Head Chef

City Gate, Exeter; Exeter; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free meals

Discounts on food and stays in Young's

Share save scheme

Enhanced pension

28 days holiday

Apprenticeship schemes

Culinary masterclasses

Food trips

Job summary

Young's is seeking a Head Chef at our Exeter venue, offering autonomy to craft menus that showcase local produce and seasonal ingredients. You will lead a hands-on kitchen team, developing dishes across daily specials and signature plates while ensuring quality and consistency.

You will have access to apprenticeship schemes and regular culinary masterclasses, with opportunities for food trips and chef forums to inspire growth and collaboration.

Qualifications

• Experience as Head Chef or Sous Chef leading a kitchen.
• Proven ability to design and deliver fresh, seasonal menus.
• Strong cost control, GP and labour management skills.
• Passion for developing and mentoring a kitchen team.

Responsibilities

• Inspire and lead the kitchen team to deliver high-quality dishes.
• Develop menus that reflect local produce and seasonal ingredients.
• Manage kitchen staff rotas, training and health & safety.

Skills

Team leadership

Menu creation

Cost control

Training & development

Communication

Creative cooking

Operational planning

Job description

Head Chef

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