Job Description

Head Chef

Who we are

TOCO Specialty is a modern specialty café in Addis Ababa offering premium coffee, matcha, breakfast, all-day dining, and desserts. We focus on quality ingredients, consistent presentation, excellent service, and creating a memorable customer experience.

What you’ll be doing

As Head Chef, you will lead TOCO’s kitchen operations and ensure every dish meets our standards for taste, presentation, consistency, hygiene, and cost.

You will report to management and supervise the kitchen team while working closely with purchasing, stores, service staff, and suppliers. You will also support menu development and improve kitchen efficiency and profitability.

You will be responsible for

• Leading and supervising the kitchen team and daily food production.
• Maintaining consistent taste, quality, portion size, and presentation.
• Developing and improving breakfast, all-day dining, lunch, and dinner items.
• Creating standardized recipes, preparation procedures, and plating guides.
• Managing food costs, portion control, waste, and kitchen profitability.
• Preparing production plans and ensuring proper daily mise en place.
• Monitoring inventory and coordinating ingredient orders with purchasing and stores.
• Maintaining food-safety, hygiene, cleaning, and storage standards.
• Training, scheduling, and evaluating kitchen employees.
• Ensuring orders are prepared accurately and on time during busy periods.
• Working with management to review menu performance and remove or improve weak items.
• Handling customer feedback and correcting food-quality issues.

What skills and experience you’ll bring

• Culinary qualification or relevant professional training is preferred.
• At least five years of professional kitchen experience, including two years in a Head Chef, Sous Chef, or kitchen-leadership role.
• Experience in a busy café, restaurant, hotel, bakery, or all-day dining concept.
• Strong knowledge of breakfast, sandwiches, salads, pasta, main dishes, sauces, and modern café food.
• Proven experience in recipe standardization, menu development, food costing, and portion control.
• Strong kitchen-leadership, training, organization, and problem-solving skills.
• Good understanding of food safety, hygiene, stock rotation, and waste management.
• Ability to maintain quality and speed during busy service periods.
• Good communication skills and ability to work with management and service teams.
• Creativity balanced with commercial awareness and cost control.

What we need from you

• Permanent, full-time employment.
• Location: Addis Ababa.
• Shift-based schedule, including weekends and public holidays.
• Flexibility to work additional hours during busy periods, events, and menu launches.
• Professional, disciplined, reliable, and able to lead by example.

What we can offer you

• Competitive and negotiable salary based on experience.
• Leadership responsibility in a growing specialty café.
• Opportunity to influence menu development and kitchen operations.
• Professional-development and career-growth opportunities.
• A creative and performance-focused working environment.

How to apply

Send your updated CV and relevant supporting documents to abdelafikra@gmail.com.

Use “Head Chef – TOCO Specialty” as the email subject.

Applicants are encouraged to include photographs of their work or a portfolio of dishes they have developed. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.