HMSHost Finland Oy

Deadline Oct 26

Chef

Posted Oct 12 (6 days ago) · Last updated Oct 18 · Open 6 days. This role usually stays open about 13 days

Key facts

Regional food safety and culinary lead; needs five years’ leadership experience and fluent English plus Finnish or Swedish.

How this salary compares

Estimated €2,309 - €2,74414% below Chef roles
This salary is above the market medianBased on 58 job postings
Monthly salary comparison for Chef
MarketLower bound (25th percentile)MedianUpper bound (75th percentile)
Chef roles€2,179 per month€2,439 per month€3,040 per month
This offer€2,309 per month€2,527 per month€2,744 per month

Estimated from 1,661 comparable listings

Est. take-home €1,940 - €2,211

Where and how
VantaaOnsiteDirector
Languages required
English
Experience
5 years experience

Original job ad

As published by HMSHost Finland Oy

Open the ad
**Location: Helsinki Airport, Finland or Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Sweden** **Shape the future of food safety, quality and culinary excellence across the Nordics** Are you an experienced food safety and quality professional with strong culinary credibility? Do you thrive in a role where you can influence standards across multiple countries, locations and concepts? We are looking for a **Nordic Head Chef & Quality Assurance Lead** to take ownership of food safety, quality assurance and culinary standards across Avolta's Nordic food & beverage operations. In this highly visible regional role, you will safeguard compliance, drive continuous improvement and help ensure that every guest experience meets the highest standards of quality and food safety. **Your Mission** As Nordic Head Chef & Quality Assurance Lead, you will lead food safety and culinary standards across the Nordics, ensuring full HACCP compliance, operational excellence, regulatory adherence and a consistently high-quality guest experience while protecting the company's reputation and supporting business performance. **What You'll Be Doing** **Lead Food Safety & Quality Assurance** - Own and continuously develop the Nordic HACCP and Food Safety framework. - Drive compliance with food safety legislation, policies and company standards across the Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland and from 2027 also Latvia). - Lead food safety audits, inspections and corrective action processes. - Own the governance of product specifications, allergen declarations and nutritional information. - Investigate food safety incidents and drive preventive actions. - Ensure all locations remain audit-ready and operate to the highest hygiene and food safety standards. **Drive Culinary Excellence** - Define and maintain culinary standards across the Nordic region. - Own recipe development, recipe costing and product specifications. - Ensure consistency in food quality, preparation methods and presentation. - Support menu launches, new concepts and commercial initiatives. - Monitor food quality performance and drive continuous improvement. **Partner with the Business** - Work closely with Operations, Procurement, Supply Chain and F&B teams. - Collaborate with suppliers and manufacturers to ensure quality and specification compliance. - Act as the key food safety expert for the business. - Coach and develop Kitchen Managers and kitchen teams across the Nordics. - Build a strong food safety culture and capability within the organisation. **What We're Looking For** - Professional culinary qualification or equivalent experience. - At least five years' leadership experience in multi-site food service, hospitality, travel retail, catering, restaurant or retail food operations. - Strong expertise in HACCP, food safety management systems and food legislation. - Proven experience leading audits, inspections and compliance programmes. - Experience developing standards, processes and training programmes. - Strong stakeholder management and communication skills. - Fluent English and either Swedish or Finnish. - Ability and willingness to travel regularly within the Nordic region. **It Would Be Great If You Also Have** - Experience from an international or multi-country organisation. - Food safety or quality management certifications. - Experience leading food safety initiatives across multiple countries. - Knowledge of Nordic food authorities and regulatory frameworks. **Why Join Avolta?** This is a unique opportunity to make a visible impact across one of the Nordic region's leading travel food & beverage businesses. You will have the freedom to shape food safety and quality standards, influence culinary development and work closely with colleagues across multiple countries and concepts. You'll join a business that values collaboration, continuous improvement and a passion for delivering exceptional guest experiences. **Practical Information** This is a full-time, permanent position based at either **Helsinki Airport** or **Stockholm Arlanda Airport**. As the role operates within a security-classified airport environment, successful candidates must pass a security clearance and hold a valid work and residence permit in Finland or Sweden. **Interested?** We review applications continuously and encourage you to apply as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing how your expertise can help us elevate food safety, quality assurance and culinary excellence across the Nordics. Please submit your CV and eventual cover letter by 26 October 2026. We review applications on an ongoing basis and may fill the position before the closing date.

This is the employer's own ad. Pay, requirements and the other details on this page are our reading of it, not facts the employer confirmed.

About the role

Summarised by JobCrawls from the job ad above.

Requirements

  • Professional culinary qualification or equivalent experience
  • At least five years of leadership experience in multi-site food or hospitality operations
  • Strong expertise in HACCP, food safety management systems and food legislation
  • Proven experience leading audits, inspections and compliance programmes
  • Experience developing standards, processes and training programmes
  • Strong stakeholder management and communication skills
  • Fluent English and either Swedish or Finnish
  • Ability and willingness to travel regularly within the Nordic region
  • Must pass security clearance
  • Must hold a valid work and residence permit in Finland or Sweden

Responsibilities

  • Lead and continuously develop the Nordic HACCP and food safety framework
  • Drive legal and company-standard compliance across Sweden, Finland and, from 2027, Latvia
  • Lead food safety audits, inspections and corrective actions
  • Govern product specifications, allergen declarations and nutritional information
  • Investigate food safety incidents and implement preventive actions
  • Keep locations audit-ready and meeting hygiene and food safety standards
  • Define culinary standards and own recipe development, costing and product specifications
  • Ensure consistency in food quality, preparation and presentation
  • Support menu launches, new concepts and commercial initiatives
  • Monitor food quality and drive continuous improvement
  • Partner with Operations, Procurement, Supply Chain, F&B teams, suppliers and manufacturers
  • Act as the key food safety expert and coach Kitchen Managers and kitchen teams

Skills & technologies

HACCPFood Safety Management SystemsFood LegislationFood Safety AuditingRegulatory ComplianceRecipe DevelopmentRecipe CostingAllergen DeclarationsNutritional InformationTraining Programme Development

Benefits & perks

Recruitment process

  1. Submit a CV and, if applicable, a cover letter
  2. Applications are reviewed continuously; the role may be filled before the deadline

Your CV vs this job

How well does your CV match this job?

Add your CV once and every job shows which of its skills you have, which are missing and whether you meet the language requirements. Free, no account needed.

Add your CV

No CV yet? Start from a free CV template. Writing the application? Cover letter template and examples.

About HMSHost Finland Oy

Financial overview
€21.3M
Revenue
-€1.9M
Profit
-9.0%
Profit margin
HMSHost Finland Oy logo
HMSHost Finland Oy · 1 open roles
View company
About the employer

HMSHost Finland Oy is recruiting for Avolta’s Nordic food and beverage operations.

Core values
CollaborationContinuous improvementPassion for exceptional guest experiences

Help us improve JobCrawls: sign in to sync saved jobs across devices, or send feedback anytime.