Head Chef – Starlight

Role Purpose

The Head Chef is responsible for the overall culinary operation of Starlight, delivering a consistent, high-quality casual dining experience within a cinema environment.

The role combines strong culinary leadership with efficient high-volume execution, ensuring that all food is prepared and served consistently, safely, and within the required service times.

The Head Chef is accountable for food quality, kitchen organization, team performance, food cost, hygiene, menu execution, and the continuous improvement of the overall food offering.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage all daily kitchen operations.
• Ensure consistent execution of all menu items according to approved recipes, presentation, portion sizes, and quality standards.
• Coordinate kitchen production with cinema service requirements, ensuring food is delivered efficiently and at the correct time.
• Manage mise en place, preparation, cooking, plating, and dispatch across all kitchen sections.
• Maintain strong control of service flow during peak periods and simultaneous cinema sessions.
• Ensure speed of service without compromising food quality or presentation.
• Conduct daily kitchen briefings and allocate responsibilities according to operational requirements.
• Train, coach, and develop the culinary team.
• Maintain appropriate staffing levels and efficient kitchen scheduling.
• Monitor ingredient quality and ensure correct receiving, storage, preparation, and handling.
• Manage ordering, inventory, stock rotation, and par levels.
• Ensure full compliance with HACCP, food safety, hygiene, and company standards.
• Maintain kitchen equipment and report maintenance requirements promptly.
• Work closely with the F&B and cinema operations teams to ensure smooth coordination between kitchen, service, and guest experience.
• Support menu development, seasonal promotions, special events, and new product implementation.
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve quality, productivity, efficiency, and guest satisfaction.

Operational Standards

• Consistent food quality across every service.
• Accurate execution of approved recipes and specifications.
• Strong portion control and presentation standards.
• Efficient preparation and service during high-volume periods.
• Effective coordination of multiple orders with different service and cinema timings.
• Proper management of food holding times and product freshness.
• Clean, organized, and service-ready kitchen at all times.
• Strong preparation and mise en place systems to support peak periods.
• Effective communication between kitchen and front-of-house teams.
• Immediate corrective action when quality or operational standards are not achieved.

Leadership & Team Culture

• Lead the kitchen team with professionalism, discipline, and accountability.
• Create a positive, respectful, and performance-driven working environment.
• Lead by example during preparation and service.
• Establish clear expectations for quality, cleanliness, attendance, productivity, and behavior.
• Conduct regular training and coaching to improve team capability.
• Develop Sous Chefs, Chef de Parties, and junior team members to create a strong internal succession pipeline.
• Monitor individual and team performance and address performance gaps promptly.
• Encourage teamwork and effective communication across kitchen and service operations.
• Maintain calm and operational control during high-volume service periods.

Financial & Business Accountability

• Take ownership of kitchen food cost and support achievement of budgeted targets.
• Monitor portion control, recipe compliance, and ingredient usage.
• Minimize food waste through effective production planning and stock management.
• Control ordering and maintain appropriate inventory and par levels.
• Monitor stock rotation and reduce expiry, spoilage, and overproduction.
• Participate in regular inventory counts and investigate significant variances.
• Optimize kitchen productivity and labor deployment according to business volume.
• Work with management on menu engineering and product performance.
• Identify opportunities to improve margins without compromising food quality or guest experience.
• Maintain accurate recipe specifications and support accurate food costing.

Menu & Product Management

• Ensure all menu items are commercially viable, operationally practical, and consistently executable.
• Maintain standardized recipes, portion sizes, plating specifications, and preparation methods.
• Train the team on all new menu items before implementation.
• Review guest feedback, sales performance, and operational challenges to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Support the development of new dishes, cinema food concepts, promotions, and seasonal offerings.
• Balance creativity with speed, consistency, food cost, and operational simplicity.
• Ensure menu items are suitable for the specific requirements of a premium cinema dining environment.

Candidate Profile – Experience & Skills

• Minimum 5–7 years of progressive culinary experience.
• Previous experience as Head Chef, Senior Sous Chef, or equivalent leadership position.
• Strong background in quality casual dining, premium casual dining, restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, or high-volume F&B operations.
• Experience managing high-volume service is essential.
• Strong understanding of kitchen operations, production planning, food safety, and inventory management.
• Good knowledge of food costing, recipe costing, portion control, and waste management.
• Strong leadership and people-management skills.
• Ability to train, motivate, and develop a multicultural culinary team.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Ability to remain calm and make effective decisions during busy service periods.
• Commercial awareness and understanding of the relationship between food quality, cost, productivity, and guest satisfaction.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced operation where service timing is critical.

If you’re interested or know someone who would be a great fit, please reach out or share your CV at [email protected]

Pay: AED8,000.00 - AED15,000.00 per month

Application Question(s):

• Previous experience as Head Chef, Senior Sous Chef, or equivalent leadership position?

Experience:

• Leadership: 5 years (Required)

Work Location: In person