About the Chef role
A Chef leads the kitchen: designing the menu, setting quality standards, running service, and managing the cooks who bring each dish to the pass. Unlike a Restaurant Manager, who owns the front of house and the business as a whole, the Chef owns everything that happens behind the kitchen doors, from supplier orders and food costs to plating standards and food safety.
Chef titles carry real hierarchy, so match the title to the actual job. An Executive Chef or Head Chef sets the menu and manages the whole kitchen operation. A Sous Chef runs service day to day and steps in when the Head Chef is away. A Chef de Partie owns one station. If you post for a Chef but actually need a line cook, you will attract overqualified candidates and lose them at the salary conversation.
In your posting, describe the cuisine, the covers per service, the size of the kitchen brigade, and how much creative freedom the Chef gets over the menu. Chefs choose jobs based on kitchen culture and autonomy as much as pay, so be honest about the pace, the hours, and who has final say on the menu. If the role includes food cost targets or supplier management, spell that out too.
Chef job description template
Free download. Use it offline or customize it for your company.
Job brief
We are hiring a Chef to take charge of our kitchen. You will shape the menu, set and hold the standards on every plate, run service, order and manage stock against cost targets, and lead the cooks who make it all happen night after night.
This suits somebody who can hold quality through a full book without raising their voice, develops the people under them, and treats food safety and cost control as part of the craft rather than an interruption to it.
Responsibilities
- Design menus and develop new dishes that fit our concept, season, and target food cost
- Prepare and cook dishes to a consistent standard of taste, presentation, and portioning
- Run kitchen service, coordinating stations so orders leave the pass on time and together
- Train, schedule, and supervise cooks and kitchen staff, and build a respectful kitchen culture
- Order ingredients, manage supplier relationships, and check deliveries for quality
- Control food costs through portioning, waste tracking, and smart menu engineering
- Enforce food safety, hygiene, and sanitation standards across the kitchen
- Manage stock rotation and storage so ingredients stay fresh and nothing is lost to spoilage
- Maintain kitchen equipment and flag repairs before they disrupt service
- Collaborate with front-of-house leadership on specials, menu changes, and guest feedback
Requirements and skills
- Has led a kitchen or a section of one at a comparable level
- Has held quality through busy services rather than only quiet ones
- Knows food cost, portioning, and how a menu is priced to work
- Sound on food safety and hygiene, with current certification where required
- Able to stand through long shifts and to work evenings, weekends, and holidays
- Communicates clearly under pressure, at the busiest point of service
- Develops the cooks in the brigade rather than only directing them
- Culinary training, or the years in professional kitchens that replaced it
Nice to have
- Experience opening a new kitchen or launching a new menu concept
- Advanced food safety or HACCP certification
- Experience with kitchen management software for ordering, inventory, or recipe costing
- A track record of developing junior cooks into station chefs
Generate a custom Chef job description
Need a version tailored to your company, seniority level, or industry? Describe the role and our AI job description generator will draft one in seconds.
