As head cook, I am in the middle (5)
I believe the answer is:
chief
'as head' is the definition.
'chief' can be an answer for 'head' (synonyms). I'm not certain of the 'as' bit.
'cook i am in the middle' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'i' is within the answer.
'cook' could be 'chef' (both can mean someone who cooks) and 'chef' is found within the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for chief that I've seen before include "Gaffer" , "Main" , "Organisation head" , "Ordinary type" , "Tribal head" .)