Chef Manager – Cobham, England

Holroyd Howe; Cobham; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious catering company is seeking a Chef Manager for an independent school in Cobham, England. This position requires a detail-oriented individual with experience in managing kitchen teams and creating innovative menus. Candidates must exhibit strong leadership skills and a passion for nutrition and sustainability. The role offers a salary up to £40,000 and various employee benefits, including generous holiday allowances and professional development opportunities.

Benefits

28 Days holiday including bank holidays

Bespoke training and development opportunities

Pension and life insurance

Free meals whilst at work

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Chef Manager in a high-volume environment.
• Experience in managing, training, and supporting a team.
• Ability to create and maintain budgets.

Responsibilities

• Lead a dynamic kitchen team to create a strong work relationship.
• Develop well-balanced and nutritious menus.
• Recruit and train catering staff.
• Ensure compliance with food safety regulations.

Skills

Excellent coaching skills

Financially astute

Organisational skills

Attention to detail

Effective communication

Ability to multitask

Job description

Chef Manager – Cobham, England

Company Description

Title: Chef Manager (Monday – Friday, term-time only)

Location: The Manor, Stoke D’Abernon, Cobham KT11 3PX

Salary: Up to £40,000 per annum

Benefits:

• 28Days holiday including bank holidays
• All major holiday periods off
• 3 volunteering days
• 3 days grandparent leave
• 24 week’s enhanced maternity leave
• Bespoke training and development opportunities
• Pension and life insurance
• Discounts available on our Perkbox app; high street shops, holidays & cinema
• Wellbeing hub
• Access to employee assistance programme
• Free meals whilst at work
• Career development opportunities
• HIT Apprenticeships for all experience levels

We are seeking a talented Chef Manager with a passion for exceptional food and catering services to join our team at a highly esteemed independent school.

If you thrive on creating delicious, nutritious dining experiences that inspire young minds and delight taste buds, this is the perfect opportunity to showcase your skills and make a real impact.

This role offers the chance to lead a dynamic kitchen team, shape innovative menus, and set new standards in education catering. It’s an incredible opportunity for a dedicated professional to build their reputation in the food service industry while delivering outstanding culinary experiences.

Job Description

As a Chef Manager your focus is to work closely with your teams to develop a great work relationship and together to provide the best customer service.

As well as having an excellent presentation, organisational and communication skills, you will be able to demonstrate a real passion for food & service and possess bags of enthusiasm.

• Collaborate with the back of house team to help develop well-balanced and nutritious menus that cater to diverse dietary requirements and preferences.
• Prepare and manage the catering budget, ensuring cost-effective operations while maintaining quality standards.
• Establish strong relationships with school Bursars, Head Teachers and faculty.
• Recruit, train, supervise and motivate catering staff.
• Ensure compliance with food safety regulations, hygiene standards, and quality control protocols.
• Identify opportunities for growth, innovation and improvement in menu offerings, service delivery and operational efficiency.
• Maintain strict adherence to health and safety regulations, ensuring a clean and organised kitchen environment.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Chef Manager in a high-volume, quality-focused environment.
• You can demonstrate that managing, training, and supporting a team has been an important part of your career to date.
• Financially astute, you are very analytical and know how to create and maintain budgets and drive commercial performance.
• Excellent coaching, delegation and influencing skills.
• Ability to prioritise multiple projects in a fast-paced, multi-faceted, creative environment and able to thrive under pressure.
• Ability to multitask, prioritise responsibilities, and adapt to changing circumstances in a fast-paced environment.
• Meticulous organisational abilities and a high attention to detail
• Empathetic, clear and highly effective verbal and written communication
• Ability to adapt to challenges and opportunities with a solution-oriented perspective.
• Excellent strategic thinking and critical reasoning skills

Additional Information

Holroyd Howe is one of the UK’s leading contract caterers, providing fresh innovative food services solely to independent schools and colleges. We are a team of experienced professionals who tailor our catering service provision specifically to suit children of all ages in order to meet the bespoke requirements of each school.

To provide our teams with the right skills to succeed in their jobs, we invest in their training and development. Our exceptional teams of seasoned specialists customise our catering services to fit children of all ages and satisfy the unique needs of our clients.

We pride ourselves on:

Sustainability

Sustainability is at the heart of our thinking; always mindful of the ethics of our sourcing and how we prepare our meals.

Nutrition

We take nutrition seriously and understand the impact a healthy diet has on the fundamental years of development. Meals are always freshly prepared from scratch and packed with nutritious ingredients.

Food Innovation

We offer a wide portfolio of training opportunities and experiences, which attracts chefs who are passionate about culinary excellence and menu innovation to our team.

From tasting tables, theme days and food theatre, to chef demonstrations and supplier showcases, we create engaging and fun dining experiences for our students. We work together to make mealtimes exploratory, quirky, and fun for our pupils, helping them build strong and healthy relationships with food.

“Holroyd Howe is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all employees to share this commitment. All roles within Holroyd Howe are regarded as regulated activity, it is an offence to apply for a role in regulated activity if you are barred from working with children, therefore we will require an Enhanced DBS which includes a Barred List check for all successful applicants. We will also require shortlisted applicants to provide appropriate information regarding any criminal offences and shortlisted applicants will be subject to an online search of public available information on suitability to work with children.“

This appointment is offered on the return of satisfactory professional references.

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