer an externally run confidential helpline for any support you require part of our Employee Assistance Programme.
• Meals when you are on duty are free.
• Encourage curiosity – everyone can learn and develop. Our development pathways are unique.
• Lots of opportunity to progress and move up – internal promotions to General Manager level.
• Special milestones awards include Champagne, afternoon tea, or dinner for you and someone special. Extra gifts on top such as longer hotel stays, extra days off and unique gifts 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.

Our hotels are located in very special places: award‑winning Gidleigh Park in Devon, the 900‑year‑old Amberley Castle, cool city centre Abode Manchester set in a 19th‑century textile factory, two minutes from Piccadilly train station.

To see the whole group, take a look here: www.brownswordhotels.co.uk

Apply Now

One click apply to become part of our family that works hard & plays hard too, inspires and supports each other and has a load of fun along the way.

Compensation: To be discussed