Head Chef - New Opening

The Lounges; Morpeth; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading restaurant group in the UK is seeking an experienced Head Chef to join their new opening in Morpeth. You will be responsible for preparing high-quality dishes using fresh ingredients, leading a dedicated team, and maintaining high kitchen standards. This role offers a supportive environment with various staff perks including overtime pay, paid breaks, and opportunities for career progression.

Benefits

Overtime pay

Staff food on every shift

50% off food and drinks

Paid breaks

28 days holiday

Enhanced maternity and paternity pay

Company pension scheme

Long service awards

Achievable bonuses

Tips shared across team

Christmas and Boxing Day off

Qualifications

• Experience as a Head Chef, Kitchen Manager, or Sous Chef.
• Good hygiene practices and knife skills.
• Ability to lead a team and maintain kitchen standards.

Responsibilities

• Prepare dishes to spec in a clean kitchen.
• Ensure all prep and par are completed.
• Lead a team to deliver excellent food standards.

Skills

Fresh ingredients usage

Chef/kitchen skills

Leadership

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to join our new opening and become part of one of the most successful restaurant groups in the UK.

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'll make their day. It'll be your responsibility to make each dish to spec, in a clean and safe kitchen, and to follow the lead of your Head Chef to ensure all prep and par are completed for each shift. You'll be helping 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 food and drinks (including alcohol) from day one at all three of our brands - Lounge, Cosy Club and Brightside
• 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 your sleeves up, 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.