Head Chef

Ritual Coffee Roasters | Cheltenham | Daytime Hours

Ritual Coffee Roasters is an independent specialty coffee roastery, Brew Bar and Kitchen based in Cheltenham.

We’re a certified B Corp and care deeply about quality, sourcing and the people we work with — whether that’s the coffee we roast, the ingredients we cook with, or the experience we create for our customers.

We’re looking for an experienced Head Chef to take ownership of our kitchen and lead our food offering into its next stage.

The Role

This is a hands-on leadership role overseeing a busy daytime kitchen serving our brunch and lunch menu.

You’ll be responsible for the kitchen as a whole: leading the team, running service, developing menus, managing food costs and suppliers, and making sure consistently high standards are maintained across everything that leaves the kitchen.

We want our food offering to evolve more regularly, with creative, seasonal menus that make the most of great ingredients. You’ll have the freedom to bring ideas to the table and play a significant role in shaping what food at Ritual looks like.

Alongside the creative side of the role, we need someone who understands the commercial and operational realities of running a successful kitchen — from food margins and stock control to staffing, compliance and delivering a smooth service when it’s busy.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

• Leading the day-to-day running of our kitchen and maintaining consistently high standards of food and service
• Designing, developing and costing seasonal brunch and lunch menus, with regular menu changes throughout the year
• Leading, training and developing the kitchen team, including our Sous Chefs
• Managing rotas, staffing levels and kitchen labour effectively
• Running a calm, organised and efficient kitchen during busy services
• Managing food costs, margins, ordering, stock control and waste
• Building strong supplier relationships and sourcing high-quality ingredients
• Ensuring excellent standards of food hygiene, allergen management, health & safety and kitchen cleanliness are maintained at all times
• Establishing clear kitchen systems, processes and standards
• Working closely with the Directors and wider Ritual team to continue developing our food offering

What We’re Looking For

You’ll be an experienced chef with a strong understanding of both the creative and commercial sides of running a kitchen.

You should have:

• Previous experience as a Head Chef, or significant experience as a Sous Chef with the ability to step into a leadership role
• Experience developing and costing menus
• Strong kitchen management and team leadership skills
• Experience managing food costs, stock, suppliers and waste
• The ability to lead a busy service and work calmly and effectively under pressure
• A strong understanding of food hygiene, allergens and health & safety requirements
• Level 3 Food Hygiene certification, or willingness to obtain it
• A genuine interest in seasonal ingredients, thoughtful sourcing and great food
• High standards, attention to detail and a hands-on approach to leadership

Most importantly, we’re looking for someone who wants to take real ownership of a kitchen — someone who can lead a team well, understands the numbers, loves developing food and wants to help us build something we’re really proud of.

What We Offer

• Daytime working hours — our kitchen serves brunch and lunch, with no regular evening service
• The opportunity to take genuine ownership of the food offering at a growing independent business
• Creative freedom to develop and evolve our menus
• A certified B Corp workplace with a genuine commitment to responsible sourcing, sustainability and people
• Staff discount on food, drinks and coffee
• Competitive salary, dependent on experience

Pay: £36,000.00-£40,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company events
• Company pension
• Discounted or free food
• Employee discount
• On-site parking

Work Location: In person