Head Chef

£55,000–£60,000 per annum + very generous tronc scheme

At Harbour Hotels, we believe luxury hospitality is about more than beautiful surroundings. It's about the people who create unforgettable experiences within them.

Our growing collection of luxury lifestyle hotels, restaurants and spas can be found in some of the UK's most desirable locations. Each destination is unique, but they all share the same commitment to exceptional hospitality, outstanding service and creating memorable experiences for our guests.

We're looking for people with warmth, energy and personality. People who take ownership, rise to challenges, adapt with confidence and genuinely care about delivering exceptional guest experiences.

If you're passionate about hospitality and want to be part of a business that's ambitious, growing and committed to excellence, we'd love to hear from you.

We are looking for an experienced and ambitious Executive Head Chef to join Southampton Harbour Hotel & Spa, taking responsibility for two distinct and busy kitchen operations, each with its own brigade of chefs.

The first supports HarBAR on 6th, our vibrant rooftop destination incorporating a restaurant, bar and terrace, with several different food offerings alongside the hotel's breakfast service.

The second is our dedicated Meeting & Events kitchen, with its own brigade, delivering the food operation for our busy Meetings & Events Suite and catering for a range of events and functions, including high-volume events.

It's a complex and varied role requiring someone who can balance the demands of two very different operations, while ensuring exceptional standards of food, service, team development and commercial performance.

This is very much a hands-on operational role. We want an Executive Head Chef who loves being in the kitchen, leading from the front, supporting their chefs and being visible during service. At the same time, you will need the strategic and commercial capability to oversee multiple teams, manage costs and labour, develop the food offering and ensure both operations perform at a consistently high level.

Working closely with the General Manager and wider hotel leadership team, you will take ownership of:

• Leading two separate kitchen operations and their respective chef brigades
• Overseeing the food operation across HarBAR on 6th, hotel breakfast and the dedicated Meetings & Events kitchen
• Maintaining consistently high standards of food quality, presentation and service
• Being visible and hands-on within both kitchens, particularly during key services and high-volume periods
• Leading, developing and inspiring the chefs and kitchen leadership teams across both operations
• Ensuring the Meetings & Events kitchen successfully delivers high-volume events and functions
• Developing menus and food concepts appropriate to the different areas of the business
• Taking ownership of food costs, labour management, stock control and commercial performance within your areas
• Recruiting, retaining and developing talent and building strong succession plans across both brigades
• Maintaining exceptional standards of food safety, hygiene, compliance and kitchen organisation
• Working collaboratively with the wider hotel leadership team to continually improve the guest experience and commercial performance

We're looking for an experienced culinary leader who combines real operational energy with the ability to think strategically.

This isn't a role for someone who wants to lead from behind a desk. You'll need to enjoy the pace of a busy kitchen, be comfortable leading service and want to be visible with your teams.

Equally, with two separate kitchens, two brigades, multiple food offerings, hotel breakfast and high-volume Meetings & Events, you'll need the leadership, organisational and commercial skills to manage a complex operation effectively.

Ideally, you will bring around five years' experience in an Executive Head Chef, Head Chef or equivalent senior culinary leadership role within a comparable operation.

Experience with in a five-star or luxury hotel environment would be highly advantageous. However, we are equally interested in experienced chefs from other premium, high-volume hospitality businesses who can demonstrate that they have successfully led an operation of similar scale and complexity.

You will be:

• Passionate about delivering outstanding food and memorable guest…