Sow Good Café & Nursery | Ulladulla
Thursday to Sunday | 18-month fixed-term role, with potential for ongoing employment
Approx. $38–$41 per hour + super + applicable penalty rates, depending on experience

Are you an experienced café cook or chef who would enjoy taking ownership of a small café kitchen and helping shape it from the beginning?

Sow Good Café is looking for a capable, hands-on Café Kitchen Lead / Head Cook to take the lead in our new café kitchen in Ulladulla. This is a key role with real responsibility to help us develop the menu, establish practical systems and create a café known for fresh food, welcoming service and a solid connection to its community.

The role may suit an experienced café cook or senior cook ready to take the next step, or a chef or sous chef looking for creative opportunities, a smaller operation and a consistent four-day working week.

About Yumaro and Sow Good

Yumaro is a multi-award-winning not-for-profit organisation supporting people with disability across the Eurobodalla and southern Shoalhaven. We provide a range of disability services and create opportunities for people to live, work and participate in their communities.

Sow Good is Yumaro’s social enterprise precinct in Ulladulla, bringing together a café, working plant nursery, market garden, art studio and community events.

We want the café menu to feel connected to its setting: fresh, seasonal, generous and full of flavour. You’ll have the opportunity to bring your own ideas, make use of suitable produce from the garden and help develop the café’s identity from the ground up.





About the role

You will lead the café’s food operation and help ensure the kitchen runs smoothly, safely and consistently.

Your responsibilities will include:

- leading food preparation and café service from Thursday to Sunday;
- developing and maintaining a fresh, approachable café menu;
- establishing efficient preparation, service and cleaning systems;
- ordering stock and working with suppliers;
- managing stock rotation, food costs and waste;
- maintaining food safety, hygiene and kitchen standards;
- guiding and training café team members;
- contributing to a welcoming customer experience; and
- helping develop food and catering for occasional events and live music days.

An important part of this role is working alongside people with disability developing hospitality and workplace skills. You’ll be supported by experienced Yumaro staff, but you’ll need to be patient, encouraging and able to provide clear, practical guidance.

What you’ll bring

We’re looking for someone who has:

- strong experience as a café cook, senior cook, sous chef or chef;
- the confidence to lead a small café kitchen and take ownership of daily food operations;




- experience developing menus and maintaining consistent food quality;
- sound knowledge of food safety, ordering and stock control;
- an organised and practical approach to busy service periods;
- the ability to train, encourage and bring out the best in others; and
- a collaborative, calm and positive working style.

A commercial cookery qualification and experience opening or developing a new café, restaurant or kitchen would be an advantage, but practical experience and the right leadership approach are equally important.

What we offer

- A consistent four-day, Thursday-to-Sunday working week.
- Predominantly daytime café hours, with occasional event work.
- An 18-month fixed-term role, with potential for ongoing employment.
- Approximately $38–$41 per hour plus super and applicable penalty rates, depending on experience.
- Genuine input into the menu and direction of the kitchen.
- A distinctive workplace within a nursery and market-garden setting.
- The opportunity to help build an inclusive café that creates meaningful employment and community connection.

If you’re creative, organised and calm under pressure, and you’d enjoy taking ownership of a café kitchen with real purpose, we’d love to hear from you.

Please send us your résumé and a short cover letter telling us about your cooking experience, the kitchens or cafés you’ve worked in, and the kind of café you’d like to help create.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and the position may be filled before the advertised closing date.

📌 Cafe Kitchen Lead - Head Cook (Ulladulla)
🏢 Yumaro
📍 Ulladulla