Head Chef Jobs
Head Chef jobs are open across fine dining, hotel food and beverage, healthcare dining, and contract catering, at every level from sous chef step-ups to executive chef roles, with specializations in cuisine concept development, kitchen operations management, and menu engineering. Scan the live roles below and apply to whichever ones fit.
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Company Description LaScala Restaurant Group is a multi-brand hospitality organization based in Marlton, New Jersey. Its family of concepts includes LaScala’s FIRE, The Chicken Or The Egg, LaScala’s Beach House, LaScala’s Pronto, LaScala’s Birra, and Lorenzo Pizza & Steaks. The group offers a variety of dining experiences, from casual beachside venues to specialty pizza and steak restaurants. Team members join a growing company that values consistent quality, welcoming service, and strong community connections.
NEW RESTAURANT OPENING!
Job Summary
Lead kitchen operations as Head Chef and Kitchen Manager, bringing energy, organization, and culinary skill to food production and service. You’ll guide the team through preparation and service, oversee kitchen management, and maintain clear standards for food quality, safety, and sanitation. Your impact: Consistent, well-prepared meals help guests enjoy a safe and welcoming dining experience.
Responsibilities
- Lead, supervise, and develop kitchen teams; coordinate staffing and shift management.
- Plan menus and direct cooking, food preparation, banquet service, and catering operations.
- Manage inventory, purchasing, and cost control to support efficient food production.
- Maintain food handling, food safety, and sanitizing procedures throughout kitchen operations.
- Coordinate with service teams to support smooth food service and hospitality.
Experience
- Required: Kitchen experience, food preparation and cooking skills, food safety knowledge, and experience supervising or managing teams.
- Preferred: Head chef or restaurant management experience, including fine dining, banquet, catering, or dietary department operations.
- Experience in food service management, inventory management or control, menu planning, and cost control is valued.
- Background in restaurant or broader food industry operations, serving, and culinary work is an asset.
- Experience with opening new restaurants
- Serv Safe certified
Pay: $75,000.00 - $85,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
Head Chef Jobs by Experience Level
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Who's Hiring
- Wolfoods108
- Upper Crust Food Service27
- Tatte Bakery & Cafe3
- Taher2
- Solun Bar2S
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in head chef jobs.
- Minimum five years of progressive kitchen leadership experience in a comparable concept
- Demonstrated ability to develop, cost, and execute seasonal menus at scale
- Servsafe Manager certification or equivalent food safety credential
- Experience managing food cost and labor cost within operator-defined targets
- Proven record of hiring, training, and retaining kitchen staff across all stations
- Culinary degree or completion of a formal apprenticeship program preferred
Tips for Your Head Chef Job Search
Tailor your resume to the concept
Hiring managers scan for cuisine type and service style before anything else. Lead your resume with the concept you know best, whether that's farm-to-table, high-volume banquet, or tasting-menu fine dining, so the right employers self-select.
Apply early to roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists head chef openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match your cuisine background and apply directly to each listing without bouncing between multiple sites.
Document your food cost control results
Operators care deeply about margin. Translate your kitchen management into concrete outcomes on your resume: how you reduced waste, restructured ordering cycles, or redesigned a menu to hit a tighter cost target. Vague claims get skipped.
Prep for the practical cooking trial
Most head chef searches include a working trial or tasting before an offer. Ask in advance what protein, format, and service count to expect, then cook to the restaurant's stated identity, not just your personal style. Pandering to ego rarely works.
Negotiate beyond base pay on your offer
Head chef offers often have room on food and equipment budgets, kitchen staffing levels, and schedule autonomy even when the base figure is fixed. Know which operational conditions matter to you before the conversation so you can ask for them directly.
Build your reference list from front-of-house leaders
Owners and general managers weight references from colleagues who observed your leadership across the pass, not just culinary peers. A strong reference from a former floor manager or GM carries more hiring weight than another chef vouching for your knife skills.
Head Chef Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies are hiring the most head chefs?
The companies hiring the most head chefs right now include Wolfoods, Upper Crust Food Service, and Tatte Bakery & Cafe, with the largest share of openings in New York, California, and Texas, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Hotel groups and contract dining operators tend to post the highest volume of openings at any given time.
How many head chef jobs are remote?
About 0% of head chef openings are fully remote or hybrid as of November 2026, which is low relative to most professional roles because the position is fundamentally tied to a physical kitchen. The remote share is highest for recipe development consultants, corporate menu strategists, and culinary content roles that don't require daily service leadership.
How do you become a head chef?
Most head chefs advance by working every station in a kitchen over several years, then moving into sous chef roles where they take on ordering, scheduling, and menu input. From there, operators promote based on demonstrated ability to run a full kitchen service independently. A culinary degree accelerates the timeline and opens doors at hotel and fine-dining groups, but it isn't a hard requirement if your experience record is strong.
Can you get hired as a head chef with limited experience?
Getting hired as a head chef with limited experience is difficult but possible in smaller independent restaurants, staff dining operations, and catering companies that prioritize creative potential over tenure. Your best path is to target concepts that match the cuisine you know most deeply, present a sample menu you could execute on day one, and come in with strong references from kitchen leaders who supervised you directly.
What does the head chef interview process look like?
Most head chef searches run in two or three stages. An initial conversation with the owner, general manager, or HR lead covers your background and leadership philosophy. A second stage often involves a culinary trial or tasting where you cook for the decision-makers. Final interviews focus on business operations: how you approach food cost, staff development, and supplier relationships. The entire process typically runs several weeks from first contact to offer.
Where can I find and apply to head chef jobs?
You can find and apply to head chef jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States in one place. Search for roles that match your cuisine background, service style, and seniority level, then apply directly to each listing that fits. No detours to other sites required.
See All 286+ Head Chef Jobs
Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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