Head Chef

Young's Pubs; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 41,000 - 51,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid overtime

Tips & service charge

Food trips with suppliers

Chef Forums & masterclasses

Discounts at Young's Pubs

Share Save Scheme

Enhanced Pension Scheme

Free meals on duty

Apprenticeship Scheme & development

Job summary

The Ship Inn is seeking a talented Head Chef to lead a busy kitchen in a premium pub setting. You will develop a brigade of cooks, create seasonal menus, and drive high standards of food quality and service to match our riverside location and growing reputation.

With a five-day week, paid overtime, tips, and opportunities for growth, you’ll manage food safety, allergen controls, and menu costings while delivering bold flavours inspired by coastal and countryside influences.

Qualifications

• Experience running busy kitchen services (high-volume).
• Ability to cost and plan menus with seasonal dishes.
• Strong leadership with coaching and development of a kitchen brigade.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the kitchen brigade to deliver bold, seasonal menus.
• Ensure food safety and allergen management across all services.
• Oversee kitchen operations, scheduling, and wage/GP labour controls.

Skills

Menu Development

Food Safety

Food Preparation

Leadership

Job description

Head Chef - 46k basic - plus 4k tips with room to grow!

About us:

The Ship Inn sits in a truly stunning location on the banks of Yealm Estuary, complete with riverside beer garden and even its own mooring space! We're a historic village pub and we're looking for top talent to join our friendly team in one of the most idyllic pub settings in the area.

Being a Head Chef at Young's:

Here at The Ship Inn, we’re looking for an exceptional head chef with strong leadership skills, well developed coaching experience and a proven track record for running busy services in 'drive to destination' sites. Our pub already has hands-down one of the best views in the county, a growing reputation for unpretentious but delicious food - and your role is to develop our hard-working kitchen team into a brigade of pub food superstars. Our menu is a celebration of fresh, locally-sourced & premium ingredients, bringing inspiration from the sea and countryside together in a classic and imaginative selection. From hearty pub favourites with innovative twists, to dishes inspired by our own experiences, we’re all about bold tastes, comfort, and a true taste of place.

Can you help?

You’ll be in charge of creating dishes to delight our guests & enable efficient service, developing your brigade to their full potential, and managing all aspects of the kitchen. This includes leading on food safety and allergen management. As our business looks to progress and build on an improving reputation, we're looking for an experienced, ambitious Head Chef who wants to put their name on the map by delivering fresh, bold flavours from a kitchen that really knows how to step-up during the busy summer months - and really turn on the style as the nights get longer

What we offer our Head Chefs:

• A five-day working week with paid overtime and a share of service charge and tips
• Access to inspirational food trips with our top quality suppliers
• Regular Chef Forums with other Head Chefs to inspire and develop and access to regular culinary masterclasses covering topics such as Game, Butchery and Shellfish
• 20% discount in all Young's Pubs and 30% discount on overnight stays in our Pubs with Rooms
• Company 'Share Save Scheme' and Enhanced Company Pension Scheme
• Free Meals on Duty & 28 Days Holiday per year
• Access to our Apprenticeship Scheme and Development Programmes

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: you will be a role model both for the kitchen brigade, and as a manager in our business. Your standards should become the benchmark by which your brigade measure themselves
• Be an active hands-on team player with excellent communication skills and a professional manner, even when under pressure
• Be responsible and able to manage the kitchen staff rota, training requirements and all aspects of 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 control.
• Be 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