Head Chef

NHS; Chester; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare trust is seeking a Head Chef for their Catering Services Team in Chester. This full-time role involves managing the catering team to provide high-quality meals for patients and staff. The successful candidate should possess a strong background in catering, leadership and time management skills, and hold essential qualifications such as NVQ Level 3 in Professional Cookery. Regular visits to multidisciplinary hospitals will be required, necessitating a full driving license.

Qualifications

• Experience of large scale food production and kitchen management.
• Strong understanding of food safety and Health & Safety law.
• Ability to prioritize and delegate effectively.

Responsibilities

• Manage the catering team and ensure food quality for patients and staff.
• Oversee catering standards at Ellesmere Port Hospital.
• Maintain effective administration and record-keeping.

Skills

Time management

Leadership

Food safety knowledge

Allergen awareness

Education

Level 4 Food Hygiene Certificate

Level 3 Food Safety or HACCP

NVQ Level 3 In Professional Cookery

Job description

Job summary

Working Full time - 37.5 hours per week

We are looking for an enthusiastic and self-motivated individual to join the Catering Services Team for the role of Head Chef. You will support the Head of Catering Services and manage the catering team within the department, producing the finest quality food for our patients and staff as well as delivering excellent customer service.

We are looking for an individual who has achieved a good grounding within the catering business, but would like to further develop and become proficient in all aspects of managing a busy Catering Service within an NHS Hospital.

Previous applicants need not apply.

Main duties

The Catering Department is a busy and multi-functional area of the Hospital, providing meals for patients and staff and meeting the Hospitality Services/Catering requirements for the wider Trust customers.

The successful candidate will have achieved good grounding within the Catering Industry, preferably educated to advanced certificate or diploma level minimum NVQ Qualification (Level 3) have relevant equivalent experience. You should have strong time-management and leadership skills and be able to prioritise and delegate well. The role requires a good working knowledge of computer software including Word, Excel and strong, demonstrable skills in all aspects of administration.

The role extends to the catering provision of our Ellesmere Port Hospital and its patients and will require regular visits to the hospital to ensure catering standards are being delivered and consistently met. A full driving licence will be required in order to facilitate the management of this particular objective and this aspect of the role.

About us

• Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:
• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds
• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility
• Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.

The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.

The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.

Job responsibilities

See Job Description for further details.

Person Specification

Qualifications (Essential)

• Level 4 (Advanced) Food Hygiene Certificate
• Level 3 Food Safety or HACCP
• NVQ Level 3 In Professional Cookery

Qualifications (Desirable)

• Certificate in ILM First Line Management

Knowledge (Essential)

• Experience of large scale food production/kitchen management

Knowledge (Desirable)

• Budget planning experience

Experience (Essential)

• Knowledge of food safety and Health & Safety law, including HACCP and COSHH
• Allergen aware

Experience (Desirable)

• Experience of NHS systems including ESR/E-procurement

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Countess of Chester Hospital

Liverpool Road

Chester

CH2 1UL

Employer’s website https://www.coch.nhs.uk/working-with-us.aspx (Opens in a new tab)