Catering Manager

Academics Ltd; West Kirby; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

Academics Ltd seeks an experienced Catering Manager to lead in-house catering operations for a secondary school in Liverpool. You will oversee service across multiple dining facilities, drive income and staff performance, and ensure high standards of food quality and safety.

The role focuses on healthy eating compliance, back-office excellence, and smooth daily operations, with a term-time plus 3 weeks contract and 37 hours per week. DBS check required or in Update Service.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading a school or institutional kitchen or large-scale catering.
• Strong IT literacy and ability to manage digital cashless sales and stock systems.
• In-depth knowledge of healthy eating standards and school nutrition guidelines.
• Excellent interpersonal and team leadership skills with collaboration across teams.
• Eligibility for DBS check on the Update Service or willingness to undergo.

Responsibilities

• Lead catering teams across multiple dining facilities with focus on service quality.
• Drive income generation, meet sales targets, and mentor staff performance.
• Maintain high food quality and smooth service for staff and pupils.
• Oversee back-office tasks and digital systems for inventory and ordering.

Skills

Catering management

IT literacy

Nutrition standards

Leadership

Compliance checks

Job description

Catering Manager - Secondary School - Liverpool

Academics, a leading education recruitment agency, is seeking an experienced, proactive, and commercially minded Catering Manager to oversee the complete in-house catering operations for a secondary school environment in Liverpool.

This is a Term Time + 3 Weeks contract (37 hours per week), offering an ideal schedule for an experienced catering leader looking for work-life balance while driving high standards of food quality, team performance, and modern back-office systems management.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational & Financial Leadership: Manage the catering team across multiple school-based dining facilities, ensuring efficient daily service, maximizing generated income, meeting target sales, and mentoring staff to reach their full potential.
• Service Standards & Quality: Oversee and continually develop the in-house catering provision to deliver exceptional food quality, high customer satisfaction, and smooth service delivery for both staff and pupils.
• Healthy Eating Champion: Drive the school's Healthy Eating Policy and nutritional standards in alignment with the Healthy School Programme and Food Technology curriculum, serving as the central point of advice across the school community (including primary cluster links).
• Back-Office & Cashless Systems Management: Utilize digital systems to oversee inventory, back-office administration, and the school's electronic cashless payment/ordering systems (specific software training provided, though general back-office tech literacy is required).

Key Requirements

• Catering Management Experience: Proven experience leading a commercial or institutional kitchen/catering team (school, college, or large-scale food service experience is highly desirable).
• Technical & Administrative Skills: Strong IT literacy and back-office administrative competency to manage digital cashless sales, stock management, and electronic ordering systems.
• Nutritional Knowledge: In-depth understanding of healthy eating standards, meal balance, food safety, and compliance with national school food standards.
• Leadership & Communication: Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to lead, train, and inspire kitchen staff while working collaboratively with school leadership.
• Compliance: Enhanced DBS check on the Update Service (or readiness to undergo an immediate background check).

If you are a passionate catering professional ready to lead high-quality food operations in a dynamic educational environment across Liverpool, we want to hear from you.

Academics is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All appointments are subject to enhanced background and reference checks.

Salary will be determined by the successful candidate's qualifications and relevant experience, and will be in accordance with the client's pay policy