Kitchen Lead – Independent Family Café
Small+Mighty Play Hub | Godalming, Surrey
Hours: Full Time 30-40hrs
Pay: Up to £29,000 depending on experience
Contract: Permanent, full-time
Working pattern: Daytimes, including regular weekends and school holidays
Start date: October
Lead the kitchen at Small+Mighty
We’re looking for an experienced, organised and enthusiastic Kitchen Lead to take ownership of the day-to-day running of our busy café kitchen at Small+Mighty Play Hub in Godalming.
This is a practical, hands-on role for someone who loves cooking and is happiest leading from the kitchen. You’ll prepare and serve our menu of fresh, healthy café food with a modern street-food-inspired twist, while ensuring that preparation, stock, service, food safety and cleaning are managed consistently.
You’ll lead the kitchen during service, organise the daily workload and help develop the skills and confidence of the wider team. You’ll also work closely with the management team to control waste, maintain ingredient availability and protect food quality and profitability.
We are a small, family-run business with a loyal community of regular guests and members. We care deeply about the food we serve and the experience we create. We’re looking for somebody who shares that pride and brings energy, reliability and genuine hospitality to the role.
Your key responsibilities: Leading the kitchen
- Take day-to-day ownership of the kitchen and lead by example.
- Organise daily preparation and allocate kitchen duties effectively.
- Lead food service during busy periods, maintaining a calm and efficient working environment.
- Ensure the kitchen is fully prepared before service and correctly closed at the end of the day.
- Communicate priorities clearly and provide effective handovers.
- Support, train and guide Café All-Rounders.
- Identify problems early and take appropriate action or escalate them to management.
- Help create a positive, respectful and accountable kitchen culture.
Food preparation and service
- Prepare, cook and present fresh café and street-food-style dishes.
- Ensure all food follows approved recipes, methods, portion sizes and presentation standards.
- Maintain consistently high standards of taste, quality and appearance.
- Manage multiple orders efficiently while working towards expected service times.
- Coordinate orders so customers dining together receive their meals as closely together as possible.
- Check the accuracy and quality of dishes before they leave the kitchen.
- Plan preparation around bookings, expected footfall, parties and special events.
- Monitor ingredient availability throughout service and respond quickly to shortages.
- Support menu development, seasonal specials and improvements to kitchen processes.
Stock, ordering and waste control
- Monitor stock levels and maintain appropriate par levels for ingredients and prepared food.
- Complete regular checks of fridges, freezers, dry stores and preparation stock.
- Produce clear and accurate supplier orders within the required deadlines.
- Rotate stock correctly and ensure products are labelled, dated and stored safely.
- Minimise emergency purchasing, over-ordering, spoilage and avoidable waste.
- Record and review food waste, identifying recurring problems.
- Report pricing, supply or quality issues to management.
- Support portion control, recipe consistency and the commercial performance of the menu.
- Ensure deliveries are checked, stored promptly and reported if incorrect or damaged.
Food safety and compliance
- Maintain excellent standards of food hygiene and kitchen safety at all times.
- Ensure opening, closing, temperature, cleaning and food-safety checks are completed accurately.
- Lead the correct handling of allergy and dietary requests.
- Make sure the team follows procedures designed to prevent contamination and allergen cross-contact.
- Ensure staff never guess when responding to an allergen question.
- Monitor food labels, use-by dates, storage conditions and temperature controls.
- Maintain required kitchen paperwork and make sure records are accurate, current and complete.
- Report food-safety concerns, accidents, hazards and equipment faults immediately.
- Support inspections and ensure the kitchen remains ready for Environmental Health visits.
- Reinforce fire, health and safety, COSHH and emergency procedures within the kitchen.
Cleaning and equipment
- Maintain a clean, organised and efficient kitchen throughout every shift.
- Ensure daily, weekly and scheduled cleaning tasks are completed thoroughly.
- Check that equipment is used safely and cleaned according to its instructions.
- Report faults promptly and remove unsafe equipment from use where appropriate.
- Ensure chemicals and cleaning equipment are stored and used correctly.
- Confirm that the kitchen is left clean, safe, stocked and ready for the next service.
Wider café support
Although this is predominantly a kitchen role, Small+Mighty operates as one team. When service requires it, you may also:
- Prepare barista coffee and speciality drinks.
- Support the front-of-house team with orders and food service.
- Welcome and assist customers.
- Respond professionally to menu and dietary questions.
- Help maintain clean and welcoming customer areas.
About you
You’ll be a strong candidate if you:
- Have previous experience as a Kitchen Lead, Café Chef, Cook, Chef de Partie, Kitchen Supervisor or in a similar role.
- Are confident taking responsibility for a busy café kitchen.
- Have solid practical cooking and food-preparation skills.
- Can organise preparation and service without constant supervision.
- Can lead colleagues positively while maintaining clear standards.
- Remain calm, focused and solutions-led under pressure.
- Understand food hygiene, allergens, stock rotation and temperature control.
- Recognise the importance of portion control, waste reduction and commercial awareness.
- Are reliable, punctual and comfortable taking ownership.
- Communicate clearly and respectfully with colleagues and managers.
- Have a friendly nature and a genuine love of food, people and hospitality.
- Are willing to work regular weekends and during busy school-holiday periods. We always plan shifts fairly with one day off per weekend.
A Level 2 or Level 3 Food Safety and Hygiene qualification, formal allergen training and previous barista experience would be advantageous. Relevant training will be provided where required.
What success looks like
Our Kitchen Lead will ensure that:
- The kitchen opens fully prepared and closes clean, safe and organised.
- Food is fresh, consistent, correctly portioned and attractively presented.
- Orders are accurate and delivered within the expected service time.
- Allergy and food-safety procedures are followed without exception.
- Ingredients and prepared items are available when needed.
- Orders are placed accurately and emergency purchasing is kept to a minimum.
- Waste is controlled and stock is used responsibly.
- Kitchen records are accurate and completed on time.
- Team members understand their responsibilities and receive clear direction.
- Customers receive the warm, reliable experience they expect from Small+Mighty.
What we offer
- A senior, hands-on role within a successful independent family business.
- Genuine ownership of the daily kitchen operation.
- The opportunity to influence menu development and improve kitchen systems.
- A predominantly daytime hospitality schedule, with no routine late-night service.
- Training and ongoing management support.
- A friendly, close-knit team and a strong community of regular customers.
- A lively and rewarding environment where your contribution will be visible and valued.
How to apply
Please send us your CV together with a short introduction explaining:
- Your relevant kitchen and leadership experience
- The type of food environments in which you have worked
- Your availability, including weekends
- Why you would like to join Small+Mighty
We would love to hear from someone who combines strong kitchen skills with excellent organisation, commercial awareness and a genuine commitment to creating great food and memorable hospitality.
Pay: £26,500.00-£29,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company events
- Company pension
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
- Flexible schedule
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Godalming GU7 1AF: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Experience:
- Kitchen: 2 years (required)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
