Head Chef
Job description
Original text imported from Reed
Head Chef
Flagship Restaurant | Greater Manchester £50,000-£64,000 Package + Benefits
Some Head Chef roles are about stepping away from the kitchen.
This one absolutely isn't.
We're recruiting for a genuinely hands-on Head Chef opportunity within one of Greater Manchester's busiest and most respected independent restaurants, a high-volume, owner-led business with serious standards, strong reputation and a loyal customer following built over many years.
This is a role for a chef who still genuinely enjoys being on the pass, leading service from the front, developing chefs and taking pride in running a high-performing kitchen every day.
The business delivers approximately £55,000 net sales per week, including £35,000-£40,000 net food sales, with weekends regularly exceeding 400 covers across busy services, celebrations and events. Despite the volume, quality, consistency and atmosphere remain at the heart of the operation.
The owners are passionate, entrepreneurial and highly invested in the business. They are looking for a Head Chef who understands independent hospitality, thrives within a fast-paced environment and wants to be fully involved in the day-to-day running of the kitchen - not somebody looking to step away into a purely operational or strategic role.
The Kitchen
You'll inherit a strong and established brigade structure including:
- 3 Junior Sous Chefs
- Senior Prep & Development Chef
- Junior Prep Chef
- 6 CDPs across all sections
- Kitchen Porters
The kitchen itself is extremely well equipped, including a separate prep kitchen, with ongoing investment available where new ideas, efficiencies or sales opportunities can be identified.
What We're Looking For
We're keen to speak with strong culinary professionals who:
- Lead from the front and are comfortable running a busy pass
- Still enjoy cooking, service and being present within the kitchen team
- Build strong brigade culture through standards, respect and energy
- Understand how to balance quality with commercial performance
- Thrive in fast-paced independent hospitality environments
- Bring a genuine "can do" mentality to both leadership and service
- Enjoy developing people and creating consistency across large-volume operations
- Understand kitchen labour, stock control and food GP management
- Are commercially aware without becoming overly corporate
This role is likely to suit an award winning restaurant Head Chef, strong Senior Sous Chef ready for a step up, or a proven executive Head Chef who still wants to actively lead services rather than move into a purely multi-site or operational position.
The Opportunity
You'll work closely with ownership with real autonomy to influence:
- Menus and specials
- Kitchen culture and standards
- Team development
- Service execution
- Product quality
- Operational improvements
- Potential future growth opportunities and sales channels
Importantly, the owners value chefs who are present, visible and fully invested in the kitchen operation.
Package
- £50,000-£64,000 package depending on experience
- Bonus scheme circa £4,000
- Tronc / tips approximately £300-£400 per month
- 48-hour working week
- 4.5-5 days per week
- Strong long-term opportunity within a successful independent hospitality business
- Supportive ownership team that understands hospitality
This is an excellent opportunity for a talented Head Chef who still loves the energy of service and wants to lead a kitchen they can genuinely be proud of within one of the region's standout independent restaurant businesses.
Please apply today for a confidential conversation.
Key skills
AI-extracted from the job advert
Application advice
5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.
⭐ Open your CV with a Personal Statement that explicitly references high-volume pass leadership — the advert names 400+ weekend covers as a core benchmark, so mirror that language.
📊 Quantify your kitchen's weekly sales throughput: e.g. 'Managed kitchen delivering £42,000 net food sales per week across 380-cover weekend services', directly matching the £35k-£40k food sales figure cited.
🍽️ List the brigade size you have managed (number of CDPs, Sous Chefs, prep staff) to demonstrate you can inherit and lead the 13+ person structure described.
🎯 Highlight menu development and specials ownership as a dedicated CV bullet — the advert lists this as a key area of autonomy the owners want the new Head Chef to own.
📈 Include a bullet on food GP improvement or labour cost management with a percentage: e.g. 'Reduced food GP variance from 34% to 29% over 6 months through tighter stock rotation and portion control'.
Suggested CV bullets
3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.
Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:
- •Led a 14-person brigade across a high-volume independent restaurant delivering 380 covers per Saturday service, maintaining food GP consistently at 68% through structured stock rotation and daily waste tracking.
- •Developed 3 CDPs into Junior Sous Chef level within 24 months by introducing weekly skills sessions and section rotation, reducing agency chef spend by £18,000 annually.
- •Redesigned seasonal menu of 32 dishes in collaboration with ownership, increasing average spend per head from £28 to £34 and lifting net food sales by £6,000 per week within the first quarter.
Free to copy — tailoring requires a 30-sec CV upload.
Your cover letter is ready
We've drafted a cover letter for The People Pod. Preview the opening, then unlock the full personalised version.
Letter preview — tailored to The People Pod
Dear Hiring Manager,
Running a kitchen delivering £55,000 net sales per week with 400+ covers every weekend demands a Head Chef who leads from the pass — not from a desk. I am applying for the Head Chef position at The People Pod's flagship Greater Manchester restaurant because my background in high-volume independent hospitality, brigade development and food GP management aligns directly with what you are building.
My background in leading busy kitchen brigades includes managing teams of 12 or more across all sections, owning weekly stock control processes that reduced food GP variance by 4 percentage points, and developing CDPs into junior sous chef roles within 18 months. I understand the commercial rigour independent restaurant owners expect without losing sight of the quality and atmosphere that build loyal customer followings.
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Interview questions
10 questions generated from this advert.
Technical
- ›How do you structure your pass during a 400-cover Saturday service to maintain quality and consistency across all sections?
- ›Walk us through how you calculate and manage food GP — what weekly processes do you have in place?
- ›How do you approach menu engineering to balance customer appeal with strong gross profit margins in a high-volume independent restaurant?
- ›What systems or processes do you use for stock control and reducing wastage in a busy kitchen?
- ›How would you assess and develop a CDP who shows potential but is inconsistent under pressure?
Behavioural
- ›Tell me about a time you inherited an underperforming kitchen brigade and turned around the culture and standards.
- ›Describe a situation where you had to balance maintaining food quality with the commercial pressures of a very busy service.
- ›Give an example of when you introduced a new menu or dish that significantly improved either sales or customer satisfaction.
- ›Tell me about a time you had to manage a conflict within your kitchen team during a high-pressure service.
- ›Describe a moment when you identified an operational inefficiency in the kitchen and implemented a measurable improvement.
STAR answer examples
Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.
Tell me about a time you inherited an underperforming kitchen brigade and turned around the culture and standards.
Describe a situation where you had to balance maintaining food quality with the commercial pressures of a very busy service.