Development Chef - Education & Commercial Catering

Nottingham City Council; East Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

Nottingham City Council is seeking an experienced Development Chef to lead the development and continuous improvement of our education and commercial catering across school meals and other sites.

You will drive nutritious, seasonal menus, ensure compliance with nutritional standards, support income generation and lead audits, training and quality assurance across catering operations in Nottingham.

Qualifications

• Strong culinary and menu development skills.
• Experience of working within multi-site catering operations, ideally within education or large-scale catering.
• Sound knowledge of food hygiene regulations, food safety legislation and allergen management.
• Experience of undertaking audits and implementing service improvements.
• Ability to develop and deliver training and professional development to catering teams.
• Strong communication and influencing skills for relationships with schools and stakeholders.
• Commercial awareness with menu costing and budget management.
• Ability to analyse data and drive continuous improvement across catering operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development, implementation and continuous improvement of education and commercial catering offer across Nottingham.
• Drive menu innovation and enhance customer satisfaction, supporting income generation.
• Ensure services remain compliant, sustainable and commercially successful across multiple sites.
• Provide professional leadership on food safety, training, quality assurance and audits.

Skills

Culinary skills

Menu development

Food safety knowledge

Auditing experience

Training & mentoring

Communication

Commercial awareness

Data analysis

Job description

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Hours: 37 hours per week. (Between the times of 6am and 6pm.)

Worker Type: Hybrid worker

Salary: Starting Salary is £42,123 (Level one) rising to £45,529 (Level four) per annum (pro rata for part time)

Location: Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham NG2 3NG

We've got an exciting opportunity available for talented individuals to join our workforce - perhaps this is the opportunity you've been looking for? Read on to find out more...

Working for Nottingham City Council has great benefits. As well as competitive pay, great leave entitlement and access to a generous pension scheme, we strive to create an innovative, inclusive and progressive work culture where everyone is supported to do and be their very best.

In return, we are looking for people like you - people who are innovative, driven and committed to serving and improving Nottingham. So, if you are passionate about making a difference to the lives of those who live and work in our city, we want to hear from you.

* You can read more about the different benefits offered to colleagues working for Nottingham City Council here.

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced and passionate Development Chef to join our Catering Services team. This is an exciting opportunity to lead the development, implementation and continuous improvement of our education and commercial catering offer, helping to shape the future of food provision across Nottingham.

Working across both school meals and commercial catering operations, you will drive menu innovation, enhance customer satisfaction, support income generation and ensure our services remain compliant, sustainable and commercially successful. You will lead the development of nutritious, seasonal and appealing menus, ensuring they meet statutory requirements, nutritional standards and customer expectations.

The role will involve working closely with schools, parents, catering teams and a wide range of stakeholders to improve service delivery, increase meal uptake and support those with special dietary requirements. You will also provide professional leadership on food safety, compliance, training and quality assurance, undertaking audits and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement across multiple catering sites.

Supporting business growth and sustainability objectives, you will use performance data and industry insight to develop innovative food concepts, improve operational performance and contribute to Nottingham City Council's wider priorities around health, wellbeing and climate commitments.

About You

The ideal candidate will have:

• Strong culinary and menu development skills, with the ability to create innovative, nutritious and commercially viable food offers.
• Experience of working within multi-site catering operations, ideally within education, school meals or large-scale catering environments.
• Sound knowledge of food hygiene regulations, food safety legislation, allergen management and School Food Standards.
• Experience of undertaking audits, identifying compliance issues and implementing service improvements.
• The ability to develop and deliver training, coaching and professional development to catering teams.
• Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build effective relationships with colleagues, schools, parents and external stakeholders.
• Commercial awareness, with experience of menu costing, budget management and supporting income generation.
• The ability to analyse data, review processes and drive continuous improvement across catering operations.
• A proactive approach to problem solving, innovation and service development.
• A commitment to sustainability, equality, diversity and inclusion, and delivering excellent customer service.

This post is covered by the statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) (English Language Requirement for public sector workers) and therefore the ability to speak fluent English, is an essential requirement for the role.

A DBS enhanced check for a regulated activity is required for this post.

You can find the job description for this post here.

At Nottingham City Council we believe that work is what you do, not where you do it. We offer different working arrangements, depending on the role, including hybrid working. Further information on Worker Types and what these mean in terms of how and where you work can be found on the additional informationfor applicants page.

For informal enquiries please contact us by telephone on 0115 8765432 or by email at [e-mail]

Closing Date: 25th September 2026

Interviews will be held:TBC