Director of Catering

Holroyd Howe; London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a passionate Director of Catering to elevate dining experiences in a prestigious educational setting. In this pivotal role, you will lead a team dedicated to crafting delicious, nutritious meals while ensuring compliance with food safety standards. Your expertise will help shape innovative menu offerings and foster strong relationships with school staff. Join a company that values sustainability and invests in the development of its team, creating engaging dining experiences that inspire young minds. This is a unique opportunity to make a significant impact within the food service industry.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in high-volume, quality-focused catering environments.
• Ability to manage budgets and drive commercial performance.

Responsibilities

• Develop nutritious menus and manage catering budgets effectively.
• Recruit, train, and motivate catering staff to ensure quality service.

Skills

Organisational skills

Communication skills

Analytical skills

Coaching skills

Strategic thinking

Problem-solving

Attention to detail

Education

Experience as General Manager or Operations Manager

Job description

We currently have an exciting opportunity for a Director of Catering with a background in exceptional food catering services to join us working at one of our highly prestigious education settings.

If you are passionate about creating delicious dining experiences that fuel young minds and ignite taste buds, then this is the perfect opportunity to bring your expertise to our table.

Nestled in South East London, this prestigious independent school - St Dunstans College London caters for day pupils as well as staff and includes not only a breakfast, lunch and supper service but also an extensive hospitality service.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a skilled Director of Catering to make a name for themselves within the food service industry and be a part of setting the new standard for education catering.

Job Description

As a Director of Catering, 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 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 General Manager or Operations 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.

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.

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 publicly available information on suitability to work with children.

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