Head Chef, Hospitality

Elior Inc; Greater London; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Elior UK is seeking a Head Chef to lead two kitchens and a team of up to eight, delivering exceptional fine dining and VIP hospitality across events and client spaces.

You will work closely with the Hospitality manager and Executive Chef to drive menu innovation, maintain high standards, and develop staff, while managing food costs and regulatory compliance in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience as Head Chef in fine dining, luxury hospitality, or high-end corporate environments.
• Genuine interest in customer service excellence.
• B&I / contract catering background highly desirable.
• Strong leadership with hands-on approach in high volume settings.

Responsibilities

• Recruiting, training, and developing a kitchen team of up to 8 people to deliver high-quality service.
• Maintain, order and control food stocks within budget.
• Coordinate with Hospitality manager and Executive Chef to ensure operational excellence across multiple kitchens and VIP events.
• Drive menu innovation and ensure consistent delivery across menus and offers.
• Deputize for the Executive Chef in their absence; ensure compliance with COSHH, Food Safety, H&S, and regulatory policies.

Job description

As a Hospitality- Head Chef you will be responsible for leading the kitchen team, developing innovative menus, maintaining the highest culinary standards, and delivering exceptional fine dining and VIP hospitality experiences. You will lead the culinary offering across our clients hospitality and events spaces. The offering encompasses meetings, buffets, canapes, finder foods and fine dining. You will oversee two kitchens and a team of up to eight people. Working closely with the Hospitality manager and reporting into the Executive Chef you will be responsible for:

• Recruiting, training, supporting and people development to deliver an efficient, high quality service to Elior UK, customer and client
• Maintaining, ordering and controlling food stocks within budget
• Ensuring ongoing team communications, including building internal and external relationships, management reporting and client liaison to enable operational excellence
• Driving menu innovation
• Ensuring the highest standards of consistent delivery across the various menus and offers.
• Deputizing for the Executive Chef in their absence.
• Accountable for COSHH, Food Safety, H&S, legal regulations, environmental policies and duty of care to customer and colleagues. Commercially aware with experience managing budgets and food costs.
• Exceptional culinary skills with passion for modern, seasonal, and innovative cuisine.
• Proven leadership ability with a proactive, hands-on approach within high volume setting, as this is a busy and high quality offering.
• 3+ experience as a Head Chef within fine dining, luxury hospitality, executive dining or high end corporate hospitality environments.
• Genuine interest in customer service excellence.
• B&I / Contract Catering background highly desirable.
• Strong experience delivering VIP dining and bespoke events.
• Must be confident as you will lead team of 8 colleagues and will be responsible for their training and development. We're a people-first business with over 10,000 colleagues across the UK, serving everything from stadiums to hospitals, schools to workplaces. Our mission? To enrich lives everywhere, every day.

And here's the best part - 87% of our team say they're proud to work here! Why? Because we create a place where you're listened to, trusted, supported, and valued. Research shows that many people - especially women and those from underrepresented backgrounds - hold back unless they meet 100% of the criteria. But we hire for potential, not just experience. If you're passionate and ready to grow, we want to hear from you!