Vacancy title:
Executive Chef, Head Chef and Pastry Head Chef
Employment type: Full time, Industry: Hospitality, and Tourism, Category: Management, Restaurant & Hospitality, Food & Beverage
Jobs at:
Singita Grumeti
Deadline of this Job:
Thursday, November 19 2026
Duty Station:
Grumeti, Tanzania | Arusha
Summary
Date Posted: Friday, November 6 2026, Base Salary: Not Disclosed
JOB DETAILS:
Background
Singita Grumeti has the following culinary job opportunities:
Organization: Singita Grumeti
Location: Grumeti, Tanzania
Number of job roles: 3
Key responsibilities
The Executive Chef reports into the Group Culinary Lead and the Property General Manager and is responsible for the full culinary operation at Grumeti — from kitchen leadership and food quality to community and succession impact.
- Lead, mentor, and develop the Grumeti kitchen brigade, building a strong, capable team and a clear pathway and succession plan for local chefs to grow within it.
- Design and deliver menus and food experiences across all Grumeti outlets that are honest to place — reflecting the Serengeti landscape, seasonality, and Tanzanian culinary tradition — while staying true to Singita’s brand-wide food identity.
- Continue and grow the Singita Community Culinary School (SCCS), ensuring a living succession pipeline of local culinary talent is trained, supported, and progressed into permanent roles.
- Oversee day-to-day kitchen operations, including food safety, hygiene, quality control, and consistency across breakfast, lunch, dinner, bush dining, and special events.
- Manage food cost, stock control, ordering, and supplier relationships, with a strong preference for local and community-based sourcing wherever possible.
- Partner with the Group Culinary Lead, Lodge General Manager, and People team on recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and welfare of the kitchen team.
- Support guest experience innovation where food is at play, working with the Group Culinary Lead and chefs’ team on new openings, seasonal menu changes, and special guest requests or events.
- Maintain accurate kitchen records, food cost reporting, and other documentation required for group-level culinary reporting.
- Uphold and represent Singita’s five food principles— as the evaluating framework behind every food decision made in the kitchen.
- Provide continuity of culinary leadership during the Group Culinary Lead’s visits and absences, ensuring Grumeti’s kitchen operations continue to run smoothly and to standard.
- Act as the custodian of Grumeti’s food identity, translating the group’s culinary direction into menus and experiences that reflect this specific place, its landscape, and its people.
- Support Grumeti’s sustainability, employee wellness, and wellbeing initiatives, promoting participation and engagement across the kitchen team.
- Encourage and support employee participation in community development and social impact initiatives, fostering a positive relationship between Grumeti and the surrounding communities.
- Work closely with the Group Culinary Lead to ensure Grumeti’s food offering stays aligned with brand-wide standards while remaining distinctly Grumeti.
Skills and experience
- Minimum 8-10 years of progressive culinary experience, including at least 3-5 years in an Executive Chef or senior head chef role, ideally within luxury lodge, safari, or high-end hospitality settings.
- Demonstrated experience training, mentoring, and developing local culinary talent, with a genuine commitment to succession and community upliftment.
- Strong grounding in classical technique, comfortably married to seasonal, honest, ingredient-led cooking rather than imported or overly complex styles.
- Experience managing kitchen budgets, food cost, stock control, and supplier/sourcing relationships, ideally including local and community-based sourcing.
- Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and retain a strong, motivated kitchen team.
- Menu development and creative direction experience, with the ability to design food journeys rather than standalone dishes.
- Problem-solving and decision-making under the pressures of a remote, fast-paced hospitality environment.
- Planning, time management, and meticulous attention to detail.
- Adaptability, flexibility, and resilience — comfortable operating in a remote wilderness setting with the logistics that come with it.
- Professionalism, integrity, and a collaborative, teamwork-first approach.
- Proficiency with kitchen management and reporting systems, and comfortable contributing to group-level reporting.
Key responsibilities
The main purpose of the Head Chef is to manage the kitchen and the quality of food in the various sections, in line with the Singita Standard of Excellence and SOPs.
- Drive the broader goals of the Company by planning and implementing strategic plans and goals.
- Oversee the management of the staff canteens by ensuring that all staff are provided with meals sufficient in quantity and nutrition.
- Ensuring the ultimate food experience for the guests, in line with the food concept of the lodge.
- Effective guest interaction to enhance guest experiences.
- Supervise the quality of food produced and served in a hygienic manner.
- Designing of menu – follow and implement new food concept.
- Monitoring the quality and care of equipment and products – minimising breakage.
- Administration of orders to minimize shortages and wastage.
- Handover responsibilities and requests to the next shift coming on duty and ensure that a handover is received from previous shift, when coming on duty.
- Where applicable: preparation of pastry items to Singita standards, that include, breads; croissants; Danish pastries; ice-creams; sorbets; cakes; biscuits and desserts.
- Identify and eliminate potential risks in the workplace to ensure minimal liability to Singita.
- Run the kitchen in a cost-effective manner, within an agreed budget. Strategic management of food to reduce waste, such as portion control and stock rotation.
- Implement and maintain Health and Safety procedures, such as cleanliness and hygiene of the kitchen kept to the highest standard.
- Communication with departmental teams to ensure that guest needs are met, and operations run effectively.
- Look for opportunities to grown and train staff, and involvement in succession planning.
- Contribute towards the sustainability operations of the lodge, operating within lodge environmental parameters and constantly looking for ways to further ‘green’ lodge operations.
- Active participation in and effective communication and support of Singita’s conservation message and purpose.
Skills and experience
- A 3 Year Chef Qualification or a minimum of 4 years’ experience in a role of similar responsibility.
- Able to calculate food costs and understand kitchen budget.
- Good computer literacy.
- Understanding of kitchen procedure and timing requirements, able to plan accordingly.
- Wide food knowledge, able to design menus.
- Awareness of dietaries.
- Ability to train and manage staff.
- A clear understanding of labour law and disciplinary procedures.
- Passion for the industry and willingness to grow.
- Understanding of hygiene protocols and equipment.
- Sound knowledge of cleaning methods and products.
- Knowledge of safety procedures and the use of firefighting equipment.
- First Aid training (provided by company).
- Care in personal hygiene and grooming.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Stamina for physical activity.
- Nationality or valid working visa.
Key responsibilities
The main purpose of the Pastry Head Chef is to manage the kitchen and the quality of food in the pastry section, in line with the Singita Standard of Excellence and SOPs.
- Drive the broader goals of the Company by planning and implementing strategic plans and goals.
- Ensuring the ultimate food experience for the guests, in line with the food concept of the lodge.
- Effective guest interaction to enhance guest experiences.
- Supervise the quality of food produced and served in a hygienic manner.
- Designing of menu – follow and implement new food concept.
- Monitoring the quality and care of equipment and products – minimising breakage.
- Administration of orders to minimize shortages and wastage.
- Handover responsibilities and requests to the next shift coming on duty and ensure that a handover is received from previous shift, when coming on duty.
- Preparation of pastry items to Singita standards, that include, breads; croissants; Danish pastries; ice-creams; sorbets; cakes; biscuits and desserts.
- Identify and eliminate potential risks in the workplace to ensure minimal liability to Singita.
- Run the kitchen in a cost-effective manner, within an agreed budget. Strategic management of food to reduce waste, such as portion control and stock rotation.
- Implement and maintain Health and Safety procedures, such as cleanliness and hygiene of the kitchen kept to the highest standard.
- Communication with departmental teams to ensure that guest needs are met, and operations run effectively.
- Look for opportunities to grown and train staff; and involvement in succession planning.
- Contribute towards the sustainability operations of the lodge, operating within lodge environmental parameters and constantly looking for ways to further ‘green’ lodge operations.
- Active participation in and effective communication and support of Singita’s conservation message and purpose.
- All roles at Singita may be required to perform other tasks as reasonably requested from time to time and as required by the business and/or operation. Singita fosters a culture of collaboration, and with this a support of the multi-skilling of staff.
Skills and experience
- A 3 Year Chef Qualification or a minimum of 4 years’ experience in a role of similar responsibility.
- Able to calculate food costs and understand kitchen budget.
- Good computer literacy.
- Understanding of kitchen procedure and timing requirements, able to plan accordingly.
- Wide food knowledge, able to design menus.
- Awareness of dietaries.
- Ability to train and manage staff.
- A clear understanding of labour law and disciplinary procedures.
- Passion for the industry and willingness to grow.
- Understanding of hygiene protocols and equipment.
- Sound knowledge of cleaning methods and products.
- Knowledge of safety procedures and the use of firefighting equipment.
- First Aid training (provided by company).
- Care in personal hygiene and grooming.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Stamina for physical activity.
- Nationality or valid working visa.
Work Hours: 8
Experience in Months: 96
Level of Education: professional certificate
Job application procedure
Interested in applying for this job? Click here to submit your application now (jobapplications@grumeti.singita.com) .
Interested candidates for the Executive Chef, Head Chef and Pastry Head Chef positions should submit their CV
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