Head Chef

About Us

Magnus on Water isn't defined by a style of cuisine or the name on the kitchen door. We're defined by the whole of the experience: food, drink, service, and space working together to make people feel welcome, curious, and cared for. Great food that arrives alongside indifferent service, or a room that doesn't feel right, is not what we're after — we believe hospitality is the sum of every part, and no single element (including the chef) carries the restaurant alone.

We've built a culture around openness, curiosity, sharing, and drive. We invite guests to engage with what they're eating and drinking — to learn something, to ask questions, to feel like part of a community rather than a transaction. We expect the same spirit inside our kitchen as we do in our dining room.

The Role

We're looking for a Head Chef to lead our kitchen team and shape our food program going forward. This is a wide-open creative mandate: we have no attachment to any particular cuisine, technique, or style. What we care about is that the food is authentic — that it comes from somewhere real in the chef leading it — and that it fits a place like Biddeford, where a sizable, adventurous summer crowd gives way to a smaller, loyal, year-round local base for about nine months of the year. Your menu needs to earn and keep both audiences.

You'll have real authorship over your food. You'll also be expected to work in close, ongoing collaboration with the owners and with the bar team, so that food, cocktails, and wine feel like one considered experience rather than three separate menus sharing a room. We're looking for someone who wants that kind of partnership, not someone who wants to build a solo fiefdom.

Above all, we prioritize a healthy kitchen — physically and emotionally — over everything else, including ego, and including any individual dish. We do not run a yelling kitchen, and we do not tolerate bigotry of any kind. We're looking for a leader who runs a tight, well-organized, high-standards kitchen through clarity, respect, and care, not fear.

We believe hospitality starts from within the kitchen. We're looking for a chef who stays on the line, knows their team well, and can spot and solve problems in real time — not someone who leads from a distance.

What You'll Do

• Own and lead all aspects of the kitchen, including a seasonally rotating menu that reflects your point of view while remaining accessible to our local, year-round guests
• Recruit, train, and mentor a small kitchen team — typically one other cook in the off-season and two in the high season, plus a dishwasher/prep cook during the high season and on some days in the off-season — fostering a collaborative, respectful environment
• Build and maintain kitchen systems — prep, ordering, inventory, food cost, and waste management — that keep the kitchen efficient and sustainable
• Manage and analyze food costs, COGS, and labor costs, in partnership with ownership, to keep the kitchen running healthily on both sides of the ledger
• Collaborate closely and consistently with the bar team to keep food, cocktails, and wine in conversation with one another
• Partner with the owners on menu direction, pricing, and guest experience — bringing your own voice while staying open to their read on what our guests want
• Run service five days a week, with the restaurant closed for two weeks each January
• Set the tone for a kitchen culture that is kind, calm, curious, and collaborative — model that culture yourself, every shift

What We're Looking For

• Experience running or co-running a professional kitchen, including staff leadership and scheduling
• A genuine, personal point of view on food — we're not hiring for a cuisine, we're hiring for a voice
• Proven ability to manage food cost, waste, and kitchen systems
• A track record of leading with kindness and steadiness, even under pressure — someone whose team would say they feel respected and safe at work
• Comfort with collaboration and shared authorship — you'll be one strong voice among several, not the only one
• Current Food Safety Manager certification (e.g. ServSafe or equivalent), or ability to obtain one prior to start
• Flexibility and range: ability to read a room and adjust for a broad summer crowd and a smaller, discerning local crowd across the rest of the year
• Alignment with an ethos of inclusivity, learning, and community-building — in how you lead your team and in how your food invites guests in

How to Apply

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are especially glad to hear from candidates who don't see themselves reflected in a typical head-chef job posting.

Magnus on Water is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Pay: $75,000.00 - $90,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Paid time off
• Relocation assistance

Work Location: In person

Salary : $75,000 - $90,000