Head Chef - Hospitality in London

We are looking for a Head Chef to lead our amazing Hospitality & Events Culinary team, at a leading global investment bank in Central London. We are looking for an individual who has a real passion for the Hospitality and Food industry, is keen to be collaborative and takes pride in their work every day. Every interaction is an opportunity to create a lasting impression, and we are looking for a talented individual who strives to exceed expectations at every turn.

Our Head Chef is at the core of everything we do in our Hospitality & Events kitchens, from writing and planning your own menus, to mentoring and supporting the team through service. We thoroughly encourage innovation through our menus, tapping into seasonality and different cuisines and flavours.

Our Hospitality & Event Kitchens look after our fine dining offering at a busy and fast-paced investment bank. We oversee fine dining in 29 private dining rooms, and an events space that caters up to 1700 pax. We have full autonomy across our seasonal brochures from breakfast to a la carte lunch to canapes, so this is a real opportunity to bring your own flair and touch to our dishes and make the offering your own.

In this role, you'll be responsible for the overall kitchen operation delivering fresh, seasonal, and on-trend menus for our Hospitality & Events offering. You'll lead a dedicated brigade, ensuring exceptional food quality, compliance with health and safety standards, and efficient kitchen practices that reflect our brand and values.

• Take full responsibility and ownership for the smooth and efficient running of our Hospitality & Events Kitchens, overseeing our full offering from breakfast to a la carte lunch to canapes.
• To have full autonomy with the planning, preparation, cooking and presentation of seasonally changing menus to the standards required by the company and our client.
• To manage, mentor and motivate a brigade of around 13 chefs, from Senior Sous Chef to Kitchen Porter.
• To lead with the safe supervision of all food production preparation cooking and presentation, ensuring the reputation of food quality is always maintained.
• To work collaboratively with our Group Culinary Lead, to drive food innovation and concept development, marketing and implementation, across our Hospitality & Events food offering, but alongside our Retail kitchen too.
• To ensure food production, standards, costs and menu planning are carried out proactively, so we can be efficient and economical with our food, without it having an impact on our quality and taste.
• To ensure that clients are given a prompt and efficient service, and expectations are consistently exceeded, oversee all food tastings, presentations and food samplings, guiding the kitchen team in all new menu implementations.
• Ensure that the company's reputation for excellent food and service is enhanced with the client and customers.
• Hold regular 1-1s and appraisals, providing constructive feedback. Monitor development and make recommendations for succession planning.
• Taking responsibility for all Health and Safety within the Kitchen, ensure all H&S bases audits are passed in accordance with our internal policies and act on any shortfalls.
• Ensure due diligence records are completed accurately and on time and filed for future reference and that we location meet statutory and company requirements in Health and Safety, Food Safety and environmental legislation and procedures.

Qualifications:

• Previous experience as a Head Chef in Events, Hotels or high-end restaurants.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• NVQ qualification or equivalent.
• Strong knowledge of allergy management.
• Food Safety and Hygiene certification.
• Be driven and delivering the highest quality of food.

Our non-negotiables:

• Exemplary kitchen management practices and being an ambassador for WSH.
• Maximising commercial opportunities and being innovative and inspiring culinary ideas for menus whilst being creative and profitable.
• Create a professional working environment for the team ensuring that company standards are maintained and that Client expectations are met.
• Excellent mentoring, organisation and communication skills.

Benefits:

• 28 Days holiday including bank holidays.
• Plus your birthday off.
• 3 volunteering days.
• 3 days grandparent leave.
• 24 weeks enhanced maternity leave.
• Secondary carer leave.
• Wedding/commitment day leave.
• Free meals on shift.
• Bespoke training and development opportunities.
• Apprenticeships opportunities for all experience levels.
• Pension and life insurance.
• Discounts available on our Perkbox app; high street shops, holidays & cinema.
• Wellbeing hub.
• Access to employee assistance programme.
• Cycle to work scheme.

We need the brightest and the best to join us to make this all possible. We will support you to create your hospitality legacy and build a career that you are proud of. Our drive and belief in our people means that we always strive to supercharge our teams' careers. Better is a daily habit that sits deep within our DNA, meaning learning will be front and centre of your experience working with us.

Join us, and be part of the food revolution! Interested? Even if you don’t meet all requirements, we’d like to hear from you. If you are motivated and hungry to learn, we can work together to develop your potential.

We are proud to be an inclusive employer and welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds. We celebrate individuality and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We encourage applications from people of all ages, abilities, gender identities, sexual orientations, races, religions, and socio-economic backgrounds.

BaxterStorey is committed to encouraging equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) among our workforce and aim for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society, and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To support our commitment to this we have set ourselves an ambition to set the standard and to be recognised for having the most inclusive culture in hospitality. Join us and bring your unique perspective to our team.