Executive Chef

Bristol - 2-3 days a week, with the flexibility to travel to our restaurants across the UK.

Turtle Bay is a unique place which brings you the warmth, welcome and relaxed vibes of the Caribbean. We are a Mid-Market restaurant brand with big ambitions to redefine the experience with our innovative, fresh menu with an obsession for quality, and a deep love of food culture. Our inspiration has always, and will always, come from the magic of the Caribbean Islands. Our success is achieved through an obsessive focus on guest experience and a passion for exciting and interesting food and drink, all at an accessible price point.

This is an exciting, creative role with the opportunity to change up the casual dining scene. The Executive Chef needs to be creative, a visionary and own the food strategy. This role is all about innovation and implementation of high-quality food menus. The Executive Chef needs to be inspirational and passionate about food and developing amazing creations. From creative menu development to supplier partnerships, kitchen operations, and quality assurance — this is a hands-on role at the heart of our brand DNA. You’ll work closely with founders, operations, marketing, regional head chefs and chefs to inspire and deliver a food offer that’s distinctive, scalable, and delicious.

Qualities:

• You’re a natural leader with strong communication and influencing skills.
• You’ll bring Turtle Bay’s values to life and inspire others to do the same.
• With strong culinary skills and a deep understanding of current food trends and Caribbean flavour profiles, you’ll be passionate about innovation and continual improvement — in flavour, authenticity, and results.
• You’re organised, capable of managing multiple projects, and detail-focused.
• You’ll bring a meticulous approach to recipe development, testing, and documentation.
• You’ll also understand food safety and regulatory standards, including allergen labelling and nutritional analysis, and bring creativity and flair to every dish you design.

Key Responsibilities:

• Food Strategy & Innovation: Develop and lead the brand’s food strategy in line with commercial goals and guest expectations; Create innovative, trend-led, crave-worthy menus with a clear identity; Keep the senior team up to date on food trends; Use performance data and feedback to identify improvements; Lead development of seasonal changes, LTOs, and NPD across dine-in, takeaway, and delivery.
• Quality & Consistency: Maintain high food standards across all sites via the Operations Team; Write briefs for new menu items and gain stakeholder sign-off; Design specs that deliver value and meet food GP targets; Host food shows to gather feedback and finalise dishes; Collaborate with Training on spec documentation and support tools; Work with Ops to implement and monitor kitchen SOPs, recipes, and training; Conduct regular site visits, mystery reviews, and tastings.
• Supplier & Product Development: Build relationships with suppliers to source quality, authentic ingredients; Engage with artisan and market-leading producers; Work with supplier networks for menu development; Understand sustainability and sourcing impacts; Work closely with our Central Kitchen to maximise its potential; Manage supply chain risks and compliance with safety and allergen standards.
• Team Engagement & Culture: Communicate clearly to ensure successful dish execution; Be the face of Turtle Bay food development across teams and marketing; Inspire and mentor chefs across all locations, driving passion and consistency; Visit sites regularly to support and coach senior chefs; Support video and photo shoots to showcase the menu; Run an annual Chef Competition to spotlight talent and innovation; Host food forums and workshops to develop chef capability.
• Commercial Accountability: Own food cost performance — balancing quality with margin; Support Ops with kitchen design and workflow; Champion Procure Wizard — resolve issues and highlight improvements; Use our tech platforms to cost dishes and ensure they hit margin targets; Lead our food safety systems and contribute as a member of the HACCP team.
• Other: Support brand and external events; Be confident sharing digital content on social media; Be hands-on — we’re a small team, and we all pitch in when needed.

How will we measure success?

• Ability to deliver inspiring Caribbean dishes and smooth menu launches.
• Providing innovative edits and updates to improve cost and taste of current dishes.
• Quality of training documentation created.
• Food Sentiment scores in line with company target.
• Achievement of Turtle Bay food sales budget.
• Engagement survey responses around menu design and implementation.
• Budgeted gross profit % within the context of theoretical GPs driven by sales mix.