Head Chef / Production Manager
Cardiff / South WalesFull-time | Permanent
About Tidy Kitchen
Tidy Kitchen is a growing South Wales food business specialising in fresh, seasonal and nutritionally considered food for corporate clients, events, touring and wellness.
Our food is colourful, generous and ingredient led, with a strong focus on whole foods, great produce, balanced nutrition and food that genuinely makes people feel good.
We are entering an important stage of growth, including moving into our new production kitchen and preparing for the launch of a new partnership in 2027.
We are now looking for an experienced Head Chef / Production Manager to take ownership of our central production kitchen and help build the systems, team and standards required for the next stage of Tidy Kitchen.
The Role
This is not a traditional restaurant Head Chef position.
We need a highly organised, hands on chef who understands production, people and systems as well as great food.
Working closely with Laura, our Founder and Executive Chef, you will take responsibility for the day to day running of the Tidy Kitchen production operation.
You will take our menus and food direction and turn them into a calm, efficient and consistently excellent production operation.
You’ll be responsible for planning production, leading the kitchen team, maintaining food and hygiene standards, controlling stock and waste and ensuring every order leaves the kitchen correctly and on time.
As the business grows, you’ll also play an important role in developing the production systems that will supply our new business partnership operation.
Key Responsibilities
Kitchen Leadership & Production
- Take full day to day ownership of the production kitchen.
- Plan and manage daily and weekly production schedules.
- Translate confirmed orders into clear prep and production plans.
- Allocate work effectively across the kitchen team.
- Lead production during busy corporate, event and touring periods.
- Ensure food is prepared, portioned, packed and dispatched accurately and on time.
- Maintain excellent presentation and consistency across all Tidy Kitchen food.
- Work ahead wherever possible to create a calm, organised production environment rather than a reactive kitchen.
- Identify potential production problems before they affect service or clients.
Team Management
You will directly manage kitchen team.
Responsibilities include:
- Creating clear daily responsibilities and prep lists.
- Training and developing junior members of the team.
- Setting expectations around pace, cleanliness, organisation and food quality.
- Supporting recruitment and trial shifts for future kitchen hires.
- Managing performance constructively and professionally.
- Be hands on with every element of the production from prep to clean downs
- Building a positive kitchen culture where people understand what is expected of them.
- Ensuring the kitchen can operate effectively without constant involvement from the Founder.
Food Quality
Our food is central to the Tidy Kitchen brand.
You will be responsible for ensuring recipes and specifications are followed consistently while maintaining the quality and personality of the food.
This includes:
- Recipe and portion control.
- Presentation standards.
- Batch consistency.
- Ingredient quality.
- Tasting and quality checking.
- Maintaining nutritional integrity of dishes.
- Working with management on new dishes and menu development.
- Ensuring recipes can be successfully scaled for larger production.
You should have a genuine interest in fresh, seasonal, whole food cooking.
Stock, Ordering & Waste
You will take responsibility for the kitchen’s stock position and purchasing requirements.
This includes:
- Stock management and rotation.
- Creating and maintaining sensible par levels.
- Producing supplier orders.
- Monitoring food costs.
- Reducing unnecessary waste.
- Managing yields and portion control.
- Ensuring appropriate stock is available for confirmed production.
- Maintaining organised dry, chilled and frozen storage.
Commercial awareness is important.
Food Safety & Compliance
You will ensure excellent food safety standards throughout the production kitchen, including:
- HACCP and food safety systems.
- Allergen management.
- Temperature monitoring.
- Cleaning schedules.
- Traceability and labelling.
- COSHH procedures.
- Fridge/freezer monitoring.
- Correct cooling and storage procedures.
- Maintaining excellent standards for Environmental Health inspections.
You will work with the wider business to ensure paperwork is completed properly rather than treated as an afterthought.
What We’re Looking For
We are looking for someone who has already developed strong kitchen experience and is ready to take genuine ownership.
You should be:
- An experienced chef with strong production skills.
- Highly organised.
- Calm under pressure.
- Comfortable managing multiple orders and deadlines simultaneously.
- Confident leading under pressure
- Strong on food safety and allergens.
- Commercially aware.
- Comfortable with batch production and scaling recipes.
- Naturally clean and organised.
- Comfortable using production sheets, spreadsheets and digital systems.
- Interested in nutrition, whole foods and modern food trends.
- Able to communicate clearly with both chefs and the wider operations team.
- Comfortable taking responsibility and making decisions.
Experience in high volume catering, contract catering, events, production kitchens, meal preparation, corporate catering or food manufacturing would be particularly valuable.
You do not need to come from a fine dining background.
We care far more about excellent food, organisation, leadership and consistency.
The Person
This role will suit someone who looks at a busy production day and instinctively starts creating structure.
Someone who thinks:
What needs making?
Who is making it?
When does it need to be ready?
How much do we need?
What needs ordering?
What can we prepare ahead?
How do we make tomorrow easier?
We don’t want a kitchen built around firefighting.
We want someone who enjoys building systems that prevent the fires happening in the first place.
Working With Our Founder
Laura will remain closely involved in Tidy Kitchen as Founder and Executive Chef, particularly around food direction, menu development, key clients and the wider growth of the business.
However, this appointment is specifically being made so that the Head Chef / Production Manager becomes responsible for the day to day kitchen operation.
You’ll have autonomy and ownership, with management available for strategic food and business decisions rather than needing to manage everyday production.
The Opportunity
This is more than simply running today’s prep list.
Tidy Kitchen is entering a significant growth phase.
During the next 12 months we will be developing our new central production kitchen, strengthening our corporate and event catering operation and launching a major new partnership.
The production kitchen will sit at the heart of that growth.
For the right person, there is therefore significant scope to grow with the company and become a key member of Tidy Kitchen’s senior team.
Essential
- Love of healthy, nutritional whole foods
- Strong professional kitchen experience.
- Previous responsibility for other kitchen team members.
- Excellent food hygiene knowledge.
- Strong allergen awareness.
- Experience planning and organising production.
- Ability to work independently and take ownership.
- Full UK driving licence preferred.
- Right to work in the UK.
We are not rushing to fill this role with interviews to be held over the next 12 weeks or until we find the right fit.
Pay: £35,000.00-£40,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Discounted or free food
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
