Chef

Background

UN City Copenhagen comprises two campuses with a total of 2,000 employees. Campus 1 opened in 2013 and houses 1,700 employees from 108 different countries working in 11 different agencies. Campus 2 is home to UNICEF Supply Division with 400 employees and is the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world.

The 11 UN agencies resident in UN City vary in size and mandate. They do, however, share a common agenda: to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Prior to the construction of Campus 1, several agencies were located in different parts of Copenhagen. Gathering the organizations in the same building facilitates and enhances cross-organizational cooperation.

UN City has become a hub where agencies can collaborate, share knowledge and work with experts from different fields and sectors.

Job Purpose and Organizational Context

UN City kitchen, located on Campus 1 and guided by the Food and Beverage Manager, is dedicated to delivering a sustainable culinary experience, throughout the in-house canteen, café, and catering services. Assisting in this role, the Kitchen Operations and Sustainability Manager supervise the Kitchen team, with the support of two Sous Chefs.

The kitchen team comprises a total of 7 chefs, 2 kitchen assistants and 3 dishwashers, and it is internally divided in three outlets: Canteen, Catering and Café. Our aim is to spearhead a transformative culinary journey that necessitates effective communication, diligent monitoring and reporting, and robust engagement with both our staff and visitors. In the canteen, we offer a daily menu of two different main dishes, one side-dish and a salad-bar (for an average of 500 people per day), with special consideration for organic, seasonal, and regional produce; personally plated/served by our chefs.

We are in search of an experienced, adept, and well-informed chef for our kitchen team. We seek an individual who is passionate about working with side stream products and circular solutions, a true team player with high quality standards, capable of infusing positive energy into the group and possessing a strong sense of discipline when it comes to kitchen operations. We value someone who can introduce creative and innovative flavors, exhibits high motivation, and passion for food preparation and service. Everything is embraced by a strong sustainable approach.

Together with a dynamic, exciting, and international work environment, we offer:

A five-day working week (Monday to Friday) of 40 hours per week (½ hour lunch break not included), mainly between 7:00-15:30, with occasional evening shifts required to meet business needs.
Full-time contract with a competitive tax-free salary,
6 weeks holiday per year + 10 days UN holiday
Health insurance

Duties and Responsibilities

Co-work with the team on efficient and lean kitchen operation under the direct supervision of the Sous Chef.
Implement new recipes with sustainable approach where up cycling and circular food systems play main role, prioritizing seasonal, organic, and local ingredients.
Support the team on purchase optimization and assist with ordering ingredients.
Daily produce and serve delicious and responsible food for constant culinary development.
Follow the sustainability principles defined by the concept.
Support the management team by keeping detailed records and minimizing waste and working with existing systems to improve food waste/loss reduction.
Work on social dinner events with guests from different UN agencies.
Flexibility to work evenings on social dinner events.
Be a team player making sure to deliver the best possible outcome.
Be open to communicate and focus on customers’ needs.
Be a problem solver.
Support kitchen management team on the agenda of being as sustainable as possible.
Maintain a clean and efficient kitchen.
Train, delegate to and lead kitchen assistants.

Institutional Arrangement

Competencies

Core:

Achieve Results: LEVEL 1: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline.

Think Innovatively: LEVEL 1: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements.

Learn Continuously: LEVEL 1: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback.

Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 1: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible.

Act with Determination: LEVEL 1: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident.

Engage and Partner: LEVEL 1: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships.

Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 1: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination.

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies

Business Management: Communication

Ability to communicate in a clear, concise, and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.

UN Policy Ethics: UN policy knowledge -ethics

Knowledge and understanding of the UN staff regulations and rules and other policies relating to ethics and integrity.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: High School certificate (mandatory).

Experience: Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in restaurant/commercial kitchens.

Experience from large-scale kitchen operations would be an asset.

Required skills:

Culinary skills from restaurants, canteens, and hotels.
Be interested in sustainability and responsible cooking.
Baking and patisserie skills are considered an asset.
Teamwork and good communication skills.
Experience in culinary development.
Excellent knowledge of daily kitchen operations tasks (Mep, menu creation, cleaning procedures, ordering, stock control, etc.)
Attention to detail with a positive and self-motivated attitude.
Excellent time management and the ability to prioritize tasks.
High cleaning and hygiene standards.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section.

Demonstrate commitment to UN’s mission, vision, and values.
Display cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Demonstrate/ safeguard ethics and integrity.

Required Language(s) (at working level): Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English.

Starting Date: 01^st January 2026