Executive Head Chef - Bath

Executive Head Chef
Busy, high-profile branded hotel in the heart of Bath
JWR is delighted to be recruiting for an exceptional Executive Head Chef to lead the kitchen of an exciting new premium branded restaurant opening in the heart of Bath.
Set within one of the UK's most beautiful and historic cities, this is a rare opportunity for an ambitious, commercially minded and highly experienced chef to take ownership of a high-profile opening, build and inspire a talented brigade, and deliver outstanding food in a fast-paced, quality-led restaurant environment.
This role would suit an Executive Head Chef or established Head Chef with a strong background in premium, high-volume restaurants, branded dining, hotels, or destination-led food and beverage operations.

Package

• Salary £60,000 + Generous service charge
• Permanent, full-time contract, 40 hours per week
• Worldwide hotel employee discounts
• Discounted stays and food and beverage across the wider group
• 28 days holiday, including bank holidays, increasing with service
• Retail, restaurant, events and lifestyle discounts
• Employee assistance and well-being support
• Financial well-being platform with access to earned pay
• Complimentary annual stay-over after one year of service
• Excellent training, progression and development opportunities
• Free meals on shift
• Referral rewards
• Length of service awards

The Role
As Executive Head Chef, you will be responsible for leading the full kitchen operation, managing the brigade, overseeing back-of-house food and beverage spaces, and ensuring the consistent delivery of high-quality dishes that meet brand standards and guest expectations.
Reporting directly to the General Manager, you will play a key role in bringing the restaurant to life, driving culinary standards, developing the team, managing kitchen performance and ensuring the business achieves its commercial targets.
Key responsibilities will include:

• Leading, inspiring and developing the kitchen brigade
• Managing the day-to-day kitchen operation to the highest standards
• Overseeing food preparation, presentation and service delivery
• Ensuring consistent quality, efficiency and pace across busy services
• Supporting menu development and seasonal dish changes
• Managing food cost, labour cost, stock control and ordering
• Completing monthly stock takes and maintaining strong financial controls
• Ensuring compliance with food safety, hygiene, health and safety standards
• Training, coaching and integrating new team members
• Developing Sous Chefs, line chefs and kitchen porters through structured training
• Supporting recruitment, retention and succession planning
• Working closely with the wider management team to achieve sales, cost and guest satisfaction targets
• Identifying ways to improve kitchen workflow, profitability and operational efficiency

Requirements
The ideal Executive Head Chef will be a confident, hands-on leader with the ability to operate at pace while maintaining outstanding standards.
You will need:

• Proven experience as an Executive Head Chef or Head Chef in a premium, high-volume restaurant environment
• Strong experience managing busy, fast-paced services
• A background in quality-led branded restaurants, premium hotels, or high-volume fresh food operations
• Excellent kitchen leadership and team development skills
• Strong commercial awareness across food cost, labour, stock and profitability
• The ability to manage large order volumes without compromising quality
• Excellent organisation, time management and multitasking skills
• Experience improving kitchen systems, structure and workflow
• A calm, professional and motivational leadership style
• A passion for food, consistency, guest experience and team culture
• A strong understanding of health, safety and food hygiene compliance

This is a fantastic opportunity for a driven Executive Head Chef to take on a flagship-style opening in Bath and play a key role in shaping the kitchen, team and food operation from the very beginning.
Applicants must have the right to work in the UK.
JWR is acting as an employment agency in relation to this vacancy.