Head Chef

Kiln has grown into something alive — a Modern Middle Eastern kitchen built on craft, warmth, and a real love for ingredients. We grind every spice fresh each morning because we want the room to smell alive. We chase tomatoes that still taste like sunlight. We cook with pace, intent, and a bit of fire. The room is busy, the music’s good, the plates are handmade a few metres from the pass.
We’re looking for a Head Chef who feels at home in that kind of energy.
Someone who leads from the front. Someone who cares — about seasoning, about people, about the rhythm of service, about building a kitchen that’s sharp, calm, and proud of the food it sends out. Someone who understands that structure matters: we have systems, recipes, standards and processes that took years to build, and they exist for a reason. Your job is to uphold them — not reinvent them.
This role is about leadership, consistency, and craft. Menu freedom will come in time, but not at the start. You will have creative input and direction, but you will not be writing the menu for at least the first year. First, you learn the room and the rhythm.
• Lead the kitchen day-to-day with pace, calm, and consistency • Uphold and protect all existing Kiln systems, processes, recipes, and standards • Follow the established food style and philosophy; no menu writing for at least the first year • Develop dishes within Kiln’s framework, with creative direction from ownership • Train, coach, and support a young, ambitious kitchen team • Maintain high standards of prep, organisation, freshness, and spice work (including daily grinding) • Ensure accurate recipe execution and consistent flavour across all services • Oversee brunch and evening à la carte service to a high standard • Manage ordering, stock, waste, and GP with care and accuracy • Maintain health & safety, hygiene, cleaning routines, and full EHO compliance • Keep communication strong with owners, GM, FOH, and the wider team • Protect and strengthen Kiln’s culture: warm, organised, kind, craft-driven, and quietly ambitious