Head Chef - Lifestyle Restaurant (Pre-opening)

About the role

A new upscale lifestyle restaurant and premium all-day dining concept is being set up in Dubai, offering breakfast, lunch, coffee and dinner. It is looking for an experienced Head Chef to lead the kitchen, combining culinary excellence with commercial awareness, operational efficiency and strong hospitality. The package is listed as 12,000 to 15,000.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and manage the full kitchen operation across breakfast, lunch, coffee and dinner
• Develop and maintain a high-quality, approachable food offering and standardise recipes and menus
• Ensure consistency in taste, presentation, portioning and product quality
• Manage food costs, wastage, yields and kitchen profitability
• Recruit, train, develop and motivate the kitchen team, including induction and pre-opening training
• Maintain food safety, hygiene and HACCP standards, and monitor stock, ordering and supplier quality
• Work closely with the Restaurant Manager and wider management team

Required profile

• Proven experience as Head Chef, Executive Chef, Executive Sous Chef or senior kitchen leader
• Background in upscale lifestyle, premium all-day dining or high-end casual dining
• Experience managing high-volume kitchens and recruiting, training and developing teams
• Strong leadership, organisational and communication skills; commercially aware of kitchen profitability
• Pre-opening experience is a significant advantage

Required skills

• Menu development and recipe standardisation
• Food costing and menu engineering
• Kitchen SOP development and kitchen trials/mock services
• Strong understanding of HACCP standards