If you think you are the right match for the following opportunity, apply after reading the complete description.
Job Summary
Title: Executive Chef
Reporting to: Head of Hospitality and Hotels Services
Overview
UNICUS is a wholly owned subsidiary of The University of Sheffield, operating a number of distinct commercial services, including a thriving delivered hospitality business serving the internal and external market, conference and hospitality venues, two hotels, eight cafes, a University pub, two bars and a village store within the University campus. UNICUS operates alongside University services provided by the department of Accommodation and Commercial Services (ACS) with a combined commercial income of £8m.
An Executive Chef is required to manage the Unicus hospitality business, with responsibility for the Central Campus and Residences conference, event and delivered catering business, and supporting the wider hotels and retail business.
Reporting directly to the Head of Hospitality and Hotels the Executive Chef will lead, develop and inspire the Production Team, with responsibility for driving operational consistency (regardless of location), exceptional quality and offering innovative products, developing workable practices for all operating areas, with the principal aim of gaining efficiency, creating a high quality customer experience and optimising revenue for the Unicus Commercial business.
We will be looking for this person to manage the production team, as well as being customer facing to ensure that a high quality customer experience is at the heart of our decision making.
Job Description
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Effectively lead Food Production Team
Lead the Production team with a hands on leadership style, setting the examples and ensuring that the Unicus values and behaviours are embedded into the team culture
Foster a collaborative and respectful working relationship between the kitchen (production) and front-of-house teams, recognising the unique challenges and contributions of each role.
Establish clear objectives for the production team, conducting structured inductions, regular one-to-one meetings, and performance development reviews to monitor progress and drive continuous improvement
Support and empower team members to reach their full potential through effective communication, appropriate resource allocation, and strong operational leadership.
Lead, coach, and develop the production team to promote wellbeing, strengthen teamwork, and build a culture of high performance and engagement. Assess individual strengths and development areas to optimise team capability and productivity.
Inspire and motivate kitchen staff to consistently deliver high-quality food and service standards, fostering pride in product excellence.
Manage all back-of-house operations, including kitchen production, stores, packing, delivery of hospitality to multiple venues across campus & the city, waste management, ensuring efficiency, organisation, and compliance with operational, departmental & legal standards.
Manage Food Production Consistency and Quality
Ensure consistency and excellence in food production, maintaining high standards of quality across all menus and service periods.
Develop, document, and regularly review standardised recipes and production specifications for all dishes, ensuring accurate costing and full compliance with allergen and food safety requirements.
Plan and deliver innovative, seasonal menu cycles tailored to the needs of the University population and external delivered catering and event market.
Monitor and control food waste in line with agreed targets, utilising designated reporting systems to track performance and provide monthly analysis in accordance with organisational policies.
Ensure that all recipes achieve the specified yield to give the designated price per portion, and ensure these are communicated to the operational production and Front of house teams to ensure consistency and minimise waste.
Take full accountability for the procurement process, including ordering, receiving, storage, and appropriate allocation of all food ingredients and supplies.
Procurement of Product
Champion the use of locally and seasonally sourced ingredients wherever possible, working closely with the Purchasing Coordinator to secure the best balance of quality and value, while ensuring all supplier checks and audits comply with Food Safety Codes of Practice.
Establish clear expectations for suppliers and actively manage relationships to ensure consistent delivery of quality, reliability, and compliance with organisational standards and procedures.
Collaborate with the Purchasing Team to continuously review supplier performance, pricing, and product offerings, ensuring cost competitiveness while maintaining high food quality standards.
Lead on the approval process from a Food Safety perspective for potential new suppliers. and where necessary audit or arrange an audit of the suppliers business by an approved third party.
Stock Management
Implement and maintain effective stock rotation procedures to minimise waste, reduce spoilage, and ensure product freshness.
Oversee all stores and delivery operations, including the management and development of associated team members to ensure efficiency and accuracy.
Ensure the security and integrity of all stock at all times, maintaining strict control measures and accountability.
Monitor and manage all operational costs in line with agreed budgets, taking proactive steps to address variances and drive cost efficiency.
Ensure accurate periodic stocktakes are completed, reviewed, and submitted within the required company deadlines
Where any stock anomalies occur investigate the reason for the variance, and make recommendation changes to drive improvement and prevent recurrence
Achieve commercial revenue and profit targets
Analyse monthly financial performance data, taking timely and informed action to maximise revenue, control costs, and drive overall profitability.
Utilise stock control and recipe management systems to accurately cost all dishes, ensuring target profit margins are consistently achieved.
Manage labour costs & resource to maximise efficiency dependant on business levels & to meet labour costs targets
Food Development and Menu Innovation
Monitor competitor activity and external service providers to understand market trends and maintain a competitive, high-quality offer.
Benchmark against sector leaders, using customer feedback and data insights to continuously evolve and improve food, service, facilities and customer experience
Collaborate with the wider management team to plan and deliver a structured calendar of events and promotional activities, ensuring effective marketing and strong customer engagement. E.g Annual Culinary Evening, Graduation, Residence Life student events
Develop and enhance catering offers across a range of services, including but not limited to events, conferences, private dining, weddings and occasions
Design and cost bespoke menus tailored to specific client requirements, ensuring both quality and commercial viability are achieved
Food & Nutrition Policy & Anti-Allergy
Lead the scheduled review and update of the Food Safety Codes of Practice in liaison with an external EHO consultant to ensure ongoing compliance and best practice.
Fulfil the role of Professional Lead for ACS and Unicus at the Food Safety Key Risk Review Grou
Where it becomes necessary, source an external EHO consultant to conduct any Supplier Audits, Internal Annual Audits or to update any Food Related legislative changes
Take the lead on dealing with any food related allegation, ensuring a robust review is carried out and the outcome communicated back to the individual concerned
Liaise with the Training Co-ordinator to ensure all staff are fully trained, informed, and compliant with Food Safety Codes of Practice and The University's Health & Safety Policies,embedding a culture of accountability and awareness that meets all legislative and operational requirements.
Guarantee that all dishes are supported by accurate ingredient breakdowns and allergen information, with appropriately trained production and front-of-house teams and clear information available at the point of service.
Maintain full compliance with current Health & Safety and Food Hygiene legislation, ensuring all required documentation and records are accurately completed and readily available for audit.
Drive Service Excellence
Make timely and well-informed decisions to support the team in meeting and exceeding production targets and operational expectations.
Communicate effectively with colleagues at all levels, leading by example as a collaborative and professional team player.
Foster clear, consistent, and effective communication between production, front-of-house, and management teams to ensure seamless operations.
Identify opportunities to improve or enhance the customer experience.
Management of Human Resources
Effectively plan and manage staffing resources and rotas to ensure appropriate coverage within budget, proactively identifying and addressing any potential overspend. Optimise team deployment across operational areas to align with business demands and peak trading periods.
Lead the recruitment, induction, and development of new team members, ensuring alignment with organisational standards and expectations.
Ensure all existing staff receive timely and relevant training informed by performance appraisals (PDRS and SRDS), supporting continuous improvement and operational excellence.
Deliver specialist skills training where required, while identifying and nurturing high-potential individuals through effective talent management and development planning. xwzovoh
Monitor and control labour costs on a weekly basis, ensuring performance remains in line with agreed financial targets.
Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience
Essential
Will have a natural passion for food and hospitality with a well rounded & evidenced repertoire of skills and experience
Can demonstrate the ability to produce dishes/menus that may include both handcrafted menu items and/or bought in products that can be enhanced to manage both food & staffing costs whilst giving the best possible customer experience
Will demonstrate a 'can do' approach to your work and instill the same attitude into the team
Standards and guest focused, and confident in dealing with a wide variety of clientele and situations
Excellent communication skills both written & verbal
Producing & implementing staff rotas
Experience in managing food costs and labour costs
Computer MS word, Excel literate
Able to manage your time effectively and efficiently and to deal with multiple, high profile tasks and prioritise accordingly
Work on own initiative, in a fast moving hospitality environment
Evidence of experience working in a busy multi site organisation
At least 10 Years experience in a Head Chef position or held a previous Executive Chef position
Level 4 Food Safety qualification or equivalent
Desirable
Event Management Software Experience
Experience of using staff planning resource software
Devising and implementing staff training and development progress
Experience of using of computer systems for menu planning, dish costings & ordering”, “datePosted”: “2026-05-20”, “hiringOrganization”: { “@type”: “Organization”, “name”: “UNICUS Sheffield Ltd”, “sameAs”: “https://uk.whatjobs.com/pub_api__cpl__437093672__4861?utm_campaign=publisher&utm_medium=api&utm_source=4861&geoID=3456” }, “jobLocation”: { “@type”: “Place”, “address”: { “@type”: “PostalAddress”, “addressLocality”: “Bents Green” } } }
UNICUS
If you think you are the right match for the following opportunity, apply after reading the complete description.Job Summary
Title: Executive ChefReporting to: Head of Hospitality and Hotels Services
OverviewUNICUS is a wholly owned subsidiary of The University of Sheffield, operating a number of distinct commercial services, including a thriving delivered hospitality business serving the internal and external market, conference and hospitality venues, two hotels, eight cafes, a University pub, two bars and a village store within the University campus. UNICUS operates alongside University services provided by the department of Accommodation and Commercial Services (ACS) with a combined commercial income of £8m.An Executive Chef is required to manage the Unicus hospitality business, with responsibility for the Central Campus and Residences conference, event and delivered catering business, and supporting the wider hotels and retail business.Reporting directly to the Head of Hospitality and Hotels the Executive Chef will lead, develop and inspire the Production Team, with responsibility for driving operational consistency (regardless of location), exceptional quality and offering innovative products, developing workable practices for all operating areas, with the principal aim of gaining efficiency, creating a high quality customer experience and optimising revenue for the Unicus Commercial business.We will be looking for this person to manage the production team, as well as being customer facing to ensure that a high quality customer experience is at the heart of our decision making.
Job Description
Main Duties and ResponsibilitiesEffectively lead Food Production TeamLead the Production team with a hands on leadership style, setting the examples and ensuring that the Unicus values and behaviours are embedded into the team culture
Foster a collaborative and respectful working relationship between the kitchen (production) and front-of-house teams, recognising the unique challenges and contributions of each role.
Establish clear objectives for the production team, conducting structured inductions, regular one-to-one meetings, and performance development reviews to monitor progress and drive continuous improvement
Support and empower team members to reach their full potential through effective communication, appropriate resource allocation, and strong operational leadership.
Lead, coach, and develop the production team to promote wellbeing, strengthen teamwork, and build a culture of high performance and engagement. Assess individual strengths and development areas to optimise team capability and productivity.
Inspire and motivate kitchen staff to consistently deliver high-quality food and service standards, fostering pride in product excellence.
Manage all back-of-house operations, including kitchen production, stores, packing, delivery of hospitality to multiple venues across campus & the city, waste management, ensuring efficiency, organisation, and compliance with operational, departmental & legal standards.
Manage Food Production Consistency and QualityEnsure consistency and excellence in food production, maintaining high standards of quality across all menus and service periods.
Develop, document, and regularly review standardised recipes and production specifications for all dishes, ensuring accurate costing and full compliance with allergen and food safety requirements.
Plan and deliver innovative, seasonal menu cycles tailored to the needs of the University population and external delivered catering and event market.
Monitor and control food waste in line with agreed targets, utilising designated reporting systems to track performance and provide monthly analysis in accordance with organisational policies.
Ensure that all recipes achieve the specified yield to give the designated price per portion, and ensure these are communicated to the operational production and Front of house teams to ensure consistency and minimise waste.
Take full accountability for the procurement process, including ordering, receiving, storage, and appropriate allocation of all food ingredients and supplies.
Procurement of ProductChampion the use of locally and seasonally sourced ingredients wherever possible, working closely with the Purchasing Coordinator to secure the best balance of quality and value, while ensuring all supplier checks and audits comply with Food Safety Codes of Practice.
Establish clear expectations for suppliers and actively manage relationships to ensure consistent delivery of quality, reliability, and compliance with organisational standards and procedures.
Collaborate with the Purchasing Team to continuously review supplier performance, pricing, and product offerings, ensuring cost competitiveness while maintaining high food quality standards.
Lead on the approval process from a Food Safety perspective for potential new suppliers. and where necessary audit or arrange an audit of the suppliers business by an approved third party.
Stock ManagementImplement and maintain effective stock rotation procedures to minimise waste, reduce spoilage, and ensure product freshness.
Oversee all stores and delivery operations, including the management and development of associated team members to ensure efficiency and accuracy.
Ensure the security and integrity of all stock at all times, maintaining strict control measures and accountability.
Monitor and manage all operational costs in line with agreed budgets, taking proactive steps to address variances and drive cost efficiency.
Ensure accurate periodic stocktakes are completed, reviewed, and submitted within the required company deadlines
Where any stock anomalies occur investigate the reason for the variance, and make recommendation changes to drive improvement and prevent recurrence
Achieve commercial revenue and profit targetsAnalyse monthly financial performance data, taking timely and informed action to maximise revenue, control costs, and drive overall profitability.
Utilise stock control and recipe management systems to accurately cost all dishes, ensuring target profit margins are consistently achieved.
Manage labour costs & resource to maximise efficiency dependant on business levels & to meet labour costs targets
Food Development and Menu InnovationMonitor competitor activity and external service providers to understand market trends and maintain a competitive, high-quality offer.
Benchmark against sector leaders, using customer feedback and data insights to continuously evolve and improve food, service, facilities and customer experience
Collaborate with the wider management team to plan and deliver a structured calendar of events and promotional activities, ensuring effective marketing and strong customer engagement. E.g Annual Culinary Evening, Graduation, Residence Life student events
Develop and enhance catering offers across a range of services, including but not limited to events, conferences, private dining, weddings and occasions
Design and cost bespoke menus tailored to specific client requirements, ensuring both quality and commercial viability are achieved
Food & Nutrition Policy & Anti-AllergyLead the scheduled review and update of the Food Safety Codes of Practice in liaison with an external EHO consultant to ensure ongoing compliance and best practice.
Fulfil the role of Professional Lead for ACS and Unicus at the Food Safety Key Risk Review Grou
Where it becomes necessary, source an external EHO consultant to conduct any Supplier Audits, Internal Annual Audits or to update any Food Related legislative changes
Take the lead on dealing with any food related allegation, ensuring a robust review is carried out and the outcome communicated back to the individual concerned
Liaise with the Training Co-ordinator to ensure all staff are fully trained, informed, and compliant with Food Safety Codes of Practice and The University’s Health & Safety Policies,embedding a culture of accountability and awareness that meets all legislative and operational requirements.
Guarantee that all dishes are supported by accurate ingredient breakdowns and allergen information, with appropriately trained production and front-of-house teams and clear information available at the point of service.
Maintain full compliance with current Health & Safety and Food Hygiene legislation, ensuring all required documentation and records are accurately completed and readily available for audit.
Drive Service ExcellenceMake timely and well-informed decisions to support the team in meeting and exceeding production targets and operational expectations.
Communicate effectively with colleagues at all levels, leading by example as a collaborative and professional team player.
Foster clear, consistent, and effective communication between production, front-of-house, and management teams to ensure seamless operations.
Identify opportunities to improve or enhance the customer experience.
Management of Human ResourcesEffectively plan and manage staffing resources and rotas to ensure appropriate coverage within budget, proactively identifying and addressing any potential overspend. Optimise team deployment across operational areas to align with business demands and peak trading periods.
Lead the recruitment, induction, and development of new team members, ensuring alignment with organisational standards and expectations.
Ensure all existing staff receive timely and relevant training informed by performance appraisals (PDRS and SRDS), supporting continuous improvement and operational excellence.
Deliver specialist skills training where required, while identifying and nurturing high-potential individuals through effective talent management and development planning. xwzovoh
Monitor and control labour costs on a weekly basis, ensuring performance remains in line with agreed financial targets.
Qualifications, Knowledge and ExperienceEssentialWill have a natural passion for food and hospitality with a well rounded & evidenced repertoire of skills and experience
Can demonstrate the ability to produce dishes/menus that may include both handcrafted menu items and/or bought in products that can be enhanced to manage both food & staffing costs whilst giving the best possible customer experience
Will demonstrate a ‘can do’ approach to your work and instill the same attitude into the team
Standards and guest focused, and confident in dealing with a wide variety of clientele and situations
Excellent communication skills both written & verbal
Producing & implementing staff rotas
Experience in managing food costs and labour costs
Computer MS word, Excel literate
Able to manage your time effectively and efficiently and to deal with multiple, high profile tasks and prioritise accordingly
Work on own initiative, in a fast moving hospitality environment
Evidence of experience working in a busy multi site organisation
At least 10 Years experience in a Head Chef position or held a previous Executive Chef position
Level 4 Food Safety qualification or equivalent
DesirableEvent Management Software Experience
Experience of using staff planning resource software
Devising and implementing staff training and development progress
Experience of using of computer systems for menu planning, dish costings & ordering…