Head Chef – Deadwood Smokehouse, Nantwich
£14.00–£16.00 per hour + up to £4,000 annual performance bonus
Approx 45 hours per week
4-day working week
Permanent, full-time
Deadwood Smokehouse is looking for a hands-on Head Chef to take ownership of the kitchen at our Nantwich restaurant.
We’re a casual independent smokehouse specialising in smoked meats, burgers, ribs, steaks and fried chicken. This isn’t a huge brigade or a corporate kitchen — we need someone who enjoys being on the line, leading from the front and making a small kitchen run properly.
The right person will have genuine control over kitchen standards, organisation, training, food cost, waste and day-to-day operations.
The role
You’ll be responsible for:
- Leading and organising the kitchen team
- Running busy services and working hands-on alongside the chefs
- Maintaining consistent food quality and portion control
- Planning prep and smoked-meat production
- Ordering, stock control and reducing waste
- Monitoring food cost and helping us maintain our GP targets
- Producing rotas and managing kitchen labour sensibly
- Training and developing the existing team
- Maintaining excellent food-hygiene, allergen and cleaning standards
- Working closely with FOH management to keep service running smoothly
- Identifying problems and putting practical systems in place to fix them
Our menu and recipes are already established. We’re not looking for someone to come in and completely reinvent the restaurant — initially, the priority is consistency, organisation, standards and profitability. There will be opportunities to develop dishes and specials once the kitchen is running strongly.
Who we’re looking for
Ideally you’ll have:
- Previous Head Chef experience, or strong Sous/Senior Sous experience and be ready to step up
- Experience managing a busy fresh-food kitchen
- Good knowledge of food costing, GP, stock and waste control
- Strong food-safety and allergen knowledge
- The ability to train and develop less experienced chefs
- Confidence running a kitchen with a small team
- A calm, practical approach during busy services
- Good communication with both BOH and FOH
Smokehouse or barbecue experience would be a big advantage, but isn’t essential if you’re comfortable with meat cookery and willing to learn our smoking processes.
What we offer
- £14.00–£16.00 per hour, depending on experience
- Approx. 45 hours per week
- 4-day working week
- Performance-related bonus based on agreed kitchen targets such as GP, waste, labour and standards
- Established menu, recipes and systems to work from
- Small kitchen team with genuine opportunity to make the operation your own
- Staff discount
- Paid holiday
- Pension
- Opportunity to develop the kitchen and team as the business grows
About Deadwood
Deadwood Smokehouse is an independent American-style smokehouse with restaurants in Nantwich and Mold.
We’re looking for someone who wants ownership of a kitchen rather than simply another chef job. This would particularly suit an experienced Sous Chef who is ready for their first proper Head Chef position, or an existing Head Chef who prefers a smaller independent operation where they can have a genuine impact.
Salary equivalent at typical hours: approximately £32,000–£36,600 basic per year, plus performance bonus.
To apply, please send your CV and a short note explaining your current position, why you’re looking to move and when you would be available to start.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: Up to £16.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Nantwich CW5 5LL: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Experience:
- Leadership: 2 years (preferred)
- Cooking: 3 years (preferred)
- Kitchen: 5 years (preferred)
Language:
Licence/Certification:
- Level 3 Food Hygiene Certificate (preferred)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Location:
- Nantwich CW5 5LL (preferred)
Work Location: In person
