Head Chef - Sports and Entertainment

Our client operates the city's waterfront event campus the interconnected M&S Bank Arena and Exhibition Centre Liverpool as well as ticketing agency Ticket Quarter and the Pullman Liverpool Hotel. Playing a leading role in shining a spotlight on Liverpool, they have successfully staged a wide array of national and international events, from shows and conventions, business gatherings to exhibitions, developing their offer over the last decade to that of a world-class provider of venue and event services.

They are currently seeking a passionate and innovative Head Chef to take the lead in a dynamic and fast-paced kitchen, leading the culinary strategy and execution across their Sports and Entertainment Culinary operations.

Company Benefits

Our client is an award-winning, world-class venue where their people are at the heart of everything that they do. Recognition and reward are of huge importance to them, and just some of the benefits staff can enjoy include:

• An enhanced holiday scheme which increases with length of service.
• An excellent pension scheme is available.
• Access to a premium health care policy, which includes an employee assistant line, contributions towards a wide range of medical costs, such as dental and optical and staff discounts.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave schemes.
• An excellent occupational sick pay scheme.
• Free onsite parking right in the heart of the city centre.
• Employee Reward Platform.
• A dedicated wellbeing strategy to support staff when at work.
• 25 Qualified Mental Health First Aiders on site.

Our client is a place where you can truly make a difference. Some of the wonderful things they have achieved / continue to work towards:

• Disability Confident Employer
• Sunflower Friendly Business
• Member of the Fair Employment Charter
• Real Living Wage employer
• Social value impact plan last year they contributed over £6.4m
• Green Meeting s Gold Standard
• Sustainability Strategy
• Positively influencing biodiversity in the grounds of their campus, they have 3 beehives
• Carbon Neutral Campus
• Accessibility Strategy
• AccessAble Guide

Main duties include:

• Lead menu development and culinary innovation across retail and hospitality services.
• Ensure food quality, presentation, and consistency meet our client s brand standards.
• Manage and mentor Sous Chefs and wider kitchen teams, fostering a high-performance culture.
• Oversee stock control, menu costing, portion control, and wastage reduction.
• Ensure compliance with all relevant legislation including Health and Safety, Food Safety, Allergen management, COSHH, Environmental Health, and Fire Precautions.
• Collaborate with F&B leadership and support services to align culinary delivery with operational and commercial goals.
• Drive efficiency in kitchen operations, ensuring labour and food cost targets are achieved.
• Act on guest and client feedback to continuously improve culinary standards.
• Maintain strong supplier relationships and oversee procurement of food products.
• Support event planning and execution, ensuring seamless integration of culinary services.

The successful candidate will lead the culinary strategy and execution across our client s Sports and Entertainment Culinary operations, ensuring innovation, consistency, and compliance while delivering exceptional guest experience. As a hands-on Chef, you will provide leadership, vision, and operational excellence across all your kitchen teams, embedding the One Team culture and aligning culinary delivery with commercial objectives.

The ideal candidate will have experience of:

• Opening new hospitality operations in Arenas, Stadiums, or large venues.
• Understanding how to build systems, teams, menus, and workflows from the ground up while embedding them successfully within an established organisation.
• Transitioning from outsourced to in house catering models.
• Designing and implementing operational frameworks.
• Developing cost efficient procurement and supplier relationships.
• Specifying and commissioning equipment, planning kitchen layouts and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

If you are a hardworking and committed professional ready to contribute to our client s continued success, they would love to hear from you!

Join them and be part of something extraordinary!

Please note, they may close this vacancy before the stated closing date if they receive sufficient applications for the position. Therefore, if you are interested in this position, please submit your application form as soon as possible.

Closing Date: 29 May 2026

Interview Date: 1 and 2 June 2026

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Our client knows the value of having a diverse and representative team across their organisation. They promote equal opportunities and are committed to having an inclusive work force where everybody feels respected, are treated fairly and diversity is celebrated. As such they strongly encourage and welcome applications from suitably qualified candidates from all members of the community regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion, belief or sexual orientation.