Group Head Chef

SMWS locations in Edinburgh and Glasgow

Vacancy listed
10/08/2026

Details

Job Description

Job Title: Group Head Chef

Reporting to: Group Venue Manager

Location: SMWS locations in Edinburgh and Glasgow

Hours: 40 hours

The Company

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) is an organisation that was formed from the unconventional. We think a little bit differently and have made it our mission to build our whisky community by offering a valuable membership experience that attracts and inspires involvement. We host the world’s most colourful whisky experiences, bringing members together and having fun along the way. SMWS is recognised for its award‑winning whiskies and unique and playful approach.

The Society’s mission is to grow our membership while ensuring everyone appreciates a sense of belonging to a like‑minded community of whisky lovers. That pioneering and challenging spirit continues to guide the Society in everything we do, bringing like‑minded whisky lovers together to appreciate whisky in its purest form. We are now renowned as the world’s leading whisky club, bringing an international community together to share in a constant variety of exceptional and multi award‑winning single cask whiskies, enjoyed at colourful whisky tastings, festivals, and events.

Purpose of the role

This is an exciting opportunity to shape and evolve the food offering within a unique membership organisation renowned for delivering exceptional hospitality and whisky experiences.

The Group Head Chef is responsible for leading a team of 21 across our three venues, delivering exceptional food quality, driving menu innovation, maintaining safe and compliant kitchen operations, and ensuring the commercial success of our food and events offering.

This is a hands‑on leadership role working across The Vaults (Leith), Queen Street (Edinburgh) and Bath Street (Glasgow). The successful candidate will combine strong culinary expertise with commercial acumen, team leadership skills and a passion for developing people. They will also have a strong value base that promotes training and development and have the capability to manage time and resources effectively.

Working hours – 40 hours per week; 5 days over 7 days. The post holder will be expected to work flexibly within the opening hours of the operation which includes weekends and evenings and is expected to allocate time across the 3 locations.

Key Responsibilities

Food service and Development - Responsibilities:

• Lead on overall food strategy for the operation in line with SMWS brand and Strategic Vision for Venue Experience; menu development and innovation in all food offers with the support of the Group Venue Manager
• Develop and monitor supply chain to ensure excellent quality and consistency of product; following best practice and systems in purchasing
• Leadership of kitchen teams to ensure delivery of food offering on a daily basis, delivering all food production requirements at the required level and to a consistent standard.
• Develop and work consistently to standard recipes; costed on a regular basis.
• Collaborate with suppliers to create food offers that reflect a sense of place, with local and Scottish sourcing at the heart of the offer.

• 6. Create seasonal menus that offer variety for members and guests while complementing the Society's whisky offering.

• Monitor food cost, control food waste and manage discrepancies in gross profit achievement.
• Ensure staff are briefed about menus, allergens and other relevant information.
• Develop menus as required for private hires and events.

Systems and Processes - Responsibilities

• Set, work to and be able to evaluate budgets, monitoring food sales and costs and responding quickly to variances in performance, implementing corrective action where necessary in order to meet or exceed catering budget across all three venues.
• Lead on food safety in line with current legislation, ensuring compliance with daily and other due diligence processes and specifically following the food safety system and HACCP processes.
• Oversee and record kitchen and front-of-house maintenance requirements, ensuring issues are resolved promptly.
• Develop and follow any relevant risk…