Development Chef - Education & Commercial Catering

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

Benefits offered by this job

26 days annual leave

33 days after 5 years service

Pension scheme 17.9%

Smart Working

Health & wellbeing benefits

Discounted local memberships

Job summary

Nottingham City Council is seeking an experienced Development Chef to lead the development and improvement of our education and commercial catering across multiple sites in Nottingham. You will drive nutritious, seasonal menus while ensuring statutory requirements and customer expectations are met.

You will work with schools, parents and catering teams to enhance service delivery, increase meal uptake and support dietary requirements.

Qualifications

• Strong culinary and menu development skills.
• Experience in multi-site education or large-scale catering.
• Solid knowledge of food hygiene regulations and School Food Standards.
• Experience conducting audits and driving improvements.
• Ability to train and develop catering teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and continuous improvement of education and commercial catering offerings.
• Drive menu innovation and ensure nutritional standards and compliance.
• Collaborate with schools, parents and catering teams to improve service delivery.
• Provide leadership on food safety, training and quality assurance across sites.
• Use data and insights to support growth, efficiency and sustainability objectives.

Skills

Menu development

Multi-site catering

Food safety

Audits

Training & development

Communication & influencing

Commercial awareness

Data analysis

Problem solving

Sustainability & inclusion

Job description

Job Description

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Hours: Monday - Friday, predominantly working between 7:00am and 3:00pm however flexibility around these hours is essential as is the ability to work very occasional weekend days

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 information for applicants page.

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

Closing Date: 25th September 2026

Please note there may be occasions where we close the advert before the closing date and we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Interviews will be held: TBC

If you have any technical issues when completing your application, please contact our Employee Service Centre: https://emss.org.uk/support

By applying to this job, you agree to our Terms & Conditions.

About Us

Thank you for your interest in working for Nottingham City Council. As one of the largest employers in Nottingham we offer a wide range of roles across a range of services. In return for your skill, drive and commitment to serving the people of Nottingham, we can help you to develop an exciting and rewarding career, with access to the following benefits.

In addition to working within a great team and a competitive salary you will have access to:

• 26 days annual leave (rising to 33 days after 5 years' service) + bank holidays with the ability to buy additional leave annually
• Access to a generous, defined benefit pension scheme offering 17.9%
• Smart Working - to support your work life balance
• Health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme
• Discounted membership at selected local sports and fitness centres, cinema, shopping and much more!

Nottingham City Council is committed to recruiting a talented workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We are a fair, inclusive and Disability Confident Employer, welcoming applications from people of all backgrounds, identities and abilities. We recruit for diversity and value difference.

If you are a disabled candidate and wish to be considered under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this within your application. We are committed to making reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and employment journey.

We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and welcome applications from serving personnel, veterans, reservists and military families.

We particularly want to hear from you if you are from Minority Ethnic communities, identify within the LGBTQ+ community, or are disabled. These groups are currently underrepresented in our workforce, and we are committed to better reflecting the communities we serve.

We are supportive of flexible working arrangements wherever possible and encourage candidates to discuss this with us during the recruitment process.