Executive Chef

Jabulani

Jabulani is seeking an exceptional Executive Chef to lead and elevate our culinary offering across the guest experience. This is a senior leadership role for a highly skilled, refined and creative chef who understands luxury hospitality, world-class food presentation, and the discipline required to maintain consistently exceptional standards.

The ideal candidate will have a strong fine-dining background, formal culinary qualifications, and proven experience in high-end luxury lodges, boutique hotels, or acclaimed restaurants.

Preference will be given to candidates trained at the Institute of Culinary Arts (ICA) or the Prue Leith Culinary Institute, with additional preference for chefs who have worked in 5 Star Lodge environments.

This role requires a chef who can deliver outstanding cuisine while also managing the full operational demands of a luxury safari kitchen environment, including daily menu development, dietary management, kitchen team leadership, cost control, stock management, procurement, hygiene compliance and guest-centric service delivery. Jabulani’s kitchen operation includes breakfast, lunch and dinner service, tasting menus, bush dinners, snack platters, sundowner snacks, vegetarian and vegan options, dietary adjustments, kosher kitchen requirements, stock take responsibilities and local sourcing expectations.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the overall culinary direction and daily operation of the Jabulani kitchen.

• Design and execute sophisticated, seasonal and beautifully presented menus aligned with a luxury guest experience.

• Deliver exceptional breakfast, lunch and dinner service, including tasting menus, bush dinners, private dining and special guest requests.

• Ensure all menus include thoughtful vegetarian and/or vegan options and can be adapted to dietary requirements and food allergies where needed.

• Oversee food preparation, plating, presentation and consistency to the highest standard across every service.

• Maintain excellent food quality, flavour balance, creativity and attention to detail at all times.

• Manage and mentor the kitchen team, fostering professionalism, discipline, teamwork and continued development. Jabulani’s internal kitchen role documents emphasise professionalism, presentation, sustainability, teamwork and development as core expectations.

• Supervise stock control, ordering, supplier relationships, monthly stock takes and food cost management. The executive chef handover document explicitly references purchase orders, supplier coordination, invoice tracking and month-end stock take responsibilities.

• Ensure strict adherence to hygiene, food safety and kitchen cleanliness standards.

• Drive sustainability in the kitchen through careful use of ingredients, reduced waste and, where possible, the use of locally sourced products. Local sourcing and waste reduction are explicitly built into Jabulani’s kitchen performance expectations.

• Manage specialised kitchen requirements, including kosher food preparation protocols when applicable.

• Work closely with lodge management to align the culinary experience with the overall guest offering and brand standard.

• Maintain calm, decisive leadership under pressure while ensuring an inspired and positive kitchen culture.

We are looking for a chef who is:

• highly polished, creative and disciplined;

• passionate about exceptional produce, flavour and presentation;

• calm and solutions-driven under pressure;

• confident in leading a team while maintaining a respectful and professional kitchen culture;

• capable of balancing culinary artistry with strong operational control;

• committed to consistency, refinement and guest delight in every service.