Chef Manager - Wickford

Pabulum; Wickford; On-site; GBP 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading catering company in Wickford is seeking a Chef Manager to oversee kitchen operations and deliver exceptional food experiences. The ideal candidate should be passionate about food, possess strong supervisory skills, and excel in budgeting and cost control. This role offers a £27,000 annual salary, a Monday to Friday schedule, and numerous benefits that promote a work-life balance. Joining our professional team means contributing to a growing business committed to quality and community-focused food service.

Benefits

Holiday pay

NEST pension scheme

Employee assistance programme

Consistent training and development

Discount membership

Qualifications

• Passionate about food and delivering a great customer service.
• Fantastic communication and team skills with supervisory experience.
• Understanding of budgeting and cost control in the kitchen.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and deliver delicious food to children.
• Manage kitchen operations, including health and safety.
• Develop strong relationships with clients and team members.

Skills

Customer service

Supervisory skills

Budgeting and cost control

Culinary arts experience

Job description

Chef Manager - Wickford

Pabulum Catering are now recruiting for a Chef Manager to help us deliver exceptional food experiences to our children at Runwell Community Primary School.

As a Chef Manager, you will be working in a passionate and hard‑working team to create an outstanding experience for our school.

In return we offer an excellent work‑life balance, support and a fantastic company culture for a business committed to providing healthy food to children. At Pabulum, you’re important—without our employees we wouldn’t be where we are today with such a strong, innovative, and constantly growing business.

With over 120 sites across Southern England there’s plenty of opportunity for you to grow, learn and develop.

Key Responsibilities

• Preparing our delicious food.
• Managing the main aspects of the kitchens, including Health & Safety, Training & Development, and keeping the Unit Bookwork up to date.
• Receiving and managing food deliveries and managing storage.
• Developing great working relationships with clients, team members and customers to ensure the catering contract we are part of is always growing in the right direction.

Ideal Candidate

• Passionate about food and great customer service.
• A fantastic communicator who works well as part of a team; excellent supervisory skills are a must.
• Financially astute, with a keen understanding of budgeting and cost control.
• Background or experience in the culinary arts that matches our standards.

Role Details & Benefits

• £27,000 per annum.
• 35 hours a week, Monday to Friday.
• Excellent work/life balance due to a term‑time only contract.
• Holiday pay.
• NEST pension scheme.
• Comprehensive Employee Assist Programme.
• Consistent training and development.
• Unlock discount membership.

Three Ingredients

• The food – 94% of our food is freshly prepared on site daily, using 75% British produce and little or no frozen or processed foods.
• The people – Happy customers always come back for more, so we expect you to ensure they have an excellent customer experience.
• And you – We are recruiting for a Chef Manager to join our positive and professional team.

As you will be working in Education, you must provide two employment/character references and we’ll also carry out an Enhanced DBS/Criminal Record Check, which we’ll pay for.

Interested in becoming part of the Pabulum family?

Please apply online via the advert.

Equal Opportunity

CH&CO, a part of Compass Group UK&I, is committed to fostering an environment where every individual can truly be themselves at work and has equal opportunities to advance in their careers. We strive to build a culture that respects and celebrates the unique talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and abilities of all our team members. We want our colleagues to feel valued, empowered to reach their full potential, and to thrive—because diversity is our strength!