Head Chef

Heard. is a premium fast-casual smash burger concept from 2 Michelin-starred chef Jordan Bailey, born from a desire to take an everyday classic and make it quietly exceptional. We combine top-quality, thoughtfully sourced ingredients with the rigour and technique of the world’s best kitchens. No gimmicks, no shortcuts - just maximum flavour done right. After a massive year touring the UK’s biggest events, we opened our permanent home in Borough last year, pairing our signature burgers with considered natural wines, craft beer, and a warm, efficient service style. Now, with our second site in Soho thriving, we are looking forward to our next chapter.

The Heard Package:

• Salary: £46,000 - £50,000 per year OTE (depending on experience).
• Benefits: Access to benefits platform from day one including 50% off food and drink in our sites, cycle to work scheme and high street discounts.
• The Food: A monthly meal for you and four guests, on us.
• Professional Growth: Formal qualifications paid for, including Mental Health First Aid and H&S Level 3.
• Clear Progression: Genuine opportunities to progress; we will be looking to further bolster our senior/senior-culinary roles as the business grows.
• Your Birthday off!

What You’ll Do:

• Be a Culinary Ambassador: Represent the kitchen with pride, ensuring quality and adherence to specs are executed flawlessly in a high-volume, fast-casual environment.
• Build, Lead and Develop the Team: You will recruit, onboard, train, and retain a hospitality-led BOH team. You'll keep team morale high, target kitchen retention at 90%+, and establish clear development and succession plans for your chefs.
• Drive Guest Satisfaction: Deliver absolute consistency. Ensure 90%+ of feedback from guests and mystery diners reflects excellence in product execution, presentation, and taste.
• Align the Shift: Run structured daily kitchen briefings and post-shift debriefs, ensuring the BOH team is completely aligned on service goals, speed of service, product provenance, and spec standards.
• Own the Space & Vibe: Ensure everything in the room - from the lighting and setup to the playlist - remains deliberate, welcoming, and natural. Lead the restaurant to consistently deliver high-energy service while maintaining immaculate standards across every shift.
• Maintain Total Compliance: Take full ownership of kitchen hygiene. Keep the BOH fully compliant across EHO regulations, Food Safety/HACCP, Health & Safety, and internal and external audits (5 stars every time).
• Manage the Kitchen P&L: Take full ownership of BOH financial health. Actively track and manage food costs (COS), kitchen labour, food waste, stock control, and kitchen GP margins.

What You Bring:

• Proven Kitchen Leadership: Solid experience as a Head Chef or strong Senior Sous Chef in a high-volume, premium fast-casual or high-standard restaurant environment. You are a leader who leads from the front, is hands-on, and stays calm under pressure.
• A Development Mindset: The ability to coach kitchen specs and techniques in real time—correcting and reinforcing our non-negotiable food standards right on the line.
• Genuine Passion: You love great food, and the art of effortless, high-standard culinary execution.
• Operational & Financial Fluency: Strong commercial acumen with direct experience managing kitchen rotas, stock takes, ordering systems, GP tracking, and BOH cost management.

This is an opportunity to help shape a growing brand, not simply manage a kitchen. So, if you are a grounded kitchen leader who takes food seriously but leaves the stuffy formality at the door, we would love to hear from you.