Ramen Chef Job Description Template for Ramen Shops

A ramen shop runs on a small menu and a long prep day. The job ad has to say that plainly, because the people you want care less about the brand than about three things: who owns the broth, how many bowls go out at peak, and what time the shift starts.

This page gives you a ramen chef job description you can copy and edit, plus two variations. If you are still deciding what kind of ramen cook you need, or how to test one, start with our guide to hiring a ramen chef and come back here to write the ad.

1. Decide which ramen job you are filling

"Ramen chef" covers at least three different jobs. Pick one before you write, because the requirements and the pay line change with it.

Most single shops need a broth lead and one or two line cooks. Groups opening a second or third location usually need the third role, and should write it as a management job, not a cooking job.

2. Ramen chef job description template

Job title

Ramen Chef, [Restaurant name], [City]

About the shop

[Restaurant name] is a [seat count]-seat ramen shop in [neighbourhood]. We serve [style: tonkotsu / shoyu / shio / miso / tsukemen] and sell around [x] bowls on a weekday and [x] on a weekend day. Noodles are [made in house on a (machine) / supplied by (supplier)]. The kitchen team is [x] people.

The role

You will run [the noodle and assembly station / the broth kitchen / the whole kitchen] and report to [title]. This is a hands-on role. You will cook every service.

What you will own

• Preparing [style] broth to our recipe: [x] batches a week, [x] hours per batch
• Tare, aroma oil and seasoning consistency, checked at the start of every service
• Cooking noodles to spec at peak volume (our peak is about [x] bowls an hour)
• Chashu, ajitama and topping prep to daily par levels
• Cooling, labelling and storing broth to our food safety plan, and keeping the records
• Ordering [bones / produce / dry goods] and managing waste
• Training [x] junior cooks on the station

What we are looking for

• [x] years cooking in a ramen shop, including [x] years responsible for broth
• Comfortable with a long prep day and a fast service
• [Noodle making experience, if you make noodles in house]
• [Language: state the real requirement, for example "enough English to work with a local team"]
• [Local food handler certificate, or willingness to obtain one within x weeks]

Hours

[x] hours a week over [x] days. Prep starts at [time]; service runs [times]. [x] days off per week, usually [days]. [How overtime is paid.]

Pay and benefits

[Currency][range] per [year / hour], depending on experience. [Tips or service charge share.] [Meals on shift, uniforms, paid leave, health insurance: list only what you really give.]

Visa and relocation

[Choose one] "We sponsor a work visa for this role and cover [items]." or "Applicants must already have the right to work in [country]."

How to apply

Send [a CV and photos or video of bowls you have made] to [contact]. We reply to every applicant within [x] days. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to [cook a trial / talk us through their broth process on a video call].

3. The numbers to fill in before you publish

Four figures do more work in a ramen ad than any adjective. Find them before you post.

• Bowls per hour at peak. This is how a ramen cook judges whether the station is sane. Count it from your till data on a busy night.
• Broth batches and hours. A shop running one 12-hour pork bone batch a day is a different job from one running three lighter stocks.
• Start time. If prep starts at 7am, say so. Candidates who hate early starts will self-select out, which saves you a hire that fails in month two.
• Seats and turn time. A 20-seat counter with 15-minute turns and a 60-seat dining room are very different services.

If you cannot yet give a number (a new opening, for example), give the plan: "We expect around [x] bowls a day in the first three months."

4. Two variations: broth lead and shop manager

Broth lead

Keep the template and change three things. Put recipe ownership first in "What you will own". State who decides recipe changes (the owner, the head chef, or the broth lead with sign-off). Add a line about consistency checks: how often the broth is tasted, measured or logged, and by whom.

Shop manager or head chef

Here the job is the shop, not the pot. Add:

• Food cost target and who sets it
• Team size, rota responsibility and hiring authority
• Opening and closing, cash handling, supplier accounts
• Training local staff so the recipe survives when this person is off

For a fuller head chef template see head chef job description for a Japanese restaurant, and for multi-site roles hiring a kitchen manager for a Japanese chain.

5. Writing the pay line

Publish a range. In the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median wage for restaurant cooks at $17.98 an hour and for chefs and head cooks at $62,470 a year (May 2025). A line cook ad sits near the first figure, adjusted for your city; a broth lead or shop head sits closer to the second. BLS also notes that chefs and head cooks often work early mornings, late evenings, weekends and holidays, which is exactly the pattern a ramen shop runs, so be honest about it in the hours section.

Outside the US, use your own national or city wage data rather than converting US figures. Our salary benchmarks by country collect the official sources we have checked.

6. Posting the ad to chefs in Japan

Ramen cooks in Japan are a real hiring pool, but a translated English ad will not reach them well. Write a Japanese version, and:

• Give pay as a monthly and annual figure, not an hourly rate.
• State days off exactly. Japanese readers distinguish between a fixed two days off every week and "two days off in some weeks".
• Use the kitchen words they use: スープ, タレ, 香味油, 自家製麺, 仕込み.
• Answer the visa question in the first lines.

Our guide to writing a job ad for chefs in Japan covers the wording in detail, and visa sponsorship for Japanese chefs covers whether you can sponsor at all.

7. Pre-publish checklist

• Is the ramen style named, and is it clear who owns the broth recipe?
• Is there a bowls-per-hour figure or a daily bowl estimate?
• Is the prep start time stated?
• Is there a pay range with currency and period?
• Is the visa position stated either way?
• Have you said what the trial or skills check will involve? (See skills tests for remote hiring.)

General information, not legal or immigration advice. Employment law, advertising rules and visa conditions differ by country and change over time; check the current rules where you hire before publishing.