Head Chef - QT Auckland

EVT Limited; Auckland; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site car parking provided

50% off dining and stays across EVT/QT

$2 movie tickets and discounts on Moon

Seasonal perks at Thredbo

Delicious staff meals, barista coffee

Rapid career growth across our hotel &

Job summary

EVT Limited is seeking a hands-on Head Chef for Esther at QT Auckland, reporting to Executive Chef James Laird and collaborating with Celebrity Chef Sean Connolly. This permanent, full-time role leads day-to-day kitchen operations across Esther, conferences, events and in-room dining.

You will own the kitchen's culinary journey, lead a high-performing team, and drive menus, costs and standards in a dynamic hotel setting with strong collaboration across outlets.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as Sous Chef or Head Chef in a high-profile hotel or restaurant.
• Strong proficiency in Mediterranean cuisine.
• Able to lead a multi-outlet operation and call full service with confidence.
• Excellent leadership, feedback, and performance development skills.
• Solid labour management, rostering, and food-cost control.
• Willing to work a rotating roster including evenings and weekends.

Responsibilities

• Lead, manage and cook across Esther, conference and events and in-room dining, rolling up your sleeves on sections regularly and calling service on busy shifts with confidence and control.
• Recruit, develop and inspire a high-performing kitchen team, leading by example and taking both kitchen and front-of-house teams on a genuine culinary journey.
• Manage rosters, wage costs and labour efficiency with a positive, open-minded approach, working collaboratively with management to hit financial targets without compromising quality.
• Oversee food cost management, inventory ordering and stock rotation across all outlets, maintaining tight controls and producing accurate reporting.
• Write and evolve menus in collaboration with the hotel's culinary direction, staying across Mediterranean cuisine and current food trends while maintaining the standards the kitchen is known for.
• Ensure all kitchens operate to the highest standards of food safety, hygiene and compliance, and act as the senior culinary leader across the hotel in the Executive Chef's absence.

Job description

About EVT

QT Auckland is part of EVT, one of Australasia's market-leading experience creators offering careers that can take you wherever you want to go across entertainment, ventures, and travel. In a world of cookie cutter experiences, here at EVT we believe in changing the game. It's why we all call ourselves Daymakers because each day is a chance to add the wow factor for our customers and continually grow in our own careers.

QT Hotels & Resorts is EVT's premium lifestyle hotel brand, with locations in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Pioneers behind the philosophy of 'unexpected and unrequested', with every guest engagement presenting an opportunity to delight, and every QT property inspired by local influence with signature quirk. And our people? With personalities as diverse as each property, individuality is more than encouraged.

EVT has an endless range of roles and career paths to explore across over 140 entertainment experiences like Event Cinemas and Moonlight Cinemas, 150 award-winning restaurants and bars, and 80+ hotels, including QT, Rydges, Atura, LyLo, Independent Collection and Australia's most loved year-round alpine resort, Thredbo. Our ventures include a ~$2.3B property portfolio and hotel management, just to name a few. Once you're in, there's no limits on where your career could take you.

The Role

Not many Head Chef roles come with the chance to work alongside both an Executive Chef and a Celebrity Chef with a global reputation. This one does. Reporting to Executive Chef James Laird and working closely with Celebrity Chef Sean Connolly, this is a hands‑on, leading from the pass kind of role and that is exactly what makes it one of the most exciting Head Chef opportunities in New Zealand right now. Esther is QT Auckland's signature restaurant, selected in the MICHELIN Guide 2026, operating alongside a busy conference and events operation in Amani and in-room dining across the hotel.

You will be the culinary leader across all of it, taking ownership of day-to-day kitchen operations, bringing your team on a culinary journey and helping shape what comes next. This is a permanent, full-time role with a minimum guaranteed 40 hours per week and on-site car parking is provided. We are looking for someone who is ambitious, positive and genuinely hungry for the challenge. If you are a restaurant‑quality chef ready to own a Head Chef role and you can see the big picture, we want to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, manage and cook across Esther, conference and events and in-room dining, rolling up your sleeves on sections regularly and calling service on busy shifts with confidence and control.
• Recruit, develop and inspire a high‑performing kitchen team, leading by example and taking both kitchen and front‑of‑house teams on a genuine culinary journey.
• Manage rosters, wage costs and labour efficiency with a positive, open‑minded approach, working collaboratively with management to hit financial targets without compromising quality.
• Oversee food cost management, inventory ordering and stock rotation across all outlets, maintaining tight controls and producing accurate reporting.
• Write and evolve menus in collaboration with the hotel's culinary direction, staying across Mediterranean cuisine and current food trends while maintaining the standards the kitchen is known for.
• Ensure all kitchens operate to the highest standards of food safety, hygiene and compliance, and act as the senior culinary leader across the hotel in the Executive Chef's absence.

What You'll Bring

• Proven experience as a Sous Chef or Head Chef in a restaurant or hotel environment that matches the calibre and output of Esther, with a genuine understanding of what it takes to run a high‑profile kitchen.
• Strong experience in Mediterranean cuisine is essential.
• The ability to run and call a full service with confidence while staying across multiple outlets simultaneously.
• Strong leadership capability with a positive, constructive approach to developing people, receiving feedback and driving performance.
• A solid grasp of labour management, rostering and food cost control, with the commercial mindset to work within budgets without compromising the food.
• A team‑first mentality and the mental capacity to manage a complex, multi‑outlet operation from one kitchen space.
• Full flexibility to work a rotating roster including evenings, weekends and public holidays.

How You Work

• Owner's mindset, takes full accountability for the quality, cost and culture of the kitchen.
• Growth mindset, learns, shares and levels up others.
• Daymaker ethos, no one's too big for the small things.
• Resilient and solutions‑focused, stays calm and moves fast when it counts.

Perks from Day One

As part of EVT, you unlock Elevate Perks from your first day. Parity for all levels, no ivory towers.

• On-site car parking provided.
• 50% off dining and stays across EVT hotels, QT, Rydges, Atura, LyLo and more.
• $2 movie tickets and discounts on Gold Class, Moonlight Cinema and Candy Bar.
• Seasonal perks at Thredbo.
• Delicious staff meals, barista coffee and laundered uniform services.
• Rapid career growth across our hotel and entertainment network.
• Paid parental leave; community and volunteering opportunities.