Head Pastry Chef in Bicester

Who Are Absolute Taste and What Do We Do? We are an innovative culinary and customer service provider, dedicated to delivering inspirational food and experiences that redefine customer satisfaction. With a commitment to excellence and a passion for pushing boundaries, we continue to grow from strength to strength. As a small, dynamic team of event professionals, we specialize in creating exciting, well-managed, and sustainable events, while fostering strong working relationships. We're looking for individuals who share our fun, resilient, and hardworking values to join our supportive, high-performing team. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a highly regarded organisation dedicated to success and a positive, empowering culture.

About The Role: We are seeking for an experienced and creative Head Pastry Chef to lead our pastry teams across an exciting portfolio of high-profile events, from Formula One and prestigious golf championships to private and corporate occasions. A fantastic opportunity for a passionate pastry chef who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is driven to deliver exceptional food, creativity and memorable experiences.

Location: Bicester, Oxfordshire

As a Head Pastry Chef your key responsibilities will be:

• Pastry & Menu Development: Lead the pastry function across events, creating, developing and costing desserts and sweet menu items in line with client briefs, budgets and current food trends.
• Event Leadership: Take a senior leadership role across culinary operations, managing kitchen teams, providing direction and ensuring high standards of food, service and hospitality.
• Kitchen Operations: Oversee the full kitchen operation before, during and after events, including production, staffing, set-up, pack-down, equipment, stock and waste management.
• Budget & Cost Control: Take responsibility for food and kitchen labour budgets, forecasting, tracking spend and ensuring all procurement and operational costs remain within agreed targets.
• Procurement & Suppliers: Manage ingredients, suppliers, orders, deliveries and stock, working closely with procurement, finance and logistics teams.
• Strategy & Innovation: Contribute to the overall F&B strategy, developing creative and commercially viable menus that reflect local food trends, client requirements and available ingredients.
• Team Management: Recruit, lead and motivate chefs, manage team performance and morale, and ensure effective communication across diverse and international teams.
• On-Site Event Delivery: Act as a key member of the event delivery team, remaining calm under pressure and ensuring kitchens operate efficiently and safely throughout the event.
• Food Safety & Compliance: Ensure all food safety, health & safety, allergen, quality and regulatory requirements are fully maintained and documented.
• Client & Stakeholder Management: Build strong relationships with clients, internal departments, suppliers and third-party partners, acting as an ambassador for the company.
• Planning & Processes: Develop kitchen packs, SOPs, packing lists and operational processes to ensure events run smoothly and consistently.
• Post-Event: Participate in debriefs, review performance and identify improvements for future events.

Experience: Ideally requires experience with large-scale/international events, greenfield operations and/or F1 events, alongside strong organisational, communication and leadership skills.

What we are looking for:

• Proven experience in a senior Head Pastry Chef role, ideally within events, catering or hospitality.
• Strong leadership and team management skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate large, diverse kitchen teams.
• Exceptional menu writing and culinary creativity, with a passion for pastry, knowledge of current food trends, dietary requirements and sustainability practices.
• Excellent organisational and time management abilities, with experience planning and delivering greenfield events.
• Proficiency in cost management, budgeting, and food ordering systems.
• Thorough understanding of food safety, hygiene and allergen regulations.
• Experience managing procurement, stock control and supplier relationships.
• Calm and decisive under pressure, with the ability to troubleshoot logistical challenges at pace.
• Excellent team relationship building and recruitment skills.
• Flexibility to work evenings, weekends and travel internationally as required.
• Organised, punctual and motivational, with confident and adaptable communication skills.

Why Join Us at Absolute Taste? Join a fast-growing and innovative company that is redefining customer experiences in the culinary and event space. We offer an empowering team culture, the opportunity to work on exciting, well-managed events, and a supportive, resilient team environment. We are committed to supporting your career growth with thorough training and ongoing development. You can also enjoy benefits such as:

• 25 Days holiday + Bank Holiday
• Company Pension
• Life Assurance

We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer.