Head Chef

The Lounges; Haywards Heath; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

The Lounges is seeking a Head Chef to lead a team in creating high-quality, fresh dishes. You will oversee food preparation and ensure the highest kitchen standards in a supportive environment, with numerous benefits including holiday pay, discounts, and career progression opportunities.

Benefits

Overtime pay

Paid breaks

28 days holiday pro-rata

50% off staff discount

Company pension scheme

Long service awards

Tips shared equally

Personal development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience as a Head Chef, Kitchen Manager, or Sous Chef.
• Experience with fresh ingredients and good kitchen skills.
• Ability to manage KPIs and kitchen metrics.

Responsibilities

• Ensure all dishes are made to specification in a clean, safe kitchen.
• Complete all prep and par for each shift.
• Lead a dedicated kitchen team to deliver excellent food standards.

Skills

Chef skills

Food hygiene

Leadership

Job description

You love real cooking. We love real cooking. Customers love real cooking. It's a no-brainer, so you wonder why so many other places don't do it. We do it, and you'll be doing it with us — fresh, customer-led, and with high-quality ingredients. We also love our real people who run Lounges. The person who runs these brilliant people has to be super-brilliant, and that'll be you. Your standards will be as high as ours, but exactly how you do it will be unique to you.

You'll be doing it your way. You'll be part of a dedicated, supportive team, working from our flexible all-day menu to give people food that will make their day. It will be your responsibility to make each dish to specification, in a clean and safe kitchen, and to ensure all prep and par are completed for each shift. You'll help every customer leave happy, thanks to your great food.

The Good Stuff

• Overtime pay for every hour worked over contracted hours!
• Staff food on every shift
• 50% off staff discount to enjoy outside working hours from day one
• Paid breaks
• 28 days holiday (inclusive of Bank Holidays) pro-rata
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay after 2 years of service
• The most talked-about staff party in hospitality - Loungefest!
• Competitions and incentives (like jetting off on an all-expenses-paid trip with one of our suppliers)
• Company pension scheme
• Long service awards
• Power over your pay with Wagestream
• Emotional and practical support via the Licensed Trade Charity
• Great opportunity for personal development and career progression in a fast-growing business
• Achievable bonuses
• Tips shared equally across the team, based on hours worked
• Christmas and Boxing Day off!

What you'll bring

• You are probably an existing Head Chef, Kitchen Manager, or Sous Chef looking for your first step into a Head Chef role.
• You will have experience working with fresh ingredients and be able to demonstrate good chef/kitchen skills (food prep hot and cold, cleaning, knife skills, good hygiene practices)
• Your work ethic involves rolling up your sleeves, getting stuck in, and leading from the front; playing an active role in delivering excellent kitchen and food standards as part of a high-performing team.
• Familiar with managing through clear KPIs and making decisions considering labour, stock, food safety requirements, and others.
• You will have worked in kitchen environments where you're required to report on various metrics including GPs, labour/house, food preparation.
• You will have demonstrated successful delivery of training and recruitment for kitchen teams including Apprentices, KPs, Chefs, Junior Sous Chefs, and Sous Chefs.

If you want to find out more about us, follow us on LinkedIn or @life.at.loungers on TikTok and Instagram.