Head of Food (Production & Development) in Ballymun, Dublin at Coffeeangel

Coffeeangel believes in the special in specialty coffee. We’re an independent Irish business with ten coffee shops across Dublin and Monaghan, supplied every morning by our own kitchens in Ballymun and at TCD. Our pastries are baked fresh, and our sandwiches, salads and cakes are made by hand each day. We want our food to be every bit as good as our coffee, and we’re looking for the person to lead it.

As Head of Food, you’ll grow our food sales and food profit across every coffee shop. You’ll own what we make, how well it’s made, how it reaches the shops and how it sells once it’s there.

You’ll lead a kitchen team of 8–12, including a Kitchen Supervisor, and run production to ensure all products are ready for dispatch by 05:00 every day.

You’ll be based at Ballymun Industrial Estate, Dublin 11, with regular time at our TCD kitchen and across our Dublin coffee shops. You’ll build a kitchen that runs on clear systems rather than on one person’s memory. You’ll report to our Operations Manager and work closely with our Managing Director on the range, pricing and seasonal menus.

What you’ll do

• Grow food sales: shape the range for each part of the day, keep displays appealing and key products available at agreed times while controlling waste, and work with shop teams so food is offered at every counter
• Develop the menu: create, test, cost and launch new products, and retire the ones that don’t earn their place
• Run production: plan and forecast production so the right products are packed, labelled and ready for dispatch to each shop by 05:00 every day
• Control cost and margin: own food cost, waste, yield and kitchen labour, and report on them weekly
• Lead the team: recruit, train and develop a kitchen team people want to stay in
• Keep us safe and documented: keep HACCP, allergen, labelling and food safety records complete and current

What the job is really like
This is a hands-on role, not an office one. You’ll spend about half your time in the kitchens, a quarter in our coffee shops, and a quarter on planning, data and development. Your usual start time will be around 06:30, with earlier starts when operationally required. Our kitchens operate from 01:00 to 20:00, with products ready for dispatch by 05:00. You’ll organise staffing, supervision and handovers so production runs reliably across all shifts. If you like being measured on results you can see on the shelf and in the till, you’ll enjoy this.

What you’ll bring

• A track record of growing food sales in a multi-site coffee shop, bakery or food-to-go business, with the numbers to show for it
• 5+ years’ professional kitchen experience, including 2+ years as a Head Chef, Production Manager, Executive Chef or equivalent, together with experience of central kitchens, large-scale production or multi-site supply
• Experience developing new products for counter or grab-and-go food, including costing, shelf life and labelling
• Real command of food cost, waste, labour and menu engineering
• HACCP Level 3, and a strong grasp of Irish food safety law and FSAI allergen guidance
• Comfort working from sales data and kitchen systems (we use Apicbase, Trail and Square)
• The legal right to work in Ireland

What we offer

• €62,500–€67,500 per year, depending on experience, plus a performance bonus of up to 10% of annual salary, subject to agreed food gross profit targets and scheme terms
• 20 days’ annual leave, plus an additional paid day off for your birthday once you’ve completed probation
• Pension through My Future Fund
• Complimentary food on shift, a staff discount and the Cycle to Work scheme
• Company-funded HACCP, food safety, fire safety and first aid training
• Room to grow with the business. Progression here is based on results, not time served.

How to apply
Apply with your CV and complete our short application questionnaire, including an example of how you grew food sales or improved food profitability.

Coffeeangel is an equal opportunities employer, and we welcome applications from everyone.