Chef - All Levels

About us

The Woods is a small business in Birmingham. We are professional, creative, inclusive and our goal is to Create a work environment that offers a very friendly feel for both staff and customers. We treat all staff as friends..

Our work environment includes:

• Food provided
• Regular social events
• Relaxed atmosphere
• On-the-job training
• Flexible working hours
• Safe work environment

We are looking for an experienced Chef to join our team and help create delicious meals for our customers. The ideal candidate will have a passion for cooking, an eye for detail, and a commitment to excellence. The Chef will be responsible for creating menus, preparing meals, managing kitchen staff, and ensuring that all health and safety regulations are followed. We are looking for someone who is creative, organized, and has a strong knowledge of food preparation techniques.

Here at The Woods, we are looking for a great Chef to join our team!

As our Chef, you will be overseeing our restaurant's kitchen and manage the members of our kitchen dream team. A long with the Directors, Curtis and Luke, you will also be responsible for deciding which dishes to serve to meet guests' requests and delight their taste buds.

If cooking is your passion, and if you love making others happy with your food, you will love this position!

Here at The Woods, we have started from working in Education jobs to becoming young entrepreneurs, opening our first small coffee shop in 2021. We are now opening a main coffee shop/restaurant/bar in the heart of the food area in The Mailbox.

We want a team of individuals who are passionate at what they do, want to come on our journey with us, make improvements/ recommendations as a team and feel part of a team they are proud of.

Chef Job Responsibilities:

a) Lead, mentor, and manage the kitchen team.

b) Develop and plan menus and daily specials.

c) Create prep lists for the kitchen staff.

d) Manage food costing and inventory.

e) Maintain standards for food storage, rotation, quality, and appearance.

f) Ensure compliance with applicable health codes and regulations.

g) Establish maintenance and cleaning schedules for equipment, storage, and work areas.

h) Participate in interview process and selection of kitchen staff.

i) Schedule staff and assist in human resources processes as needed.

j) Preparing the food for cooking

k) Ordering food/supplies for the kitchen

l) Training staff

m) Managing relationships with distributors and resolving any issues with vendors, promptly

n) Ensuring standard portions and quality of dishes

o) Maintaining a clean and safe kitchen and ensuring sanitation practices in the kitchen

Work hours and Benefits:

We plan to have a flexible rota, where hours will never be long, they will be reasonable and work for everyone. We plan that the Chef’s hours will mainly be when we offer our dinner service, which is likely to commence at 4pm. Chefs hours of work are likely to start at 3pm and finish roughly at 10pm. This may change as we grow and learn about our requirements as a business, however are very open to suggestions and working with individuals.

Just like our Solihull premises, we feel that all staff contribute to the satisfaction of customers and staff tips will be managed by the Directors, who will use the staff tips to organise staff nights out and staff events etc. We can all make suggestions for staff events and use the staff tips to pay for them.

Staff will be entitled to the recommended holiday entitlement set out by government and will also pe part of our pension scheme managed by Nest pensions should they wish. There will be plenty of option for overtime also, should staff members wish.

Chef Qualifications / Skills:

a) Demonstrated knowledge of culinary techniques and practices

b) Understanding of menu and recipe development techniques

c) Strong leadership abilities

d) Ongoing awareness of culinary trends

e) Understanding of health and sanitation laws

f) Excellent knife-handling skills

g) Applied wine and beverage knowledge

h) Basic computer skills and experience with Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook)

i) Ability to work well under pressure and time constraints

j) Creativity to create dishes on brand with the restaurant

k) Knowledge of different varieties of foods and ingredients

l) Ability to accept criticism

m) Ability to maintain an extremely sanitary environment while working

n) Communication skills

Education and Experience Requirements:

a) High school degree or equivalent

b) Formal culinary training / culinary degree

c) 3-5 years experience in high-volume kitchens

d) Previous kitchen management experience

e) ServSafe certification (not essential)

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £11.50-£13.00 per hour

Benefits:

• Company events
• Company pension
• Employee discount

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Overtime

Supplemental pay types:

• Tips

Experience:

• Chef: 3 years (required)
• Cooking: 3 years (required)

Licence/Certification:

• Driving Licence (preferred)

Work Location: In person

Expected start date: 24/07/2023