Head Chef — Lead a Brand-New Kitchen & Grow Your Team

Loungers; Farnborough; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Overtime pay

Free meals on shift

Staff discount

Career progression

Early pay access

Job summary

Loungers is seeking a hands-on Head Chef to lead the kitchen at Volo Lounge, a new site within the growing casual dining group. You’ll own the kitchen from open to close, build and coach a team, and ensure every dish leaves the pass to spec.

We offer a competitive base salary with a bonus, paid overtime, and clear progression via in-house training and Future Ops programmes. Enjoy staff perks, meals on shift, and early access to pay as part of the package.

Qualifications

• Hands-on leadership of a busy kitchen
• Experience leading kitchen teams and operations
• Strong focus on standards, training and coaching

Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of the kitchen at Volo Lounge, leading every shift
• Recruit, develop and coach your kitchen team
• Know menu specs and kitchen processes inside out, spot issues early
• Own site‑level action plans with the GM on food wait times, stock and cleanliness
• Deliver on KPIs: quality, wait times, wastage, food safety and GP
• Schedule fair rotas aligned to sales and bookings forecast
• Collaborate with front of house to build a true one-team culture

Skills

People leadership

Kitchen management

Staff development

Food safety

Menu planning

Job description

Loungers is seeking a hands-on Head Chef to lead the kitchen at Volo Lounge, a new site within the growing casual dining group. You’ll own the kitchen from open to close, build and coach a team, and ensure every dish leaves the pass to spec.

We offer a competitive base salary with a bonus, paid overtime, and clear progression via in-house training and Future Ops programmes. Enjoy staff perks, meals on shift, and early access to pay as part of the package.