Job Description

As a Head Chef, you'll be keeping your department running like clockwork and leading your team to ensure our guests have an incredible experience with us. Take a deep breath because you'll be stepping into a busy role! You'll think creatively to design food menus and items, and be in control of cost management in the Kitchen. You'll also be nurturing the talent within your Kitchen, showing patience and understanding to all colleagues, and inspiring a vibrant team to exceed our guests' expectations.
Some of the perks you could enjoy include:

• Head of Department bonus scheme: based on our financial and your personal performances
• Enhanced pension plan
• Special rates on Leonardo Hotel rooms across the UK & Europe: get planning that city break you've been dreaming of!
• Company-wide recognition scheme: for being your fabulous self, you could earn vouchers to spend on a wide range of high street shops
• Meals on duty
• Talent referral scheme: earn yourself a bonus for recommending a friend to join us
• We love to get together and celebrate: we regularly host Thank You Week (your hotel could have anything from ice cream trucks to pizza parties) and every year we get dressed up in our fanciest threads to host our Employee Awards Celebration
• The important stuff: access to the Company Pension Scheme, Life Assurance and Wellbeing Support
• Ongoing job-related training programmes with clear paths for progression

If you're our ideal Head Chef, you will:

• Be yourself!
• Keep the department calm, composed and organised - we don't let it get too hot
• Be a role model for the department to support progression within your team
• Be proactive and contribute in the strategic running of the hotel
• Show us the money and drive revenue whilst controlling costs, maximising profit for the Kitchen
• And above all, be a trendsetter - lead the way!

Why come join us?
We look after our colleagues just as well as we look after our guests. Once you're part of the team, you're part of the Leonardo community and it's our role to keep you at the top of your game as a Head of Department (HOD)! Our HODs hold key team leadership roles, so we support your management skills with our "People Programme" and "Passion 4 People Leonardo Culture" workshops.
To develop vital business and people skills we offer an 8-month "Fast Forward Programme", or if the time is right our longer-term "Accelerate Programme" will prepare you for your first DGM or Operations Manager role! "Accelerate" develops your abilities and expertise at Leonardo Hotels, along with an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) certificate and membership of the Institute of Hospitality (IoH). With our support on tap, top-notch practical training and clear progression you'll be on track for a brilliant future in Hospitality.
Our Story
Built on decades of hotelier know-how, we operate over 270 hotels across the United Kingdom and Europe. We look after over 55 hotels across the UK & Ireland, and being one of the fastest growing hotel groups, we have plans for major expansion over the next few years'; there's never been a more exciting time to come join us!
Leonardo Hotel Swindon Fleming Way, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 2NG

• Job RefJI25948
• BranchLeonardo Hotel Swindon
• LocationSwindon
• Salary/BenefitsCompetitive Salary
• Contract typePermanent
• HoursFull Time
• Shift patternWeekends, evenings and bank holidays included
• Hours per week40
• Date posted14/03/2025
• Closing date31/07/2025

About Leonardo Hotel Swindon
A 5-minute walk from the town centre's pedestrianised shopping precinct, this simple, modern hotel is also 0.8 miles from Swindon Arts Centre. The laid-back rooms feature free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, and tea and coffeemaking facilities, as well as work desks and a pillow menu. There's a casual restaurant serving an international menu, as well as a bar with big-screen sports offering light meals. Other amenities include a business centre and 7 meeting rooms. Parking is available for a fee.
About Leonardo Hotels
At Leonardo Hotels, our vision is very simple: to be the first choice for everyone who values genuine hospitality.
Built on decades of hotelier know-how, we are part of the Fattal Hotels Group, which operates over 230 hotels across Europe and Israel. We look after over 50 hotels here in the UK & Ireland, and have come a long way since we opened our first hotel in Ireland back in 1993! With approximately 4,000 employees and multiple brands we are a dynamic, innovative and fast-growing company.
As an employer we put a big emphasis on career development and as a rule we recruit our operations team members for personality- it is all about how you interact with others and how you can demonstrate our values: Consistent, Friendly, Genuine, Positive and Willing.
At Leonardo Hotels each and every team member is individually valued and respected for who you are. All careers within our hotels offer customer interaction, a great deal of variety, and a fun and friendly working environment. We strive to make all of our hotels great places to work, and get our teams involved in activities such as summer barbecues, Christmas parties, Thank You Week and birthday celebrations!
We also offer excellent employee benefits, including huge discounts on overnight stays at our hotels as well as performance-based rewards via our Leo Points system- these range from vouchers to a well-deserved day off!