Head of Kitchen - St Deny’s Primary

City Catering are a Charity, that provide great quality, nutritious meals to Primary and Secondary School Children throughout Southampton.

We are looking for an experienced & enthusiastic Head of Kitchen/Catering Unit Manager, who understands our charitable mission and can lead our kitchen team in delivering an amazing catering service to the children and the school.

You’ll be leading the team, encouraging and motivating them through their development and of course, you’ll be delivering excellent customer service to the Schools and the Children.

This role is a very busy one, juggling a lot of tasks and you’ll be on your feet a lot! But it is also an incredibly rewarding role for the right candidate!

Joining our Charity really is an experience. As a forward thinking employer, our focus is on you, ensuring you have the right tools to deliver excellence on a daily basis.

Our hourly rates are highly competitive, we offer a great pension contribution and we also offer Life Assurance to all our colleagues.

Our roles offer great flexibility around school hours, term time holidays and family life.

We also offer a generous refer a friend scheme, sick pay upon completing your probation, paid DBS checks and funded training courses.

Job Details:

The role is a permanent term time Monday to Friday role, covering 27.5 hours per week (term time only) and is subject to the applicant's eligibility to work in the UK and a successful DBS clearance.

Hourly Rate: £12.34 per hour

(Term Time Only) Weekly Hours: 27.5Hrs Per Week

Working Hours: Monday to Friday 8.00am-1.30pm

What Will You Be Doing as a Unit Manager?

Planning, preparing & cooking great food with exceptional presentation.

Ensuring our allergen and special diet menus are followed to the letter and making sure your team are aware and familiar with all children who have an allergy and the process involved.

Being creatively engaging with the children, the school and the parents. This is so important to us!

Be prepared to go that extra mile with catering for school events, like Parents Evenings.

Setting an example to the teams your working with, minimising waste and controlling ingredients and resources to keep the unit running on a set cost per meal.

Managing all aspects of Health & Safety, environment and quality assurance.

Be technically savvy, we use tablets and a lot of technology in our kitchens for temp controls, cleaning checks and routines, timesheets and meal numbers.

Build and maintain positive and professional relationships, demonstrating constructive and engaging management skills for your teams, including managing the odd moment of conflict in the busy kitchen.

What Do You Need To Have?

Experience of managing a kitchen, preferably in a school environment.

Knowledge of food preparation and cooking including methods, portions, cost control, stock rotation and ordering.

Experience with leading, motivating and training colleagues.

A knowledge of common food allergens and special diets.

A knowledge of food safety/kitchen hygiene and HACCP. An NVQ/Level 3 qualification in Food Safety Hygiene (or equivalent) would be advantageous.

Numeracy, budgetary skills and literacy in using IT.

Absolute and unquestionable commitment to the Safeguarding of the schools children. (This position is subject to a successful DBS clearance, the cost of which is covered by the Charity).

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to undergo an enhanced DBS check, the cost of which is covered by the Charity.

As an equal opportunities employer, our Charity is committed to providing a welcoming and positive culture of working relationships, in which all colleagues are treated with dignity and respect. Our Charity is equally committed to providing diversity and equality to all, irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital status, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion/belief, gender and sexual orientation.

Job Type: Part-time, Permanent

Salary: £12.34 per hour

Expected hours: 27.5 per week

Licence/Certification:

• Level 3 Food Hygiene Certificate? (preferred)

• Driving Licence (preferred)

Experience:

• Managing a Kitchen: 1 year (preferred)

Benefits:

• Life insurance

• Friend referral programme

• On-site parking

Schedule:

• Day shift

• Monday to Friday

• No weekends