Lead Cook

Robinwood Activity Centres; Ayle; On-site; GBP 24,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading activity center provider in the UK seeks a passionate Lead Cook to create delicious meals for young school groups. The role involves supporting the Catering Manager, leading a friendly team, and ensuring high food hygiene standards. Benefits include a supportive environment, regular daytime shifts, paid holidays following school dates, and opportunities for additional hours. Ideal candidates will have kitchen experience, leadership skills, and a Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate. This part-time position averages 20 hours per week, with no late-night hours.

Benefits

Supportive working environment

Regular daytime shifts

Tax free profit bonus

12 weeks holiday a year

Free meals

Pension scheme

Training opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience in a busy kitchen environment, ideally with leadership responsibilities.
• A genuine love for cooking and working in a team.
• A strong understanding of food hygiene and kitchen safety.

Responsibilities

• Support the Catering Manager in all aspects of kitchen operations.
• Lead and motivate the kitchen team during shifts.
• Prepare a variety of meals suitable for children and adults.

Skills

Experience in a busy kitchen environment

Leadership responsibilities

Strong understanding of food hygiene

Customer-focused attitude

Teamwork

Education

Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate

Job description

Are you a passionate cook with a desire to work in a small team creating delicious, hearty meals? Do you love the buzz of a busy kitchen and want your work to make a difference to young people’s school trip experiences? Join the Robinwood Activity Centre team as our new Lead Cook at Barhaugh Hall, near Alston.

What We Offer

• A supportive and friendly working environment
• Regular Monday - Friday daytime shifts – no late-night restaurant hours!
• Tax free profit bonus
• 12 weeks set holiday a year (term-time) including August and Christmas!
• Uniform
• All meals free of charge
• Staff social events
• Pension scheme
• Training and development opportunities
• Beautiful working surroundings in a historic hall and countryside setting
• A role that makes a really positive difference to children

What We’re Looking For

• Experience in a busy kitchen environment, ideally with leadership responsibilities
• A genuine love for cooking and working in a team
• A strong understanding of food hygiene and kitchen safety
• A positive, proactive and customer-focussed attitude
• A Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate (or willingness to obtain one)

Your Pay

The starting rate of pay for this role is £23,377.20 (£15.40 per hour) and is an annualised hours contract of an average of 20 hours per week. There will be opportunities for additional hours to be worked to cover leave. Actual annual earnings are spread evenly across the year, providing consistent monthly pay regardless of seasonal fluctuations in working weeks and holiday. The final pay level will be determined based on the experience and skills of the successful candidate.

Who We Are

We are an award-winning school residential provider offering 3‑day, 2‑night residential courses for 7–11‑year‑olds. We focus on making a really positive difference developing children through adventurous and themed activities and have been doing so, very successfully, for over 30 years. Always looking to the future and striving to improve in whatever way we can for both our customers and our staff, we are proud to announce that we became an employee‑owned company in November 2024, a Living Wage Employer in 2023 and were last awarded Investors in People Gold in 2025.

The Role

As a Lead Cook you will be at the heart of the kitchen, reporting to the Catering Manager and supporting them to deliver high‑quality meals and a smooth‑running kitchen. You’ll lead by example and motivate a small, friendly catering team and ensure our visiting children and teachers enjoy nutritious, tasty meals throughout their stay.

Key responsibilities

• Supporting the Catering Manager in all aspects of kitchen operations
• Leading and motivating the kitchen team during shifts
• Positively interacting with customers and providing them an excellent service
• Preparing a variety of meals suitable for children and adults
• Maintaining excellent standards of food hygiene, safety, and cleanliness
• Ensuring special dietary requirements are catered for appropriately

Your Working Week

This is a part‑time position with a contract of 20 hours per week. Lead Cooks receive 6 weeks of paid holiday and accrue a further 6 weeks of holiday during their working weeks. This allows for 12 weeks holiday a year, closely following the school holiday dates. These accrued holiday hours means the average working week to be around 30 hours per week.

Working Hours

• Monday – Friday, no late nights or weekend work
• Breakfast shifts start no earlier than 6am
• Evening shifts finish no later than 8pm
• Friday finish no later than 5pm, but usually 3pm
• Timetable is on a 4 week pattern, an example of a two working weeks could be :
• Week 1
• o Monday – 6am – 3pm
• o Tuesday – 6am – 3pm
• o Wednesday – 9am – 8pm
• o Thursday – off
• o Friday – off
• Week 2
• o Monday – 9.30am – 8pm
• o Tuesday – 7am – 8pm
• o Wednesday – 7am – 3pm
• o Thursday – off
• o Friday – off