NO WEEKENDS. EVER.

That's not a typo, and it's not the fine print — it's the point. This is a genuine Monday–Friday role. Early starts, hard graft, real ownership from 5am — and then your weekends are yours. In an industry that runs on Saturday nights and Sunday brunches, roles like this almost never come up. This one just did.

THE OPPORTUNITY

HomeTeam is opening two brand-new venues side by side at 70 Eagle Street — LuLou, a café and tapas bar, and SweetLeaf, a unique online only feel valuable food on the go — alongside our established venues MAS Espresso and ELAN. You'll run LuLou's kitchen: a fully-fitted, brand-new space built from the ground up, with none of the tired equipment or inherited bad habits that come with taking over someone else's kitchen.

This isn't just a single-venue Head Chef role. LuLou's kitchen is being built as the production hub for the group — your kitchen supplies food to SweetLeaf, MAS Espresso, ELAN, office catering as well as running LuLou's own service. You lead the LuLou brigade directly; a dedicated logistics function handles getting the food out the door. Your job is to build a kitchen that runs like clockwork across four venues' worth of demand, every single day.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

- Leading and building the LuLou kitchen team from scratch — recruiting, training and running the brigade in a brand-new space

- Designing and opening LuLou's menu, with genuine input into systems, prep flow and kitchen setup — a true ground-floor role, not a handover

- Structuring production and prep schedules so LuLou's kitchen reliably supplies SweetLeaf, MAS Espresso and ELAN alongside its own service

- Owning food cost, quality and consistency across everything that leaves the kitchen, for four venues, five days a week

- Working closely with ownership through the lead-up to launch — supplier setup, equipment,



compliance and opening systems — and beyond

- Implementing the kitchen operations manual, production systems, HACCP program, allergen controls and food safety procedures

- Establishing supplier relationships, ordering systems, stock controls and receiving and storage procedures

- Reviewing sales, production and wastage information to continuously improve menu performance and kitchen efficiency

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

- Proven experience running a multi-site, central or production kitchen — you've done the logistics of “one kitchen, many mouths” before and you know where it gets hard

- Strong organisational and planning skills — this role lives and dies on structure, not just knife skills

- Comfortable opening a brand-new venue and building systems from a blank page

- Certificate III in Commercial Cookery (or equivalent), current Food Safety Supervisor certificate

- Demonstrated ability to manage food cost, recipe compliance, stock, labour, yields and wastage

- Confident recruiting, training and developing a kitchen team

- Strong knowledge of HACCP allergen management and Australian food safety requirements

- Genuinely fine with a 5am start, five days a week — every week

WHAT'S ON OFFER

- $85,000–$100,000 + super, commensurate with experience

- A brand-new kitchen — properly fitted out, no compromises

- Real input into opening menus and kitchen systems from day one

- A true Monday–Friday roster — no weekend shifts

- Career growth within HomeTeam as the group continues to expand

TIMING

LuLou and SweetLeaf planned opening mid October 2026. We're looking for our Head Chef to start early-to-mid September, giving you time to build menus, set up suppliers and hire your team before doors open.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply via this listing — we'd love to see your experience running a kitchen that had to serve more than just the room in front of it.

📌 Head Chef (Brisbane)
🏢 HomeTeam
📍 Brisbane