Head Chef – Mostly Monday – Friday! – London, LONDON

Holroyd Howe; City Of London; On-site; GBP 43,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading contract catering company in London seeks an experienced Head Chef to lead the culinary team at The American School. This role focuses on providing high-quality meals and excellent customer service to students and staff. Candidates must have strong leadership skills and a passion for food. Benefits include 28 days of leave, bespoke training opportunities, and a supportive work environment.

Benefits

28 Days holiday including bank holidays

Bespoke training and development opportunities

Pension and life insurance

Access to employee assistance programme

Free meals whilst at work

Career development opportunities

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a hands-on leader.
• Passionate about food and customer service.
• Excellent Health & Safety knowledge.
• Financially astute and IT literate.
• Innovative and up to date with food trends.

Responsibilities

• Lead culinary team at The American School in London.
• Oversee food service for students and staff.
• Deliver high-quality nutritious meals.
• Provide exceptional customer service.

Skills

Leadership

Health & Safety knowledge

Financial understanding

Customer service

Creativity

Job description

Overview

Head Chef – Mostly Monday – Friday! – London, LONDON

Salary: £43,000 per annum + benefits

Company Holroyd Howe is one of the UK’s leading contract caterers, providing fresh innovative food services to independent schools and colleges. We are a team of experienced professionals who tailor our catering service provision to meet the bespoke requirements of each school. We invest in training and development to help our teams succeed.

Benefits

• 28 Days holiday including bank holidays
• 3 volunteering days
• 3 days grandparent leave
• 24 weeks enhanced maternity leave
• Bespoke training and development opportunities
• Pension and life insurance
• Discounts on our HAPI app; high street shops, holidays & cinema
• Wellbeing hub
• Access to employee assistance programme
• Free meals whilst at work
• Career development opportunities
• HIT Apprenticeships for all experience levels

Responsibilities

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Head Chef to lead our culinary team at The American School in London (ASL). You will oversee food service for students, staff, and occasional hospitality events, delivering high-quality, nutritious meals. You will lead a large, skilled team and contribute to professional development opportunities. The role follows the school calendar with limited Saturday work and may align with American term dates. You will work to provide exceptional food catering services in an education setting, partnering with your team to deliver excellent customer service and strong leadership.

Key points: focus on presenting high standards, maintaining organisational and communication excellence, and demonstrating passion for food and service.

Qualifications

• Be a proven, hands-on leader, able to invest in your team and their development
• Be naturally outgoing and vibrant, display a real passion for food and customer service
• Have excellent Health & Safety knowledge
• Be financially astute with good understanding of GP calculation and have strong IT literacy
• Be innovative and creative and driven by excellence
• Stay up to date with current food trends

Additional Information

To provide our teams with the right skills to succeed, we invest in training and development. We tailor our catering services to fit children of all ages and satisfy the unique needs of our clients. We are committed to sustainability, nutrition, and food innovation, offering a wide portfolio of training opportunities and experiences to our chefs.

We pride ourselves on:

Sustainability — Sourcing ethically and mindful meal preparation.

Nutrition — Fresh meals prepared from scratch with nutritious ingredients to support development.

Food Innovation — Training opportunities, tasting tables, theme days, chef demonstrations and more to drive culinary excellence and menu innovation.

Holroyd Howe is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All roles are regulated activity and require appropriate checks, including Enhanced DBS where applicable.

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