{"id":3683667,"url":"https://alion.io/job/wsh-head-chef-31","title":"Head Chef","company":{"id":698908,"name":"WSH","domain":"wshlimited.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/wsh-3","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"SmartRecruiters","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":83,"open_postings":18,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.889,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":21,"computed_at":"2026-11-05T05:54:30Z"}},"role":"Hospitality","role_family":"Hospitality","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Newbury, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":null,"max":40000,"currency":"GBP","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":53661},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-03T12:05:03Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-11-03","last_verified_at":"2026-11-05T10:23:56Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":2},"description":"The Boxford, nestled 10 minutes from Newbury, is built on a site that was formerly occupied by ‘The Bell Inn’, a rural roadside inn that captured passing trade on the road to Newbury. What was then a Victorian public house and 1980s annex was then turned into a modern and welcoming new restaurant in 2023. An all-day family-friendly dining and drinks destination that specialises in fresh Mediterranean cuisine and artisanal sourdough pizzas in the scenic Berkshire countryside\nFind out more about The Boxford by visiting our website: https://theboxford.com/\nThe Boxford is a vibrant, ambitious Mediterranean restaurant where seasonal creativity, precision, and excellence are at the hearts of our culinary identity. As Head Chef, you will lead and inspire a high-performing kitchen team to deliver exceptional food, memorable experiences, and operational excellence.\nThis role requires strong leadership, technical expertise, an obsession with detail, and the ability to maintain calm, focus, and professionalism within a dynamic kitchen environment.\nYou will shape the culinary direction of The Boxford - driving innovation, developing menus that celebrate flavour, and ensuring consistent delivery of outstanding dishes. You will also cultivate a warm, respectful, and collaborative team culture that supports growth, learning, and long-term development.\nSalary Package: £40,000pa plus generous tronc\nHours: 45 hour contract\nKey Responsibilities\nLeadership & Team Development\nInspire, lead and motivate the kitchen team to achieve business goals and exceptional service standards\nMentor, coach, and train team members through regular 1:1s, PDPs, and performance management\nManage recruitment, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and succession planning\nCreate a culture of excellence, learning, and mutual respect; uphold grooming, professionalism, and hygiene standards\nEnsure high morale and team engagement through positive daily leadership\nKitchen Operations & Standards\nManage day-to-day kitchen operations to ensure smooth, efficient service for approximately 65 covers (up to 90 in peak service)\nOversee food preparation, plating, and consistency to a high Rosette-level standard\nMaintain impeccable mise en place, production, cleanliness, and adherence to hygiene and food safety protocols\nEnsure the kitchen remains clean, efficient, and compliant with all H&S legislation (COSHH, Food Safety, Legal Regulations, Environmental Policies)\nOperate and maintain all kitchen equipment to ensure safe and effective 24/7 operation\nMenu Development & Culinary Creativity\nLead on menu development, bringing seasonal, innovative, modern Italian flavours to life\nDrive innovation and continuously improve culinary standards, techniques, and processes\nGuide team members to cook and present dishes of exceptional quality, ensuring consistent guest satisfaction\nStock, Budget & Profitability\nManage all food budgets, recipe costing, GP targets, and overall kitchen profitability\nPlan and manage ordering in line with anticipated business levels\nOversee stock rotation, storage, food utilisation, portion control, and waste minimisation\nAdministration & Compliance\nComplete and oversee all kitchen administration tasks including due diligence logs, compliance documentation, and daily checklists\nMonitor adherence to all kitchen policies and procedures and implement improvements where required\nAttend and conduct departmental meetings to ensure smooth operational communication across the business\nManage rotas, shift coverage, and resource planning across restaurant, and events operations\nAnticipate guest needs and manage challenging service situations with professionalism and calm authority\nProven experience as a Sous Chef, Senior Sous Chef or Head Chef.\nProficiency in diverse cooking techniques and cuisines\nLeaving Cert level education or above\nNVQ qualification or equivalent\nAbility to display a real passion for food and customer service\nFlair and innovative with menus and food presentation\nExcellent communication and teamwork skills\nExceptional attention to detail\n WSH Restaurants has built a family-feel culture where we offer development and progression for all. In addition to that, we also offer a range of benefits including:\n\nComplimentary meals during shifts\n28 days holiday, increasing with length of service\nLife Assurance\nRecommend-a-friend scheme with significant referral bonuses\nAccess to Perkbox, offering discounts across gyms, travel, shopping, gadgets and more\nReward programmes, long service awards, staff recognition, and performance incentives\nWorkplace pension scheme\nOpportunity to develop and further your career within a fast growing an exciting company \nEmployee Assistance Programme & wellbeing hub\nCycle to Work Scheme\nINDVIP","description_format":"text","description_chars":4766,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"English","level":"All levels","optional":false}]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Catering & Food Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-03T14:06:41Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":66,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.662,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":21,"reasons":["conf:0","stale_co","wave","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-05T05:54:30Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":53661,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/wsh-head-chef-31","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/wsh-head-chef-31.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-05T13:23:49Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":17329,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-06T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":698908},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=698908"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fwsh-head-chef-31"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fwsh-head-chef-31"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fwsh-head-chef-31"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/wsh-head-chef-31\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fwsh-head-chef-31"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3683667}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"wshlimited.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3683667},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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