Head Chef

A Beautiful Mess; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 28,000 - 36,000; Part time

Job summary

Refugee Company and A Beautiful Mess is seeking a Head Chef/ Kitchen Coach to lead the Oosterdok kitchen. You will mentor a diverse team of cooks, ensuring quality and adherence to HACCP while delivering vibrant dishes inspired by colleagues’ backgrounds.

The role combines culinary leadership with coaching to empower staff from refugee backgrounds toward paid employment, in a socially impactful setting.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of leadership experience in a kitchen.
• Proven coaching and mentorship experience.
• Experience working with culturally diverse staff or those distanced from the labor market.
• Proficient Dutch and English communication.

Responsibilities

• Day-to-day management of the Oosterdok kitchen and uphold existing concept.
• Coaching and training the kitchen team to develop culinary skills.
• Ensure HACCP compliance and high-quality plating.
• Foster a safe, structured, inclusive work environment.

Skills

Leadership

Coaching

Mentoring

Multicultural experience

Dutch language

English language

Job description

Will you be our new Head Chef? (Chef / Kitchen Coach)

32–38 hours

At Refugee Company and A Beautiful Mess, we build restaurants and meeting places with impact. We create workplaces and opportunities for people with refugee backgrounds and bring diverse people together daily around food, culture and encounters.

The role

You’ll be working in our bustling restaurant on the Oosterdok. Here, you’ll lead a kitchen team made up primarily of people with refugee backgrounds. Your mission? To provide them with intensive support as they work toward securing a regular, paid job, all while you work together to serve delicious, fresh-prepared dishes inspired by the countries our colleagues come from.

What you will do

• Day-to-day management: You will manage the kitchen at our largest location on the Oosterdok and ensure that the existing concept is followed.
• Coaching & Training: You serve as the mentor on the job. You provide intensive guidance and motivation to the kitchen team to help them develop their culinary skills and workplace competencies.
• Quality & Structure: You ensure compliance with HACCP guidelines and make sure that every plate that leaves the kitchen is of the highest quality.
• Building Connections: You create a safe, structured, and pleasant work environment where cultural differences complement one another.

Who you are

We’re not looking for just any chef. We’re looking for a chef who’s bursting with ambition, but who understands that mentoring and coaching are just as important in this role as cooking. Do you see yourself reflected in our core values?

• Passionate: Food and hospitality are your life’s work. You have a strong connection to Middle Eastern and African cuisine and know how to convey these rich flavors with passion to your team and our guests.
• Driven: You want to make an impact, seize opportunities with both hands, and continually help the team reach new heights.
• People-oriented: With your wealth of experience, you have both feet firmly on the ground. You are a patient, hands-on mentor and a natural connector.

Your background

• At least 5 years of relevant work experience in a leadership role in a kitchen.
• Demonstrable experience as a coaching leader (for example, as a mentor).
• Experience with—or a strong affinity for—working with people from different cultures or those who are distanced from the labor market.
• You speak Dutch (and English well) so you can communicate with the diverse team.

What we offer

• A versatile role with a lot of responsibility and room for initiative.
• A dedicated, diverse, warm, and enterprising team.
• Salary in accordance with the Hospitality Industry Collective Bargaining Agreement (indicative range for pay scale 8: €3,176 – €4,027 gross per month based on full-time employment, depending on your experience).

Interested?

This is a unique opportunity to combine your culinary creativity and teaching expertise in an environment where commercial success and social impact go hand in hand.