Head Chef

Job Title: Head Chef
Department: BOH
Reports to: General Manager
Vacancies: 1
Location: GMC Karen
Expected Salary: 130,000

Job Summary

We are seeking to hire an experienced, disciplined, and results-oriented Head Chef to oversee the daily kitchen operations at GMC Karen. The ideal candidate will be responsible for maintaining high food quality standards, ensuring timely food preparation and service, managing kitchen staff, controlling food costs, and maintaining proper stock management procedures.

The role requires a hands-on leader with strong culinary skills, commercial awareness, and the ability to maintain food safety and hygiene standards while ensuring efficient kitchen operations and an excellent customer experience.

Responsibilities

  • Overseeing daily kitchen operations to ensure food is prepared and served according to approved recipes, portion sizes, presentation standards, and quality requirements.
  • Monitoring overall establishment performance, conducting regular floor and kitchen checks, and addressing operational gaps promptly.
  • Supporting restaurant opening and closing procedures to ensure operational readiness, cleanliness, and security.
  • Ensuring food orders are prepared within the expected service timelines and coordinating with the Front of House (FOH) team to support smooth service delivery.
  • Developing, implementing, and enforcing kitchen Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to promote consistency, efficiency, and accountability.
  • Planning daily food preparation and production based on expected demand, reservations, stock availability, and business activity.
  • Ensuring proper thawing, preparation, storage, labelling, dating, and handling of food in accordance with food safety standards.
  • Ensuring management instructions, operational decisions, and agreed action plans are communicated and implemented effectively.
  • Lead and coordinate supervisors across FOH, kitchen, and other operational areas so that all departments work together to meet daily operational and financial objectives.
  • Monitoring food wastage, portion control, pilferage, and other stock losses, and implementing measures to minimize unnecessary costs.
  • Supervising kitchen staff, preparing duty rosters, coordinating leave and off days, and ensuring adequate staffing during operating hours.
  • Training kitchen employees on recipes, food preparation, portioning, presentation, hygiene, safety, and kitchen SOPs, while maintaining appropriate training records.
  • Inspecting kitchen equipment and facilities, reporting faults promptly, and following up on repairs and maintenance.
  • Investigating food-related customer complaints in collaboration with the FOH team and implementing corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
  • Identifying opportunities to improve menu performance, food presentation, kitchen efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
  • Preparing accurate daily, weekly, and monthly reports covering stock levels, food costs, wastage, stock variances, expiry, kitchen performance, and other relevant operational matters.
  • Carrying out any other related kitchen duties assigned from time to time.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts, Food Production, Food and Beverage Management, Hospitality Management, or a related field.
  • At least 5–6 years of relevant experience in a restaurant, hotel, or similar hospitality establishment, including experience of at least 3 years in a Head Chef, Sous Chef, or Kitchen Manager position.
  • Proven experience in kitchen supervision, menu planning, food preparation, recipe standardization, portion control, and food presentation.
  • Strong knowledge of food safety, kitchen hygiene, food storage, labelling, and sanitation procedures.
  • Demonstrated experience in stock management, food costing, stocktaking, FIFO, wastage control, and inventory reconciliation.
  • Experience using inventory management or POS systems; knowledge of the Pilot system will be an added advantage.
  • Ability to prepare kitchen duty rosters, train staff, monitor performance, and maintain effective kitchen operations.
  • Good understanding of kitchen equipment operation, maintenance, and safe handling procedures.
  • Ability to work under pressure, manage competing priorities, and meet food service timelines.
  • Strong commercial awareness and the ability to balance food quality with cost efficiency.

Skills

  • Strong culinary and food production skills.
  • Leadership, team supervision, and staff development.
  • Excellent planning, organization, and time management.
  • Attention to detail and commitment to high-quality food presentation.
  • Stock control, food costing, and waste management.
  • Strong communication and coordination with the FOH team.
  • Problem-solving and decision-making skills.
  • High standards of hygiene, safety, and personal discipline.
  • Accountability, integrity, and professionalism.
  • Ability to work under pressure while maintaining consistent food quality.
  • Adaptability and a continuous improvement mindset.

Applications

  • If you believe you have a high-performance culture, a positive mental attitude, and are self-driven, kindly apply to hrofficer@optiven.co.ke.

NB:

  • We do not charge for job applications and interviews.
  • Shortlisting will be done on a rolling basis.
  • Salary is negotiable during the interview, subject to the approved salary range.
  • Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted due to the high volume of applications.
  • GMC Karen is an equal opportunity employer.
  • Canvassing will lead to automatic disqualification.
  • Applicants give the company express consent to conduct background checks for employment suitability.

Application deadline: 5th November 2026.