Executive Chef

Compass; West Midlands; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading catering provider is seeking an Executive Chef to oversee culinary operations across schools in the region. Responsibilities include ensuring high food standards and compliance with educational catering regulations. The role requires a proven ability to lead teams, manage culinary performances, and drive business growth. This position is an opportunity for individuals with strong culinary leadership and commercial skills who are passionate about delivering quality meals for students.

Benefits

Contributory pension scheme

Career Pathways and MyLearning programmes

Digital GP and wider healthcare benefits

Exclusive travel discounts

Discounts on grocery shopping

Up to 44% off cinema tickets

Cash rewards for spending

Free wellness and exercise classes

Qualifications

• Proven track record of hands-on culinary leadership in a large-scale environment.
• Experience in delivering sustainable food offers across multiple service channels.
• Strong commercial understanding of foodservice metrics.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the regional culinary team to ensure high food standards.
• Drive culinary performance and compliance across all school sites.
• Partner with leadership to meet culinary and business goals.

Skills

Culinary leadership

Commercial acumen

Strong communication skills

Team development

Job description

Benefits

• Contributory pension scheme
• Car or Car Allowance
• Career Pathways and MyLearning programmes
• Digital GP and wider healthcare benefits for you and your immediate family
• Exclusive travel discounts with TUI, Expedia, Booking.com and many more
• Save money on your food shop with discounts on Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and many more
• Up to 44% off cinema tickets to enjoy your favourite blockbuster
• Cash rewards every time you spend and use them on a wide range of brands
• Free wellness, mindfulness and exercise classes
• You can share all discounts and offers with your friends and families

Role Overview

The Executive Chef is responsible for leading culinary performance across all schools within the region, ensuring consistently high food standards, strong commercial outcomes and full compliance with School Food Standards and company frameworks.

The role leads a small brigade of Regional Executive Chefs, providing hands‑on culinary support to Heads of Operations (HOO’s) and Primary and Secondary schools. The Executive Chef is accountable for food quality, consistency, commercial performance, people development and supporting business growth through retention and new business activity.

A key focus of the role is understanding and influencing the commercial levers that drive profitability and growth, including PPM, GP% and margin performance, while delivering a market‑leading, compliant and engaging food offer.

Key Accountabilities – Food Offer & Standards

• Own and deliver a consistent, managed food offer across the region, incorporating food safety, nutrition, sustainability, innovation, brand standards and commerciality
• Ensure all sites execute approved School Food Standards, SOURCE recipes, recipe cards and purchasing compliance
• Set and maintain exceptional food quality standards across all service points, including counters, cafés, mobile pods and food outlets
• Lead the Regional Executive Chef team to deliver consistent execution, prioritising daily business needs and continuous kitchen support

Culinary Leadership & Support

• Lead, manage and develop the regional culinary team to ensure the highest standards of food delivery
• Operate in a highly visible, hands‑on and mobile role, visiting schools regularly to engage and support kitchen teams
• Partner with HOO’s to ensure culinary requirements are met and a consistent food offer is delivered across all schools
• Drive delivery of monthly PPM, GP% and margin targets
• Lead regular regional culinary calls and ensure all communications and actions are completed
• Attend and contribute to culinary forums, menu development sessions and regional leadership meetings

Training, Development & Partnership

• Ensure clear culinary pathways and skills development plans are in place across the region
• Personally support training delivery where required, maintaining a hands‑on approach
• Build strong collaborative relationships with HOO’s, operators and growth teams
• Represent the business at key Chartwells events, client engagements and regional forums

Growth & Mobilisation

• Provide culinary leadership to support retention and new business growth
• Lead food presentations and support tender submissions
• Deliver South/Regional Map 1 sales and retention presentations
• Lead and support mobilisations, ensuring readiness and strong Day 1 “Go Live” delivery

Person Specification – Experience & Capability

• Proven track record of hands‑on culinary leadership within a large‑scale, multi‑site commercial foodservice environment
• Experience delivering sustainable, global and education‑appropriate food offers across multiple service channels
• Demonstrated ability to lead, coach and develop teams, including matrix or indirect reports
• Strong commercial acumen with a clear understanding of PPM, GP%, margin and cost control drivers
• Confident communicator with strong presentation and influencing skills across all stakeholder levels
• Able to inspire and engage diverse audiences, from frontline teams to senior leaders and clients
• Comfortable operating at pace, managing competing priorities across multiple sites

Leadership & Behaviour

• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate innovation and insight into operational excellence
• Strong advocate for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• Actively invests in personal development and stays ahead of industry and market trends
• Highly organised, with excellent prioritisation, delegation and change management skills
• Data‑led decision maker with the ability to drive measurable business impact
• Passionate advocate for high food standards, menu consistency and team development
• Excellent listener and communicator, ensuring frontline teams fully understand expectations and standards
• Mobile and flexible, with a proactive approach to regional travel

About Us

Part of Compass Group UK&I, Chartwells is the leading provider of catering and support services to the education sector. We serve millions of nutritious meals to pupils and students across the UK, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All employees are expected to share this commitment. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and requires successful pre‑employment checks, including an enhanced DBS disclosure and a Children’s Barred List check. We ask applicants to declare all previous convictions and cautions to assess suitability for work with children.

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!