Japanese Sous Chef

Bring Your Japanese Culinary Expertise to the Table

Are you a highly skilled Japanese culinary professional with a passion for exceptional food, menu innovation and culinary excellence?

We are seeking an experienced Japanese Sous Chef to join our client culinary operations in Colindale, London.

This is an exciting opportunity for a talented chef with outstanding Japanese cuisine knowledge, strong leadership skills and the ability to communicate confidently in Japanese and English (Must speak and read Japanese fluently).

In this role, you will play a key part in developing and delivering high-quality menus, presenting culinary concepts to clients and ensuring consistently excellent food standards within a dynamic, high-volume catering environment.

What Youll Be Doing

• Lead and support daily kitchen operations, ensuring exceptional food quality, consistency and presentation.
• Develop, refine and execute authentic Japanese menus and speciality dishes.
• Prepare and deliver menu presentations, tastings and culinary demonstrations for clients and stakeholders.
• Communicate menu concepts, ingredients, preparation methods and culinary techniques fluently in Japanese.
• Oversee food production, portion control, recipe specifications and presentation standards.
• Lead, coach and develop kitchen teams, promoting a positive and high-performing working environment.
• Collaborate with culinary and operational teams to introduce new menus, improve processes and deliver outstanding customer experiences.
• Maintain the highest standards of food safety, hygiene and HACCP compliance.

What They are Looking For

• Proven experience as a Sous Chef, Head Chef or in a comparable senior culinary position.
• Strong expertise in Japanese cuisine, ingredients, cooking techniques and culinary presentation.
• Fluent in spoken and written Japanese — essential for menu development, client communication and menu presentations.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the confidence to engage with clients and stakeholders.
• Demonstrable experience leading, training and developing kitchen teams.
• Strong understanding of food safety, hygiene and HACCP standards.
• The ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, high-volume food production environment.
• A passion for culinary excellence, innovation and consistently high standards.

Experience in airline catering or other large-scale catering operations would be advantageous.

Whats on Offer?

• Competitive basic salary
• 25 days annual leave plus 8 UK bank holidays
• Private healthcare — single cover
• 40-hour working week
• Full-time, permanent opportunity
• The opportunity to showcase your Japanese culinary expertise in a professional and innovative environment

Important Right-to-Work Information

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK for this role.

Interested?

If you are an accomplished Japanese chef who combines culinary expertise with excellent communication and leadership skills, we would love to hear from you.

Apply today to take the next step in your culinary career.

Salary Starting: £50,000 per annum
Working Hours: 40 hours per week
Contract: Full-time, permanent