Job Description

Company Description

The Star, Congresbury

Head Chef / Kitchen Manager

Salary - £36,000 - £41,000 + Bonus

Ready to lead a busy carvery kitchen and take a great pub to the next level?

The Star in Congresbury is a welcoming, family-friendly pub where great food brings people together. With our popular three-meat carvery, hearty breakfasts and a busy pub atmosphere, we're looking for an experienced Head Chef / Kitchen Manager who can lead from the front, develop a strong kitchen operation and help us achieve ambitious growth over the next year.

This is more than just keeping the kitchen ticking over. We're looking for someone with the experience, commercial mindset and drive to make a real difference — with the opportunity to almost double kitchen sales over the next 12 months.

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Job Description

What's the opportunity?

As Head Chef / Kitchen Manager, you'll take ownership of the kitchen, leading your team to deliver consistently great food while identifying opportunities to grow sales, improve performance and make the most of our busy carvery trade.

The carvery is at the heart of The Star, so previous carvery experience would be a real advantage. You'll understand what it takes to deliver a smooth, well-organised service, maintain food quality and keep customers coming back for more.

You'll be responsible for:

• Leading, motivating and developing the kitchen team to deliver their best.
• Taking ownership of our busy three-meat carvery and ensuring consistently high food quality and presentation.
• Managing kitchen operations across carvery, breakfast and the wider pub menu.
• Driving kitchen sales and identifying opportunities to grow the food business significantly.
• Working towards our ambitious goal of almost doubling kitchen sales over the next year.
• Managing stock, ordering, waste and kitchen costs to support strong GP performance.
• Maintaining excellent food safety, hygiene and allergen standards.
• Planning rotas and organising the kitchen to meet customer demand and busy trading periods.
• Developing your team through coaching, training and clear expectations.
• Working closely with the General Manager and wider team to improve the overall customer experience.
• Bringing fresh ideas, energy and commercial thinking to help take the business forward.

Qualifications

What we're looking for

We're looking for an experienced kitchen leader who understands that great food, a well-led team and strong commercial performance go hand in hand.

You'll ideally have:

• Previous experience in a Kitchen Manager or Head Chef role — essential.
• Experience managing a busy pub, restaurant or high-volume kitchen.
• Previous carvery experience would be highly beneficial.
• Strong people-management skills and the confidence to lead from the front.
• A hands-on approach and the ability to organise a kitchen through busy services.
• A good understanding of food safety, hygiene and allergen management.
• Experience managing stock, waste, labour and kitchen costs.
• Commercial awareness and a proven ability to identify opportunities to grow sales.
• The confidence to challenge existing ways of working, introduce improvements and drive performance.
• A passion for great food, developing people and delivering an excellent customer experience.

We're looking for someone who wants to make a difference. Someone who can take ownership, build a motivated kitchen team and turn the opportunity in front of them into real business growth.

Why The Star?

Our three-meat carvery is a major part of what makes The Star special, bringing families and groups together for generous portions, fresh seasonal vegetables, crispy potatoes and plenty of gravy.

Alongside our daily carvery, we serve big breakfasts and a varied food offer, with a drinks menu to suit every occasion. Our spacious car park, EV charging, coach access and facilities for special occasions make us a convenient choice for locals and visitors alike.

Located in Congresbury, within easy reach of Weston-super-Mare and the coast, The Star has the foundations for a fantastic food business.

Now we're looking for someone who can build on those foundations, maximise the potential of our carvery and lead the kitchen into its next chapter.

Additional Information

And there's plenty in it for you...

At Greene King, we're passionate about helping our people build careers they're proud of.

You'll have access to:

• Career development opportunities across Greene King and our family of brands.
• Training and development at every level, including apprenticeships.
• 33% employee discount and 15% for loved ones across our brands.
• 50% employee discount and 25% for loved ones at Greene King Inns.
• Free Employee Assistance Programme.
• Enhanced family-friendly maternity and paternity support.
• Menopause Friendly Employer.
• Refer a Friend scheme – up to £1,500.
• Wagestream.
• Retail discounts, including savings with Superdrug and Three Mobile.

Greene King is the country's leading pub company and brewer. With over 220 years of history and a 39,000-strong team, we're on a mission to pour happiness into lives and become the pride of great British hospitality.

CREATING PLACES WHERE PEOPLE FEEL WELCOME, SAFE AND THAT THEY BELONG

We aim to embed inclusion into every decision we make – across our people, customers, communities, suppliers, and operations. We want to create a culture where everyone feels welcome, valued, and able to thrive.

Bring your experience. Grow the sales. Take The Star's kitchen to the next level.