Chef Manager

Surrey County Council; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Part time

Job summary

A local government organization in Greater London seeks a Chef Manager to inspire a team in creating nutritious meals for school children. The role includes managing kitchen operations, ordering supplies, and promoting customer service. Candidates should have relevant cooking qualifications and experience supervising kitchen staff. The position offers a competitive salary of £14,279 per annum for 25 hours per week during term time only.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Final salary pension

Discounts on various services

Health and wellbeing support

Training and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Significant experience catering for large groups in a management role.
• Strong understanding of health and safety in a kitchen environment.
• IT and administrative skills.

Responsibilities

• Inspire a team to produce an outstanding menu using fresh ingredients.
• Record meal transactions and control stock for the kitchen.
• Provide nutritious meals for school children.

Skills

Passion for cooking

Health and Safety Certificate Level 1

Level 2 Food Safety Certificate

NVQ Level 2 in food preparation

Excellent communication skills

Experience supervising staff

Experience using catering equipment

Excellent time keeping

Education

NVQ Level 2 in food preparation and cooking

Job description

This role is based at Horsell Junior School. Though you will only work during term time, you will be paid a salary every month including school holidays.

This role has a starting salary of 14,279.00 per annum for working 25 hours per week, 38.4 weeks per year (equivalent to 12.93 per hour, plus annual leave allowance).

Rewards and Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Final salary pension
• Discounts on various services including food shopping
• Health and wellbeing support
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Full induction
• Term time only hours that allow for good work/life balance
• Training and development opportunities, including a Level 3 Food Hygiene Qualification

About the Role

Using your passion, creativity and enthusiasm, you will inspire a team to produce an outstanding menu using fresh ingredients. In addition to using your flair and passion to create great dishes, you will record meal transactions, control and administer stock, order food and sundry supplies, and take responsibility for the day to day running of a smooth kitchen. Your main goal will be to provide school children with tasty, nutritious meals that help them develop healthy bodies and minds.

Customer service is at the front and centre of the Twelve15 Vision and Mission. You will be a fantastic communicator with an ability to work with our school clients and our customers to promote the benefits of the service we offer.

The key skills we are looking for in our new chef manager are as follows:

• A passion and skill for cooking with an ability to deliver high levels of meals in a food production environment
• Health and Safety Certificate Level 1, and proven understanding of health and safety in a kitchen environment
• Level 2 Food Safety Certificate
• NVQ Level 2 in food preparation and cooking or equivalent
• IT and administrative skills
• Excellent communication skills (including teamwork, leadership, and customer service)
• Experience supervising staff and managing a kitchen
• Experience using catering equipment and the ability to train others
• Excellent time keeping and flexibility around locations.

We'd also love to hear about any other relevant skills, interests, or knowledge that you could bring to the table. Perhaps you have detailed knowledge about allergies, or a particular interest in nutrition. Additionally, if you don't hold these qualifications but have a significant amount of experience catering for large groups of people in a management role, please don't hesitate in applying!

Shortlisting

In order for you to be considered for shortlisting, your CV and answers to the following questions will clearly evidence the knowledge, skills and qualifications listed above. The questions are:

• Why do you think eating healthily is so important for children and what is the impact of a healthy school meal for children?
• Please tell us about your experience of working in a kitchen, including the part you played in the production of food.
• What experience do you have supervising / managing staff responsible for producing large quantities of food?
• Please list any skills and qualifications you have that are relevant to this role.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 31/08/2025 with interviews to follow.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

Local Government Reorganisation

Surrey County Council is preparing for Local Government Reorganisation which will allow us to implement the Government led policy of devolution, which is all about giving more powers to local areas.

Currently, Surrey has a two-tier council system, with 11 district and borough councils and a county council, all responsible for different services. All these councils will be reorganised into a smaller number of new unitary councils which will come into effect in April 2027. At this point, this role will be transferred, with all existing terms and conditions intact into one of the new unitary councils.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applicants where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.