About us
Loungers is a substantial and growing operator in the UK hospitality sector, operating over 300 sites in England and Wales across three distinct but complementary brands, Lounges, Cosy Club, and Brightside. Founded in 2002 by three friends who wanted to create a neighbourhood café-bar that they would want to go to, the Group is now the only growing all-day operator of scale in the UK and has consistently outperformed the wider UK hospitality sector over the past three years. Despite being the fastest growing café/restaurant group in the Country, Loungers has retained its entrepreneurial spirit and quirky ‘Loungey’ local community atmosphere.
The role in a nutshell
We are looking for an Executive Development Chef to lead food development for the Lounge and Brightside brands. Reporting into the Head of Food and working closely with the Food Development Manager, Commercial, Supply Chain and Operations teams, you’ll be responsible for shaping, developing and delivering food that defines both brands across a large and growing estate.
This is a senior, hands-on role that owns the full menu development cycle – from early-stage ideas and market insight through to launch, training and post-launch review. You’ll balance creativity with commercial reality, ensuring every dish is delicious, financially viable, operationally deliverable and true to each brand’s DNA.
You’ll spend the majority of your time at our Development Kitchen in Portishead with regular visits to Lounge and Brightside kitchens across the estate.
Getting into the detail
* Lead the creative and commercial development of new dishes and menus for the Lounge and Brightside brands, ensuring food is scalable, profitable and operationally sound.
* Shape the long-term direction of both menus through trend research, competitor activity, market insight and collaboration with the Head of Food and Food Development Manager
* Own and deliver a structured food development programme, including regular cook offs with senior stakeholders and the wider Food Team.
* Develop, test and refine recipes with a strong focus on clarity, consistency and ease of execution in busy, high-volume kitchens.
* Ensure all recipes, ingredient specifications, yields, costs and methods are accurately built and maintained within Starchef.
* Oversee dish photography and step-by-step methods to ensure training and recipe materials are clear, engaging and fit for purpose.
* Work closely with suppliers to source, develop and improve products for both brands, managing samples, trials and specifications.
* Proactively manage product improvements and provide solutions when supply, quality or availability challenges arise.
* Collaborate with Supply Chain and Purchasing to ensure a joined-up and efficient approach to product development across brands.
* Deliver hands-on training for menu launches alongside Regional Operations Teams, ensuring confidence and consistency in execution.
* Support the creation of engaging food training content, including video, Dish of the Week and launch materials.
* Spend regular time in Lounge and Brightside kitchens across the estate to understand operational realities, build relationships and gather feedback.
* Analyse customer and team feedback through key channels and feed insights into continuous improvement.
* Work to agreed timelines alongside wider departments, managing dependencies and ensuring smooth delivery of menu changes.
What you’ll bring
Experience
* Significant experience in a senior food development or development chef role within a multi-site hospitality or food brand environment.
* Creative flair supported by a great palate and instinctive flavour judgment.
* Good understanding of food costing, margins and commercial decision-making.
* Experience working cross-functionally with Operations, Commercial and Supply Chain teams.
Mindset
* Passionate about food and driven to create dishes people genuinely love.
* Commercially curious, with a natural instinct for balancing creativity and practicality.
* Confident decision-maker who takes ownership and accountability.
* Razor-sharp attention to detail.
* The determination to never settle, always looking for opportunities to improve quality, consistency and execution.
* Team player that works collaboratively in an agile and fast paced environment.
* Happy to roll sleeves up and spend time in kitchens – development and operational.
* Positive and able to stay solution focused on the face of changing priorities.
* Confident communicator with strong presentation skills.
Software skills
* Experience using menu costing software and Microsoft excel.
* Comfortable working with internal systems, specs and data.
What’s in it for you?
* A culture that appreciates ideas and celebrates individuality
* Founder-led business - we might have over 300 sites, but we still maintain an entrepreneurial spirit through everything we do
* 10% bonus
* Pension contribution
* 50% off food at all Lounges, Cosy Clubs and Brightsides
* 24/7 mental health support
* Amazing events including LoungeFest – our annual company festival - Christmas parties and more
* We want to work with nice people so if you want to work hard, have fun and be part of the Loungers ride, we’d love to have you.