Sous Chef and Kitchen Team Leader

Village Hotels; Maidstone; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 32,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Gym Membership

Hotel Stays

Food & Drink

Friends & Family

Retail & Lifestyle

Support

Job summary

Village Maidstone hotel is seeking a hands-on Junior Sous Chef and Kitchen Team Leader to translate the Head Chef's vision into a busy service. You will own your section, manage portions, and support the wider brigade to ensure every plate meets our quality standards.

You will work in a lively kitchen, lead and coach junior team members, monitor food safety, stock par levels, and help deliver the brand experience across F&B.

Responsibilities

• The Kitchen Floor: Operating as a hands-on Junior Sous Chef. You will run your own section flawlessly while controlling the wider flow of work, monitoring portion sizes, and jumping in to assist other chefs when the tickets pile up.
• The Standards: Driving an obsession with food safety and brand delivery. You will ensure deliveries are temperature-checked, dishes are cooked to FRESH specifications, and strict HACCP and EHO directives are met without compromise.
• The Brigade: Supervising and coaching junior kitchen team members and KPs. You will translate strategy into action, keeping the team safe around heavy equipment and fostering a culture where everyone is passionate about the menu.
• The Commercial Reality: Protecting the gross profit. You will manage stock to precise par levels, ensure minimal wastage, and keep all relevant paperwork completely up to date for the monthly stock take.

Job description

The Role Outline: Your Shift at a Glance As our Junior Sous Chef and Kitchen Team Leader, you are the crucial link between the Head Chef's vision and the reality of a busy service. You will take absolute ownership of your section while floating to support the wider brigade, ensuring every plate leaving the pass meets our exact standards for quality, temperature, and presentation.

Why Village? At Village, we do hospitality a little differently. We are all about personality, genuine connections, and creating great experiences for our guests and each other. That is why we back our teams to be themselves, take ownership, learn new skills, and grow their careers. Previous experience is great, but your attitude and energy matter much more to us. If you are friendly, positive, love working with people, and enjoy being part of a busy team, we will give you all the support, training, and opportunities you need. Because it really does take a Village.

How the Village Thrives

• We Can & We Do: We show up to make a genuine difference and do fantastic work everyday, with purpose.
• We Will: Treat each other with respect and dignity. No ego, no drama. We try our best and look out for each other.
• We Care: We care about our impact on guests, the community, and each other.

Your Shift: What You'll Actually Be Doing

• The Kitchen Floor: Operating as a hands-on Junior Sous Chef. You will run your own section flawlessly while controlling the wider flow of work, monitoring portion sizes, and jumping in to assist other chefs when the tickets pile up.
• The Standards: Driving an obsession with food safety and brand delivery. You will ensure deliveries are temperature-checked, dishes are cooked to FRESH specifications, and strict HACCP and EHO directives are met without compromise.
• The Brigade: Supervising and coaching junior kitchen team members and KPs. You will translate strategy into action, keeping the team safe around heavy equipment and fostering a culture where everyone is passionate about the menu.
• The Commercial Reality: Protecting the gross profit. You will manage stock to precise par levels, ensure minimal wastage, and keep all relevant paperwork completely up to date for the monthly stock take.

How We Succeed Together

We do not micromanage. It takes a village, so we believe in Ownership & Integrity, giving you the autonomy to handle your area and make decisions on the fly. We Empower & Elevate our people. If you want Room to Grow, we provide funded qualifications and internal moves. We constantly Innovate & Progress so we can Inspire Excellence and smash our targets together.

Selling Our Benefits

• Gym Membership: 2 x complimentary gym memberships at your home hotel.
• Hotel Stays: Hotel rooms from £20 across 35 hotels.
• Food & Drink: 50% off food and drink for you and up to 5 guests, plus 75% off Sunday dinner for up to 6 people.
• Friends & Family: 2 friends or family members get 25% off F&B, even when you are not there.
• Retail & Lifestyle: Hundreds of brand discounts via the Village app.
• Support: 24/7 Mental Health support via our Employee Assistance Programme.

Think You've Got the Right Energy? We are not looking for perfect CVs, we are looking for great people. If you enjoy driving the pace in a commercial kitchen and love creating memorable experiences for guests, we want to hear from you. Bring your personality, your drive, and your ambition.

About Company

"Maidstone is a vibrant and modern country town in the heart of Kent, known as the Garden of England. Our hotel in Maidstone is located right in the centre of this charming county, just off the M20 and A229, offering great road transport links throughout Kent and to the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone. In Maidstone itself, there's an abundance of things to do. For history buffs, Leeds Castle and the Maidstone Museum are must-sees. If you prefer the great outdoors, rent a canoe on the River Medway or pay a visit to the Kent Life Heritage Farm. Fremlin Walk is the place to be if shopping is your thing, and Maidstone Market takes place every Tuesday and Saturday."