Staff Dining Head Chef

Compass Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

Compass Group PLC is seeking a hands-on Head Chef for a busy workplace dining operation in Canary Wharf. You will lead a kitchen team of chefs, managing four counters, a salad bar and deli, with around 800 lunches daily, plus breakfast.

You’ll drive quality, consistency and presentation in a fast-paced environment. The role requires strong leadership in a high-volume, contract catering setting, with a focus on profitability, menu costing and team development.

Qualifications

• Experience in high-volume workplace dining or contract catering.
• Proven leadership and people development skills.
• Commercial awareness with focus on cost control.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop kitchen 팀 with a hands-on approach.
• Oversee menu planning and costing, ensuring quality at high volumes.
• Manage purchasing, stock, waste and daily performance reporting.
• Ensure HACCP, food safety and allergen procedures are followed.
• Maintain recipe standards and consistency across all services.

Job description

Canary Wharf, London | Monday to Friday | 7:30am–4:00pm | 40 hours per week

Are you a hands-on Head Chef who enjoys leading from the kitchen floor?

We’re looking for a professional, commercially minded Head Chef to take ownership of a busy workplace-dining operation in Canary Wharf. Serving approximately 800 lunches each day alongside breakfast, this is an exciting opportunity to lead a large-scale food offer while maintaining excellent quality, consistency and presentation.

You’ll oversee a varied operation featuring four food counters, a salad bar and a small deli bar. Working closely with your chefs throughout the day, you’ll inspire the team, build strong relationships and continually look for ways to improve the food and service.

What you’ll be doing

• Leading and developing the kitchen team through a visible, hands-on approach


• Managing a seasonal five-week menu cycle


• Delivering fresh, appealing food consistently at high volume


• Maintaining strong gross-profit performance through accurate costing and effective controls


• Managing purchasing, stock, food costs and waste


• Using weekly and monthly reporting to monitor performance


• Ensuring full compliance with HACCP, food safety and allergen procedures


• Maintaining recipe specifications and consistency across every service


• Bringing fresh ideas to the menus, counters and wider customer experience

What we’re looking for

You’ll be an experienced Head Chef with a strong background in high-volume workplace dining, contract catering or a similar environment. You’ll be confident managing a busy kitchen, commercially astute and passionate about developing people.

You’ll lead with professionalism and positivity while being comfortable challenging the team when standards can be improved. French culinary knowledge would be an advantage, but it isn’t essential.

About Us

Restaurant Associates provides brilliant hospitality through our food, drink and services. We work with our partners and collaborate with our clients to achieve great things together.

Every day, our teams of passionate hospitality professionals strive for excellence in delivering employee dining and hospitality to some of the UK\'s leading workplace as well as inspiring exceptional experiences in iconic cultural and heritage destinations.

Job Reference: com/0511/98226001/52329505/R/SU #RAGroup

Compass Group UK&I is committed to fostering an environment where every individual can truly be themselves at work and has equal opportunities to advance in their careers. We strive to build a culture that respects and celebrates the unique talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and abilities of all our team members. We want our colleagues to feel valued, empowered to reach their full potential, and to thrive - because diversity is our strength!

• Job Reference com/0511/98226001/52329505/R/SU