Assistant Head Chef

St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Tooting; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an Assistant Head Chef to lead patient and staff catering within a busy hospital kitchen in Tooting. You will ensure meals meet NHS standards, portion control, and safety compliance while maintaining a patient-focused service.

Responsibilities include overseeing food production, stock rotation, and adherence to hygiene regulations, with opportunities for development and collaboration with the catering team.

Qualifications

• Experience in a professional kitchen environment.
• Experience with safety data information in line with legislation.
• Experience in healthcare or retail restaurant environment.
• Demonstrated customer service experience.
• Experience with cash handling and till use.

Responsibilities

• Adhere to NHS National standards for healthcare food and drink 2022.
• Prepare and deliver meals with appropriate portions and service.
• Oversee production for a range of customers and maintain food safety standards.
• Assist monitoring stock levels and ensure correct stock rotation.
• Record, monitor and report to Line Manager to maintain high standards.

Skills

Kitchen experience

Food safety knowledge

Customer service

Cash handling

Education

Basic Food Hygiene Level 3

C&G 7061 & 7062

Basic Food Hygiene Level 4+

Job description

St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Assistant Head Chef

The closing date is 11 November 2026

Do you want to have a direct impact on improving peoples wellbeing?

A fantastic opportunity has become available to join a dedicated and passionate team that takes pride in the production and service of high quality, freshly made, nutritious and well-presented range of food to meet the needs of our patients, staff and visitors in a safe and well managed environment.

Main duties of the job

To adhere to the NHS National standards for healthcare food and drink 2022.To prepare and ensure meals are delivered and served appropriately, including relevant portion size. To oversee the production of food to a range of customers and to ensure the food safety standards are adhered to. To assist monitoring stock levels, ensure appropriate rotation of stock. Contribute to a positive attitude towards learning opportunities within the company. To record and monitor, and if required, take action to ensure that high standards are maintained, (complying with Health and Safety and Food Handling and Hygiene Regulations) and feedback to your Line Manager

About us

With nearly9,000 dedicated staff caring for patients around the clock, they are the largest healthcare provider in southwest London.Their main site, St George's Hospital in Tooting - one of the country's principal teaching hospitals - is shared with St George's, University of London, which trains medical students and carries out advanced medical research. St George's Hospital also hosts the St George's, University of London and Kingston University Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, which is responsible for training a wide range of healthcare professionals from across the region.As well as acute hospital services, they provide a wide variety of specialist care and a full range of community services to patients of all ages following integration with Community Services Wandsworth in 2010.St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust serves a population of 1.3 million across southwest London. A large number of services, such as cardiothoracic medicine and surgery, neurosciences and renal transplantation, also cover significant populations from Surrey and Sussex, totalling around 3.5 million people.The trust also provides care for patients from a larger catchment area in southeast England, for specialties such as complex pelvic trauma. Other services treat patients from all over the country, such as family HIV care and bone marrow transplantation for non-cancer diseases. The trust also provides a nationwide state-of-the-art endoscopy training centre.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of working in a professional kitchen environment
• Experience of completing safety data information in line with legislation.
• Experience of working in a healthcare or retail restaurant environment
• Can demonstrate experience of customer service
• Experiencing of cash handling and using a till.

Qualifications and Training

• Basic Food Hygiene Certificate Level 3
• C & G 706 1 & 2 ,NVQ or experience equivalent
• Basic Food Hygiene Certificate Level 4 or higher

Skills

• Clear understanding of HACCP
• Good understanding of Food preparation and cooking techniques
• Ability to work under pressure
• Organisational skills

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer name

St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust