We are recruiting for an experienced Head Chef to join the kitchen team at an established residential retreat centre near St Asaph. This is a hands-on leadership role, responsible for the day-to-day running of the kitchen and the delivery of fresh, nutritious and high-quality meals for residential guests, groups, retreats, events and staff.
This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Head Chef or Sous Chef who enjoys leading a team, working with fresh ingredients and taking pride in delivering consistently high standards.
In the Head Chef role, you will be responsible for:
- Leading, supervising and motivating the kitchen team to deliver a professional and welcoming food service.
- Planning, preparing and cooking breakfast, lunch, dinner, refreshments, packed lunches and occasional special meals.
- Developing balanced, seasonal menus that meet guest requirements, dietary needs and budget targets.
- Ensuring all food is prepared, cooked and presented to a consistently high standard.
- Managing dietary requirements and allergens, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free options.
- Managing stock levels, ordering ingredients and monitoring deliveries and storage.
- Maintaining effective stock rotation, portion control and waste reduction.
- Ensuring full compliance with Food Safety, HACCP, COSHH and Health & Safety requirements.
To be considered for the Head Chef role, you will need:
- Previous experience as a Head Chef or Sous Chef, ideally within a residential, hotel, care, education, retreat, conference or other high-volume catering environment.
- Strong cooking skills and the ability to consistently produce quality, nutritious meals.
- Experience of menu planning and adapting food production according to guest numbers and requirements.
- Strong knowledge of food hygiene, food safety, allergens and dietary requirements.
- Previous experience supervising, training and motivating a kitchen team.
- Experience managing stock, ordering and controlling food costs and waste.
- A Level 3 Food Safety / Food Hygiene qualification or above.
- Knowledge of HACCP and COSHH requirements.
The role offers a salary of £34,000 per annum for 40 hours per week, with no late nights and shifts finishing by 8:00pm at the latest. Employees receive 33 days' annual leave including bank holidays, along with Christmas and New Year closure, paid overtime and enhanced employer pension contributions.
Additional benefits include enhanced sick pay and maternity/paternity benefits, access to an Employee Assistance Program and wellbeing support, meals provided while on duty and free on-site parking.