Head Chef

Young's Pubs; Exeter; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free meals

Staff discount across Young’s estate

30% discount on overnight stays (Rooms

Apprenticeship Scheme and Development

Culinary masterclasses

Share save Scheme

Enhanced Company Pension Scheme

28 Days Holiday per year

Job summary

Young’s Pubs in Exeter is seeking a Head Chef to lead a kitchen, develop menus, and manage food across seasonal offerings. You’ll inspire the team, cost dishes, and maintain GP and labour controls to maximise revenue streams.

You’ll work with fresh seasonal produce, write menus for local pubs, attend masterclasses, and access apprenticeship schemes. The role includes free meals, staff discounts across Young’s estate, and a supportive pension scheme.

Qualifications

• Experience as Head Chef or Sous Chef with proven leadership.
• Ability to create and develop seasonal menus.
• Strong supervision of kitchen staff rota and health and safety.

Responsibilities

• Inspire and lead the kitchen team to deliver high‑quality seasonal menus.
• Cost and produce dishes while maintaining gross profit and labour controls.
• Develop and implement menus for different revenue streams within the business.
• Collaborate with front‑of‑house teams and suppliers to ensure quality and consistency.

Skills

Menu Development

Food Safety

Food Preparation

Leadership

Job description

About us

The Citygate is steeped in history, an old cotton mill and the Roman entrance to the city of Exeter.

We are a proud member of the Youngs pub company, British and premium food served all day from the classic Fish & Chips to Roasts on a Sunday using seasonal ingredients. Wonderful individual rooms are tastefully decorated with the pub's history in mind.

We are passionate about our ''Ramily'' making a welcoming and progressive team, with a great opportunity to develop and grow.

We offer a great work-life balance with Birthdays off, Team parties and free food on shift!

We offer discounted Food and Drink for all our Team throughout the whole Youngs estate this includes the rooms - Great for that perfect weekend getaway!

Join the Ramily today!

Being a Head Chef at Young's

We believe every pub should be different. This means that you'll be writing your own recipes that match the food vision of your business using fresh seasonal ingredients. The food vision could be all about showcasing local produce, country pub classics, seafood, small plates and sharers, dry-aged meat - each pub is different and its up to you as head chef to put your own creative stamp on that vision. We work with fresh, seasonal produce, so the menu should constantly evolve to showcase these fantastic ingredients when they are at their best. Premium fresh food crafted by skilled chefs in Premium Pubs .

What we offer our Head Chefs

• Head Chefs get to have full autonomy to create your own menus and specials
• Access to our Apprenticeship Scheme and Development Programmes
• Access to regular culinary masterclasses covering topics such as Game, Butchery and Shellfish
• Access to inspirational food trips with our top quality suppliers
• Regular Chef Forums with other Head Chefs to inspire and develop
• Free meals
• 20% discount in all Young's Pubs and 30% discount on overnight stays in our Pubs with Rooms
• Share save Scheme
• Enhanced Company Pension Scheme
• 28 Days Holiday per year

What we look for in a Head Chef

This role requires someone that can inspire a team, to bring out the potential and lead by example whilst being able to develop, cost and produce fresh seasonal menus for the variety of revenue streams within the business.

• Have experience championing excellent service through quality food either as a Head Chef or in the position of Sous Chef
• Demonstrate a passion for leading and developing a team
• Be an active hands-on team player with excellent communication skills
• Be responsible and able to manage the kitchen staff rota, training and all health and safety effectively at all times
• Be able to demonstrate your creativity and ability to design and deliver new dishes for our menus and daily specials
• Demonstrate great planning and organisational skills, necessary to maintain effective controls with regard to both GP and labour
• Have a pro-active approach to driving sales and delivering growth, through engagement with both kitchen and front of house teams

Skills

Menu Development

Food Safety

Food Preparation