Job Title: Deli Chef (Head Chef / Sous Chef / Experienced Chef Welcome)
Location: Knowle, Solihull
Hours: Full-Time, 42.5 Hours per Week (4 x week days & Saturday)
Salary: £28,000 - £32,500 per annum (Dependent on Experience)
Exceptional Hours for a Chef - 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, No Evenings, No Late Nights
If you are a chef who is done with split shifts, late finishes, and working every weekend, this is the role you have been looking for.
At Eric Lyons, you will work 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, four days Monday to Friday plus Saturdays. Your evenings are your own, your weekends have a life in them again, and you will be working in a premium food environment alongside a team that genuinely cares about what ends up on the counter. For a chef, these hours are rare. We know it and we mean it.
About Eric Lyons
Eric Lyons is an award-winning, family-run butcher and fine food retailer in the heart of Knowle, with over 120 years of heritage and a passion for exceptional quality. We are investing significantly in our flagship Knowle store, with a major refurbishment planned for November that will introduce a brand-new deli and food-to-go section.
We are recruiting now so that the right person can join us immediately, get comfortable with the current shop, our customers, and how we operate, and then play a leading role in shaping everything that comes next.
Nothing is set in stone. We are open to new ideas, new products, and a better overall deli and takeaway offer. If you have ideas, we want to hear them.
The Role
You will work within the deli operation, reporting to the Deli Manager and working closely alongside the Retail Area Manager and Nick Lyons, Retail Director. This is a collaborative role where your input and food knowledge will genuinely influence what the offer becomes.
We are looking to evolve our deli and takeaway operation significantly. That includes introducing premium baguettes alongside our standard sandwich range, building a proper meal deal section (sandwich, drink, and crisps), launching a rotisserie chicken offering, exploring a freshly squeezed orange juice machine, and baking off pastel de natas and other premium patisserie items bought in from quality suppliers. These are live ideas and this person will be central to making them happen.
Whether you are a Head Chef, Sous Chef, or an experienced cook with passion and ideas, what matters is that you care about food, you can run a tight morning operation, and you are genuinely excited by the opportunity to build something from scratch.
What Your Day Looks Like
7:00 AM - Bacon, Sausages, and the Morning Setup
The first job of the day is getting the bacon and sausages straight into the rational oven. They take around 20 minutes to cook, so timing matters from the moment you walk in. Alongside that, you will check in the bread delivery, which you will have ordered the previous day to ensure the right quantities arrive at the right time with zero wastage. Getting the bread order right is a key part of the role. We want fresh bread on the counter every morning with nothing left over at the end of the day.
7:30 AM to 8:00 AM - Breakfast Baps and Grab and Go Out Before 8:00 AM
Breakfast baps need to be ready before 8:00 AM. Overnight oat pots go out for the grab-and-go fridge. These are the daily non-negotiables. They need to be done consistently, correctly, and quickly every single morning without exception.
Straight After - The Surplus Hunt
Before the morning rush builds, you walk the shop floor and identify any tired fruit, vegetables, or short-dated produce. Soft tomatoes, wilting herbs, anything that has lost its display quality but still has plenty of flavour. You bring it into the kitchen and within the first half hour you have already decided what today's special is going to be - a soup, a sauce, a sandwich filling, or the base of this afternoon's ready meal. Wastage costs money. Your job is to make sure nothing leaves the building without first becoming something worth selling.
8:00 AM to 11:30 AM - Lunch Production and the Hot Counter
Cold sandwich and wrap production is next, incorporating the day's surplus into the fillings. Alongside that, if the rotisserie chicken is running, you will have that underway, ready to serve hot on the counter and to slice fresh for sandwiches and salads. Lunch, including the meal deal range, needs to be ready and loaded into the hot-holder flexi-serve unit by 11:30 AM so customers can grab and go quickly. Premium baguettes go out alongside the standard range, and the counter needs to look the part.
The Afternoon - Chef's Specials, Ready Meals, and Baking Off
The final stretch of the day is where you get creative. Using a dedicated Chef's Specials fridge stocked from repurposed store produce, you will prepare a small daily range of ready meals, soups, or prepared dishes for customers to take home. Pastel de natas and other premium patisserie items will be baked off during this window, ready for the following morning or for afternoon counter sales. The range evolves based on what is available, what is selling, and what ideas you bring to the table.
Post-Refurbishment in November
Once the new deli section opens, there will also be an element of serving customers behind the counter as part of the wider deli team, and the full scope of the role will expand alongside the new setup.
What We Are Looking For
Essential
- Professional experience as a chef, cook, or kitchen lead, whether in a restaurant, hotel, deli, farm shop, food hall, or food retail kitchen
- A genuine passion for food and a creative, open-minded approach to ingredients and new ideas
- Strong morning prep discipline - fast, reliable, and consistent from 7:00 AM
- The confidence to look at surplus produce and make a quick, smart decision about what to do with it
- Good bread ordering instincts - understanding quantities, wastage control, and delivery timing
- Solid knowledge of food safety, HACCP, allergen controls, and temperature monitoring
- Able to work 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM including Saturdays
- Full UK Driving Licence
Desirable
- Experience with rotisserie cooking, hot counters, or cooked food for retail
- Background in deli, farm shop, or premium food retail
- Experience developing a meal deal range, food-to-go menus, or grab-and-go operations
- Experience baking off patisserie or part-baked products
- Food Safety Level 2 or Level 3 qualification
Why Join Eric Lyons?
The Hours
7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Four weekdays plus Saturday. No evenings. No midnight finishes. No Sunday roast service. These hours are genuinely exceptional for a chef and we are proud to offer them.
The Creative Opportunity
You are joining at the very beginning of something new. The rotisserie chicken, the orange juice machine, the pastel de natas, the premium baguette range, the meal deal section - none of these exist yet. You will help create them, set the standard, and put your stamp on what the Knowle deli becomes. That kind of creative ownership is hard to find in a kitchen role.
The Team
You will work directly with the Deli Manager, the Retail Area Manager, and Nick Lyons, Retail Director. You will not be left to figure things out alone. The ambition and the support are both there.
The Benefits
- 50% Staff Discount (up to £60 per week on full-priced items)
- Company Pension
- Free Uniform
- Free On-Site Parking
- 28 Days Holiday Including Bank Holidays
- Birthday Day Off
- Christmas Bonus (Subject to Company Performance)
- Additional Holiday for Long Service
- Quarterly Staff Events
- Free Wisdom Wellness App Subscription
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- Ongoing Training and Development
Career Progression
At Eric Lyons, we develop people from within. This role offers real opportunities to grow into:
- Senior Deli Chef
- Kitchen and Production Lead
- Food Development Roles
- Multi-Site Production Roles
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £29,000.00-£32,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company events
- Company pension
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
- Free parking
Application question(s):
- What is your favourite meal?
- Are you foodie and Why?
- Tell us why you are the best candidate for this role?
- What experience do you have that will help you succeed in this role?
Experience:
- Food industry: 3 years (preferred)
- Organisational skills: 2 years (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
- Driving Licence (required)
Work Location: In person
