Senior Relief Chef 6AP

Signature Group; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 30,000 - GBP 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A dynamic catering company is seeking a Senior Relief Chef to ensure high food quality and standards across various sites in Scotland. You will be responsible for leading kitchen operations, training chefs, and delivering menus to strict specifications. The ideal candidate will bring extensive leadership experience in kitchen management while thriving under pressure. Along with competitive pay, benefits include discounts across venues and clear career progression into senior roles.

Benefits

Staff discount on food & beverage

Employee Assistance Programme

Additional annual leave based on service

Structured development opportunities

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience as a Head Chef or strong Senior Sous Chef required.
• Ability to maintain food quality under pressure.
• Strong attention to detail in food presentation and portioning.

Responsibilities

• Run kitchens across multiple sites, covering holidays and vacancies.
• Deliver menus exactly to specification to ensure consistency.
• Maintain the highest standards of food safety and hygiene.

Skills

Proven experience as a Head Chef or strong Senior Sous Chef

Confident running different kitchens

Strong technical cooking skills

Excellent understanding of spec and recipe discipline

Ability to coach and develop chefs

Full UK driving licence

Tools

Procurement or recipe management systems

Job description

Senior Relief Chef

This is a hands‑on, operational Senior Relief Chef role, designed to improve food consistency, food quality, recipe adherence and standards delivery across our venues.

Senior Relief Chefs spend the majority of their time running kitchens, just like our relief chefs, but also play a key role in reinforcing standards, coaching teams and ensuring that the same dish is delivered to the same standard in every site.

This is not an executive or office‑based chef role — standards are delivered through doing, cooking, coaching and leading by example in live services.

About Our Venues

Our venues operate in busy, fast‑paced kitchen environments where consistency, organisation and strong execution are essential.

You’ll work across a diverse estate with:

• Menus developed through a mix of site‑led, centrally driven and collaborative approaches
• Clear venue food briefs, recipes and specifications that define how food should be delivered
• A strong expectation of consistent execution of company standards across all sites
• Kitchens of varying sizes, layouts and equipment, requiring adaptability and strong organisation
• High‑volume services where calm leadership and structured organisation are key

If you enjoy variety, operational responsibility, and delivering food to clearly defined standards while supporting teams to do the same, this role offers genuine scope to make an impact across the business.

Senior Relief Chef Duties

Operational Kitchen Leadership (Approx. 75%)

• Run kitchens across multiple sites, covering holidays, sickness and vacancies
• Lead services confidently, maintaining food quality under pressure
• Deliver menus exactly to spec, ensuring consistency in flavour, presentation and portioning
• Maintain excellent prep standards, organisation and kitchen discipline
• Integrate quickly into different teams and kitchen environments

Food Standards, Spec & Training Leadership (Approx. 25%)

• Act as a field‑based food standards leader within your assigned cluster of venues
• Reinforce recipe adherence, spec accuracy and plating standards
• Coach chefs on cooking technique, prep discipline and service execution
• Support menu launches, ensuring dishes are delivered correctly from day one
• Ensure correct use of Procure Wizard, including ordering accuracy, yields and waste
• Identify skill gaps and deliver hands‑on training during operational shifts
• Support new head chefs and developing kitchen teams
• Escalate recurring issues and provide structured feedback to the Head of Food
• Delivering kitchen & food standards audits

Health, Safety & Hygiene

• Maintain the highest standards of food safety, hygiene and cleanliness
• Ensure all sites operate in line with food safety legislation and company standards
• Lead by example on allergen control, labelling and safe food handling

Required Skills & Experience

Essential

• Proven experience as a Head Chef or strong Senior Sous Chef
• Confident running different kitchens with minimal supervision
• Strong technical cooking skills and attention to detail
• Excellent understanding of spec, recipe discipline and portion control
• Experience using procurement or recipe management systems (PW desirable)
• Ability to coach and develop chefs in a practical, supportive way
• Full UK driving licence

Personal Attributes

• Highly organised and calm under pressure
• Strong communicator who leads through example
• Passionate about food quality, consistency and standards
• Proactive problem‑solver with a continuous improvement mindset

Career Development & Progression

This role provides a clear progression pathway into senior food leadership roles, including:

• Food Development
• Kitchen Training & Development
• Senior Food Operations
• Future Executive Food Team positions

You will work closely with the Head of Food, Food Development Manager and Group Kitchen Training Manager, gaining exposure to the wider food strategy and development pipeline.

BenefitsIn addition to a competitive pay and bonus structure, we offer:

• Staff discount ranging from 25%–50% on food & beverage across all Signature Group venues
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Additional annual leave accrued through length of service
• Structured development and progression opportunities
• Variety, autonomy and influence across a multi‑site estate

Applying for Signature

If this sounds like something you want to be a part of, apply today by sending in your CV.

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