Operations Chef - Essex

Overview

Our Lounge Operations Chefs play a pivotal role in the success of our business. Working alongside an Operations Manager you will manage an area of approximately 8-10 sites, staying close to our teams and customers every day. Your priority is the people you lead, spotting talent, placing the right people in the right roles, celebrating success, and developing managers and leaders through training, coaching and mentoring. We value unrelenting standards and aim for every customer to leave happy.

What you will be responsible for

• Relentlessly on the hunt to find and hire great kitchen talent to join Lounge at all levels, with a specific focus on building a high performing and loyal team of Heads Chefs and Sous Chefs (your number 1s and 2s in site).
• Getting the best out of your team by understanding what makes them tick as individuals, ensuring clear priorities for each site and fostering a culture of honest two-way feedback in the kitchens and between yourself and your Head Chefs.
• Visiting sites regularly to train and coach kitchen teams; most sites are visited at least once a week to have the biggest impact.
• Developing the capability and confidence of your Head Chef team through clear development plans and opportunities for growth; ensuring Head Chefs prioritise developing their own kitchen teams.
• Knowing the details of our menu specs and kitchen processes inside-out to spot issues or opportunities during visits and to contribute hands-on when needed.
• Ensuring that all kitchens deliver the Lounge Commitments, including fair rotas and regular conversations with team members about performance and engagement.
• Leading the training and engagement of kitchen teams to deliver seamless menu changes and improved food quality.
• Planning and executing the delivery of 14 Great Kitchen Shifts across your sites, with the right people on the right shifts, back-up plans, quality forecasting, ordering and rotas.
• Engaging with the local community in partnership with your Ops Manager and ensuring lounges connect with their environment through initiatives such as food donations or other programs.
• Developing, planning and executing all operational aspects for your Lounges with close attention to detail of your lounges, your team, customers, standards and processes in the kitchen.
• Finding ways to make the role your own by adding your unique footprint in leadership and delivery of our Ops expectations.
• Conducting high-impact visits and being visibly hands-on with kitchen teams to demonstrate what good looks like.
• Working in partnership daily with your Operations Manager to align on P&Ls, rota management, shift reporting, talent risks and company initiatives.
• Delivering daily and weekly Ops Chef expectations with on-time rota submission, orders, stock takes and related tasks.
• Providing daily reporting on kitchen performance, including shifts, stock levels, PARs, safety concerns and other details; maintaining obsessive attention to detail.
• Owning kitchen H&S standards and practices across sites, ensuring safe practices from allergen handling to deep cleans and labeling.
• Delivering on key performance indicators such as customer wait times, Net Promoter Scores, gross profit and food safety expectations (EHO, NSF).

Who Do We Look For?

• You Believe. In yourself and in your leadership, in your team, and in delivering a great experience where customers leave happy and teams love what they do.
• You\’re honest: The strength of character to own up to what’s not going right and tell it like it really is.
• Care for your team: You genuinely care about the people who work for you and know how to keep them motivated and engaged, helping them grow and reach their aspirations.
• Command the detail: You manage stocks, rotas, labour, H&S, and the details of the sites to deliver uncompromising standards front and back of house, and you get it done.
• Never settle: You obsess about learning from yesterday and improving, across each site and every day, while maintaining hard work and commitment.
• Do it your way: You lead with your own style and personality, recruiting and developing people who bring their true selves to work.

The Good Stuff

• Competitive salary plus an annual achievable bonus paid twice a year.
• Opportunity to participate in the Loungers Management Share Plan programme
• Company car allowance
• Full expenses and mileage provided
• Great opportunity for personal development and career progression in a fast growing business
• Annual Ops trip to somewhere sunny
• 50% discount on food from day 1
• The best staff party – Loungefest