Performance Chef –Tottenham Hotspur - Academy

Baxterstorey Uk; Tottenham; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

BaxterStorey UK is seeking a senior chef to lead high‑performance catering for an elite sports academy. You will design recovery‑focused menus, translate nutrition guidance into dishes, and tailor meals to athletes' needs.

You will oversee the training ground restaurant, collaborate with medical and nutrition teams, develop staff, and ensure top hygiene and food standards across operations.

Qualifications

• Experience as a high-performance chef in sport or similar high-pressure environments.
• Strong knowledge of performance nutrition and translating guidance into meals.
• Tailored athlete meal planning experience.
• Relevant catering qualifications and hygiene standards.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver performance- and recovery-focused menus aligned to training cycles and match demands.
• Communicate nutritional breakdown and purpose behind dishes to nutritionists.
• Tailor meals to dietary needs, allergies and performance goals.
• Lead food provision across the training ground restaurant with high standards.
• Collaborate with medical, nutrition and performance staff on nutrition strategy.
• Enhance dining experience and environment to support player needs.
• Create globally inspired dishes for a multinational squad.
• Manage kitchen operations, hygiene, safety and food standards.
• Lead, develop and upskill kitchen staff.
• Control stock, ordering and budgets; manage seasonality with sustainability in mind.
• Deliver education sessions on cooking, nutrition and food hygiene.
• Travel with the Academy teams for domestic and international fixtures.

Skills

Culinary expertise

Leadership

Communication skills

Food safety & hygiene

Working under pressure

Sports nutrition understanding

Meal planning for athletes

Education

Catering qualifications

Level 3 food safety & hygiene

Job description

Job Description

• Design and deliver performance and recovery-focused menus aligned to training cycles and match demands
• Communicate clear nutritional breakdown and purpose behind dishes to the Academy’s team nutritionists
• Tailor individual meals to player dietary needs, allergies and performance or recovery goals
• Lead high-quality food provision across the training ground restaurant
• Collaborate with the wider interdisciplinary team, including medical, nutrition and performance staff on nutrition strategy to better connect them to our kitchens
• Support player performance not only through the food served, but through the overall dining experience, creating a welcoming environment, thoughtfully designing food displays and buffet layouts, accommodating individual preferences and consistently going above and beyond to meet player needs.
• Create globally inspired dishes for a multi-national squad
• Manage kitchen operations, hygiene, safety and food standards
• Lead, develop and upskill kitchen staff
• Control stock, ordering and budgets
• Fuse seasonality with science to be environmentally conscious across the food offering
• Deliver occasional education sessions on cooking, nutrition and food hygiene
• Travel with the Academy teams for domestic and international fixtures when required

Qualifications

• Relevant experience as a high-performance Chef catering within professional sport, elite performance, or any other high-pressure environments such as the military.
• Strong working knowledge of performance nutrition, with the ability to translate guidance from the Nutrition team into high-quality food provision that supports player performance and recovery.
• Experience delivering tailored athlete meal planning
• Relevant professional catering qualifications
• Strong leadership and kitchen management capability
• Excellent communication skills with the confidence to engage athletes and staff
• Experience managing food standards, compliance and hygiene at high level
• Ability to work under pressure in performance environments

• Culinary Expertise: Professional training background with strong scratch-cooking and international flavour skills.
• Strong working knowledge of performance nutrition, hydration, sports fuelling and recovery nutrition, gained through professional experience and/or relevant qualifications
• (Relevant catering qualifications, for example level 3 food safety & hygiene for catering as a minimum)
• Minimum of 5 years relevant experience of working in professional sport

Additional Information

For almost 20 years, for every client, in every location (whether that’s an office, stadium, cathedral or university), we have created beautiful spaces, exciting menus and friendly teams, so that each and every customer can have the hospitality experience they deserve.

We need the brightest and the best to join us to make this all possible. We will support you to create your hospitality legacy and build a career that you are proud of.

Our drive and belief in our people, means that we always strive to supercharge our team’s careers. ‘Better’ is a daily habit that sits deep within our DNA, meaning learning will be front and centre of your experience working with us.

Join us, and be part of the food revolution!

BaxterStorey Values:

ALWAYS VISIONARY

We strive for better, we never settle, never compromise, never follow. We lead the way, blazing our own trail.

WHOLEHEARTEDLY POSITIVE

We are up-beat, motivating and inspiring. Our love for what we do radiates through our food, and is amplified by our people.

CREATIVELY COLLABORATIVE

We embrace our differences to push creativity and we work together to be better.

FOREVER CONSCIOUS

We work together as a team to lead by example, protecting the planet and supporting local communities.

We are proud to be an inclusive employer and welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds. We celebrate individuality and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We encourage applications from people of all ages, abilities, gender identities, sexual orientations, races, religions, and socio-economic backgrounds.

BaxterStorey is committed to encouraging equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) among our workforce and aim for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society, and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To support our commitment to this we have set ourselves an ambition to ‘set the standard and to be recognised for having the most inclusive culture in hospitality’.

Join us and bring your unique perspective to our team.