Placement agencies

Agencies are how most captains and estate managers find their chefs, and at the real ones registration costs the chef nothing. Register with every one that fits where you want to work, and give each application about an hour, because each wants your CV, references, certificates and usually a call before they put you forward.

Yacht crew agencies

Fort Lauderdale

• The Crew Network (Fort Lauderdale, Antibes, Palma, Viareggio). One of the oldest crew agencies in the business, now running under Fraser; applying for posted jobs is free. crewnetwork.com
• Northrop & Johnson Crew Services (Fort Lauderdale, Antibes). Brokerage house crew desk, part of MarineMax, and chefs are on its list of placed positions. northropandjohnson.com
• Luxury Yacht Group (Fort Lauderdale, Antibes). Long-running 17th Street agency that places across every department. luxyachts.com
• Elite Crew International (Fort Lauderdale, Barcelona). Port Everglades-side agency working the bigger, high-profile boats. elitecrewintl.com
• Crewfinders International (Fort Lauderdale). Independent yacht crew agency in Fort Lauderdale. crewfinders.com
• Beverly Grant Crew Solutions (Fort Lauderdale). Thirty years placing yacht crew. bgrantcrewsolutions.com

Antibes and the Med

• Bluewater (Antibes, Palma, Fort Lauderdale). Recruitment and training under one roof; chef jobs go up on the board all season. bluewateryachting.com
• YPI Crew (Antibes, Palma). Antibes institution since 2002 with its own chef department. ypicrew.com
• HRCrew, Hill Robinson (Antibes, Fort Lauderdale). Crew arm of the Hill Robinson management company, seasonal and long-term roles. hrcrew.com
• Crew & Concierge (Antibes, Gosport UK). Port Vauban agency covering all departments, known for careful attention to detail. crewandconcierge.com
• Lighthouse Careers (Antibes). Places yacht chefs and private household chefs, so one profile covers both sides. lighthouse-careers.com
• Amandine (France, UK and US desks). Chef-only agency for yachts and villas; expect a seven-stage application. amandinechefs.com

Palma

• JMS Crew (Palma). Personal-touch agency by Marina Port de Mallorca, experienced crew for high-end boats. jmsyachting.com
• El Crew & Co (Palma). Small boutique agency that works on long-term matches. elcrewco.com
• Mistral Crew (Palma). Seasonal and permanent placements, open to first-season crew. mistralrecruitment.com

Bluewater, YPI and The Crew Network all run Palma desks too.

UK and Europe

• Viking Crew (Dover, Fort Lauderdale). The old Viking Recruitment under a new name, with galley jobs posted regularly. vikingcrew.com
• Quay Crew (Bournemouth). Superyacht arm of Quay Group, matching crew and boats since 2013. quaygroup.com
• Burgess Crew (London, Monaco, New York, Miami, Singapore). In-house crew agency launched in 2024, serving Burgess-managed yachts and outside owners. burgessyachts.com
• Camper & Nicholsons Crew (offices worldwide). Old-line brokerage crew desk with a dedicated chef career track. camperandnicholsons.com
• Recrewt (Ramsgate, UK). Superyacht crew placement agency. recrewt.com

Australia and Asia-Pacific

• AYC Superyacht Recruitment (Western Australia). Australian Yacht Crew, placing on boats in Australia and across Southeast Asia. ayc.com.au

Caribbean

No island-based crew agency to list right now. The Caribbean season is crewed out of the Fort Lauderdale and Antibes desks above, so register there before you fly south.

Online-only boards

• Yotspot (online). The big crew job board: upload a CV, apply direct, and see what agencies post. yotspot.com
• Dockwalk (online). Crew trade magazine with weekly jobs roundups and agency guides for each hub. dockwalk.com
• Meridian (online, Fort Lauderdale). Crew hiring platform that bought the Crew4Yachts CV database; a basic crew account is free. meridiango.com
• Daywork123 (online). Free daywork board for picking up galley days between permanent jobs. daywork123.com

Estate and private household agencies

US East

• Pavillion Agency (New York, plus Boston, Greenwich, the Hamptons, Miami, Philadelphia, DC and others). Household staffing since 1962, with full-time, summer-house and short-term chef placements. pavillionagency.com
• Greenhouse Agency (New York). Family-owned domestic staffing agency covering the Tri-State area and beyond. greenhousestaffing.com
• The Wellington Agency (Palm Beach). Estate staffing for big households, private chef roles included. thewellingtonagency.com
• Society Staffing (multiple US cities). Household staffing agency that places private chefs, including in Boston. societystaffing.com
• Harper Associates (Birmingham, Michigan). Michigan recruiter that fills private family chef jobs, some paying well into six figures. harperjobs.com
• Mahler Private Staffing (New York, Miami, Palo Alto). Private household agency that runs chef, butler, house manager and PA searches for private households. mahlerprivatestaffing.com
• MoniCare (Chicago). Household and estate staffing agency in Chicago since 2003, with private chef placements on its estate side. monicare.com
• Starboard Staffing & Estate Services (Philadelphia). The former Hire Society, placing private chefs and family assistants. hiresociety.com
• The Hazel Agency (Atlanta). Household staffing agency for Atlanta-area families. thehazelagency.com

US West

• Private Chefs Inc. (Beverly Hills). Chef-only agency since 1995, placing private chefs with estates across the US. privatechefsinc.com
• Career Group Companies (Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Dallas, Greenwich). Large private-service desk that places personal chefs and sous chefs. careergroupcompanies.com
• The Help Company (Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York). Estate staffing agency that places chefs alongside house managers and assistants. thehelpcompany.com
• Colonial Agency (Beverly Hills). Household staffing agency placing private chefs, nannies, housekeepers and estate managers. colonialdomestics.com

UK and Europe

• Hutchinsons Domestic Staff (London, with partner consultants in the South of France, Atlanta and Cape Town). Thirty-five-plus years placing estate staff from house managers to chefs. hutchinsons-staff.com
• Exclusive Household Staff (London and UK regions). Household agency with its own private chef jobs section. exclusivehouseholdstaff.com
• Tiger Recruitment (London, New York, Miami, Dubai, Zurich). Household and yacht desks under one firm; they place yacht chefs too. tiger-recruitment.com

International

• EstateJobs (online). Private-service job board run by an agency, free for candidates, with private chef jobs in the US and abroad. estatejobs.com
• Elite Domo (Vancouver, Montreal). Canadian household staffing agency; ask them about chef roles directly. elitedomo.com
• Absolutely Fabulous Domestics (offices listed on their site). Household staffing agency; ask about chef roles when you register. absolutelyfabulousdomestics.com

Gone or merged since 2016

• Crew Unlimited (Fort Lauderdale): merged into Bluewater, now Bluewater USA on 17th Street Causeway.
• Peter Insull's crew agency (Antibes): suspended its crew placement desk in 2017, with no sign it has reopened.
• Viking Recruitment: renamed Viking Crew, at vikingcrew.com.
• Amandine Cuisine: same chef agency, now at amandinechefs.com.
• Dovaston Crew (Palma, Antibes): site gone, no new address found.
• Döhle Yacht Crew (Isle of Man): site gone, no new address found.
• Super Yacht Crew: site gone.
• SuperyachtJobs.com: site gone.
• Ship to Shore Global: site gone.
• SPORTAble Crew: site gone.
• KGCH Yacht Recruitment: site gone.
• Select Yacht Crew: site gone.
• Crewfiles: site gone.
• Yachtloop: site gone.
• JF Recruiting: site gone.
• Hampton Domestics: site gone.
• RWP Solutions: site gone.
• Lacasse Maritime (Fort Lauderdale): merged with Small Planet Adventures in 2015; the crew placement page is gone.
• Van Allen Group: the domain now belongs to a Chicago holding company.
• MTS Yachts: yacht management and refit only, no crew desk.
• Crew4Crew: the site now forwards to Meridian, listed above.
• The Wellington Company: the domain is now a real estate site. The Wellington Agency in Palm Beach is a separate firm.
• MBF Household Staffing: now forwards to Mom's Best Friend, a nanny-only agency.
• My Staffing Solutions: domain parked and for sale.
• Regal Domestics: domain parked and for sale.

Still online, no recent activity found

These sites still load, but nothing dated from 2024 on turned up. Look them up yourself before you spend an hour on an application.

• Yacht: Cosmo Crew, Yacht Crew Register, Fox Crew Placement, Neptune Crew, PBY International, Yacht and Villa Jobs
• Estate: The Lindquist Group, Quintessentially People, Distinguished Domestics, ISA Staffing, Talent Private Staff, LJW Recruitment, Domestic Placement Group, Locke Domestic

Before you register

• Build your CV in the industry format: one page, two at most, headshot in the top corner, nationality, visas, certificates (STCW, ENG1, Ship's Cook if you have it), then boats or houses with size, guest count, charter or private, and dates. References with working phone numbers.
• One photo, in a clean chef coat, plain background, looking at the camera. No sunglasses, no plated food as your headshot.
• Register with all of them. Each recruiter only works their own book, so a chef who is on one agency's list is invisible to the next.
• Keep your availability current. Update your profile or email your recruiter every couple of weeks while you're looking; a stale profile drops off the search.
• An agency that charges the crew a placement fee is not a real agency. The boat or the family pays the fee, never the chef.
• Say up front which passport and visas you hold: US B1/B2 for foreign-flagged boats in US waters, EU right to work for the Med, US work authorization for estates. It decides which jobs they can send you.