Culinary Development Chef - Northern Ireland

Culinary Development Chef - Northern Ireland

• Full-time

Regional Development Chef – Northern Ireland

Aramark is seeking a passionate and innovative Regional Development Chef to drive culinary excellence, food innovation, quality, and commercial performance across our operations in Northern Ireland.

Working closely with operational teams, Executive Chefs, and culinary leadership, you will develop and deliver innovative, relevant, and commercially successful food concepts that enhance the guest experience, drive customer satisfaction, and support business growth.

This is a highly visible, hands‑on role that combines culinary creativity with strong operational expertise. You will lead menu development initiatives, identify emerging food trends, support culinary standards, and ensure food offers remain fresh, exciting, and commercially viable across the region.

As a key ambassador for the Aramark culinary function, you will work alongside site teams to raise standards, develop culinary talent, and promote a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. Success in this role requires the ability to balance chef‑led creativity with commercial focus, ensuring exceptional food experiences while delivering profitable growth.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced chef who is passionate about food, enjoys influencing teams, and thrives on bringing new ideas to life in a fast‑paced and diverse foodservice environment.

Key Responsibilities

Culinary Development & Innovation

• Lead the development of innovative, relevant, and commercially viable menus and food concepts across the region.
• Identify emerging food, consumer, and hospitality trends and translate them into practical food solutions.
• Develop recipes, dishes, and concepts that can be successfully implemented across multiple locations and formats.
• Support new business opportunities, tenders, client presentations, and mobilisation projects.
• Work closely with suppliers and culinary partners to identify new products and innovation opportunities.

Culinary Excellence & Standards

• Drive consistency, quality, and culinary standards across all locations within the region.
• Support Executive Chefs and site teams in delivering exceptional food experiences.
• Develop and implement recipes, specifications, presentation standards, and best‑practice guidelines.
• Conduct regular culinary reviews and support sites in improving food quality and execution. Champion seasonal, local, sustainable, and responsibly sourced ingredients.

Commercial Performance

• Support the delivery of profitable food offers through effective menu engineering and recipe development.
• Drive food cost awareness, yield management, portion control, and waste reduction.
• Identify opportunities to improve product mix, margin, and overall commercial performance.
• Develop food solutions that balance quality, guest appeal, operational practicality, and profitability.

Operational Support

• Provide hands‑on culinary support to operational teams across the region.
• Support new site openings, major events, menu launches, and business development projects.
• Work collaboratively with Operations Directors, Executive Chefs, and site leadership teams.
• Ensure new food concepts are practical, scalable, and operationally achievable.

People & Culinary Development

• Coach, mentor, and inspire chefs across the region.
• Support the development of emerging culinary talent.
• Deliver culinary training, demonstrations, workshops, and development sessions.
• Share best practice and encourage creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Act as a visible culinary ambassador and role model within the business.
• Support the development of sustainable and responsible food practices.
• Champion initiatives focused on reducing food waste and improving sustainable sourcing.
• Work collaboratively with dietetics, nutrition, and sustainability teams to develop balanced and inclusive food offers.
• Support the delivery of health and wellbeing initiatives across the region.

Key Skills & Experience

• Proven experience as an Executive Chef, Development Chef, Head Chef, or senior culinary leader.
• Strong background in high-volume foodservice, hospitality, retail, events, or contract catering.
• Demonstrated experience in menu development, food innovation, and concept creation.
• Strong commercial understanding, including food cost, menu engineering, yield, and margin management.
• Excellent knowledge of current food trends and consumer preferences.
• Strong presentation, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to influence, coach, and inspire culinary and operational teams.
• Highly organised, self‑motivated, and capable of managing multiple projects across a large geographical region.
• A genuine passion for food, innovation, quality, and developing people.

Key Measures of Success

• Improved culinary quality and consistency across the region.
• Successful development and implementation of new menus and food concepts.
• Positive commercial impact through improved margin, yield, and menu performance.
• Strong guest and client feedback.
• Increased culinary capability and engagement within regional teams.
• Successful support of new business, mobilisations, and strategic projects.
• Delivery of sustainability, nutrition, and food innovation objectives.

At Aramark UK, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone is valued and empowered to thrive.

As a proud Disability Confident Employer, we actively encourage applications from individuals of all abilities and are dedicated to supporting employees with disabilities throughout their career journey.

We are an Armed Forces Friendly organisation and proud signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant. We welcome applications from veterans, service leavers, cadet forces adult volunteers, reservists and military families.

For roles requiring security clearance, any offer of employment will be conditional upon the successful completion and maintenance of the required level of security clearance. Applicants must meet the relevant eligibility and residency requirements applicable to that level of clearance.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we expect all employees and workers to share this commitment. Where relevant to the role, safer recruitment checks will apply, including referencesand an enhanced DBS checkin line with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE).

We ensure our recruitment process is accessible, and reasonable adjustments are available at every stage, from application to interview and employment. If you require any adjustments or have any questions, please reach out to our recruitment team – careers@aramark.co.uk

Join us in fostering a workplace where everyone can achieve their full potential.

All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

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