Restaurant Associates UK
Head Chef
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Head Chef – Contract Catering & Hospitality - Earn up to £60K
We are seeking an experienced and ambitious Head Chef to lead a high-quality contract catering and hospitality operation, with an exciting new building and site mobilisation planned for next year.
This is an excellent opportunity for a forward-thinking chef who wants to take ownership of food strategy, lead a kitchen team and help shape a new operation that aims to set the standard for modern workplace hospitality.
With plans to increase hospitality by 50% and retail by 20%, alongside the mobilisation of a brand-new building, this role offers genuine scope to influence the future direction of the food operation.
What You'll Be Doing
- Lead the day-to-day running of a high-quality contract catering operation across hospitality, retail and production.
- Take a leading role in the mobilisation of the new building, helping to shape kitchen operations, processes, standards and service delivery from the outset.
- Oversee hospitality and events, ensuring exceptional food and service for a wide range of requirements.
- Manage food costs, purchasing, stock, labour and financial performance.
- Lead menu engineering, pricing and commercial development across the operation.
- Work closely with the client and wider management team to develop and deliver an ambitious food strategy.
- Lead the kitchen team, setting high standards for food quality, presentation, service and operational performance.
- Develop innovative, seasonal and commercially focused menus across all food service areas.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
What You'll Bring
- Proven experience as a Head Chef within contract catering, hospitality, events or a similarly complex food operation.
- Strong experience across hospitality and service delivery, ideally alongside retail and production.
- Experience of mobilisation, opening a new site or developing a new food operation would be highly advantageous.
- Demonstrable experience developing and implementing a food strategy.
- A genuine passion for sustainability, innovation and modern food concepts.
- Strong commercial knowledge, including food cost, purchasing, menu engineering and financial management.
- Proven ability to lead, develop and inspire a kitchen team.
- The confidence and communication skills to hold a room, present ideas and explain food strategy to senior stakeholders.
- A creative mindset, with the ability to challenge the status quo and bring fresh ideas to the operation.
If you're an ambitious Head Chef looking for your next challenge and want to help set the standard for the future of workplace hospitality, we'd love to hear from you.
Benefits
We ensure you're rewarded for all your hard work, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package which includes but is not limited to:
- Contributory pension scheme
- Grow your career with our Career Pathways and MyLearning programmes
- Quick access for you and your immediate family to a Digital GP, and wider healthcare benefits
- Exclusive travel discounts with TUI, Expedia, Booking.com and many more
- Save money on your food shop with discounts on Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and many more
- Up to 44% off cinema tickets to enjoy your favourite blockbuster
- Receive cash rewards every time you spend and use them on a wide range of brands
- Un-wind with us with free wellness, mindfulness and exercise classes
- You can share all discounts and offers with your friends and families
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
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/2008/42121001/52828805/SU #RA Group
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!
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location