Lead Chef - RHS Garden Wisley New

Job Title: Lead Chef

Salary: Up to £36,000 per annum

Location: RHS Garden Wisley

Contract Type: Full-time, permanent, site based, 5 over 7 days per week

Set within 240 acres of stunning gardens, Wisley is open all year round and offers a variety of food outlets, from a busy restaurant to welcoming cafés. You’ll be joining a friendly, hardworking team with a shared goal: delivering exceptional service to every visitor.

A Lead Chef at Wisley will be responsible for ensuring that all dishes consistently meet RA Venues’ standards for quality, flavour, and presentation, while supporting a smooth and safe guest experience through accurate allergen handling. You will be visible during service, uphold Wisley’s values, and support seasonal menu rollouts and new dish launches whilst maintaining high presentation standards on counters and plates.

You will actively engage with Wisley and RA Venues food initiatives, control waste, portioning, and recipe adherence, and support stock management, ordering, and rotation. Efficient prep planning and labour alignment will be expected, along with accurate and timely completion of FSMS documentation and ensuring all team members are familiar with FSMS guidance. You will maintain audit readiness and uphold hygiene standards, ensure full allergen, traceability, and due diligence compliance, and lead, train, and motivate the kitchen team. Additionally, you will oversee team performance, delegate effectively, and foster a positive, collaborative kitchen culture.

The Ideal Candidate:

• Ideally 2 years’ previous experience in a similar Lead/Sous Chef position, or strong previous CDP experience in a similar environment (around 4 years or more).
• Good cooking skills and attention to detail. 
• Understanding of FSMS and allergens. 
• Experience in high-volume operations.

 What can we offer you: 

• A collaborative and inclusive culture, where your ideas are valued, and creativity is encouraged.
• The chance to work in a truly beautiful and inspiring setting, surrounded by nature and stunning gardens.
• 20 days annual leave (excluding bank holidays and national holiday days)
• Free parking on site
• Free staff meals whilst at work.
• Access to Compass Group company perks & benefits.
• Perks for Works discounts and promotions
• Access to training, mentoring and development, with support from our wider Restaurant Associates and Compass Group UK networks.
• On-site F&B discounts. 

About Us:

Restaurant Associates is a leading premium hospitality provider with an ethos drawn from our history of fine and high-quality dining in London and New York.

Within our venues team, we provide catering and hospitality services to some of the most iconic visitor attractions and destinations in the UK including the Imperial War Museum London, Glyndebourne Opera House, Knebworth House, Design Museum, Whipsnade Zoo and many more. Within these amazing venues we operate a host of bespoke cafés and restaurants, as well as delivering private events ranging from small meetings to large-scale ground events of up to 1000 people. You can find a full list of our venues on our website.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive, diverse, fun, and dynamic place to work with opportunities to collaborate with a wide range of teams plus a commitment to putting our people first.  Restaurant Associates is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from candidates of all backgrounds. As a business, we are committed to sustainability led practices and are proud to have achieved 3 stars with the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s Food Made Good Programme.

Job Reference: com/3004/43818001/52780527/R/SU #RA Venues