Senior Sous Chef - Uppingham

Lodestone House; Uppingham; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Contributory pension scheme

Career Pathways and MyLearning

Digital GP and healthcare

Travel discounts

Food shopping discounts

Cinema ticket discounts

Cash rewards

Wellness and exercise classes

Discount sharing with friends and家

Working 5 out of 7 days

Job summary

Lodestone House at Uppingham School seeks a Senior Sous Chef to support the Head Chef in leading the Hub Kitchen, ensuring high-quality food production across boarding houses, dining outlets and school events.

You will oversee large-scale production, mentor kitchen teams, and maintain exceptional standards of food safety and sustainability in a busy educational catering environment.

Qualifications

• NVQ Level 3 Professional Cookery, City & Guilds, or equivalent professional qualification.
• Food Safety Level 2 Certificate.
• Significant experience within a Sous Chef, or equivalent leadership role.
• Experience working within a high-volume catering, central production, contract catering, education, healthcare, or similar environment.
• Proven ability to lead, motivate, and develop large kitchen teams.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, allergen management, stock control, and budget management.

Responsibilities

• Plan, prepare, and deliver meals across the School's catering operation.
• Oversee daily production to ensure quality, consistency, and timely service.
• Ensure all meals meet specifications and standards.
• Assist with menu planning, recipe development, and seasonal updates.
• Lead vegetarian, vegan, allergen-aware, cultural, and special dietary meals.
• Support boarding house events and school functions.
• Maintain portion control, presentation standards, and dietary compliance.
• Drive food quality and innovation within budget constraints.

Skills

Leadership

Food safety

Menu planning

Team development

Budget management

Communication

Training

Education

NVQ Level 3 Professional Cookery

City & Guilds

Food Safety Level 2 Certificate

Job description

Benefits

We ensure you're rewarded for all your hard work, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package which includes but is not limited to:

• Contributory pension scheme
• Grow your career with our Career Pathways and MyLearning programmes
• Quick access for you and your immediate family to a Digital GP, and wider healthcare benefits
• 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
• Receive cash rewards every time you spend and use them on a wide range of brands
• Un-wind with us with free wellness, mindfulness and exercise classes
• You can share all discounts and offers with your friends and families
• Working 5 out of 7 days

HUB Senior Sous Chef

Uppingham School

Job Title

Reporting To

Head Chef – Hub Kitchen, Director of Catering, Group Executive Chef

Location

Uppingham School, Rutland

Job Purpose

The Senior Sous Chef is the second-in-command within the Hub Kitchen and plays a pivotal role in supporting the Head Chef with the leadership, organisation, and day-to-day management of the one of the School's central production kitchen.

This role is responsible for overseeing large-scale food production, maintaining exceptional culinary standards, leading and developing the kitchen team, and ensuring the efficient delivery of high-quality meals across multiple catering outlets, boarding houses and school events.

The successful candidate will be an experienced chef leader with strong operational knowledge, excellent organisational skills, and a passion for delivering nutritious, innovative, and consistently high-quality food within a busy educational catering environment.

Food Production and Service

• Support the Head Chef in the planning, preparation, and delivery of meals across the School's catering operation.
• Oversee daily food production to ensure quality, consistency, and timely service across all locations.
• Ensure all food is prepared, cooked, portioned, packaged, and presented to agreed specifications and standards.
• Assist with menu planning, recipe development, seasonal menu implementation, and continuous menu improvement.
• Lead the preparation of vegetarian, vegan, allergen-aware, cultural, and special dietary meals.
• Support the delivery of boarding house hospitality functions, formal dinners, school events, theme days, and special occasions.
• Ensure portion control, presentation standards, and dietary compliance are consistently maintained.
• Drive food quality and innovation whilst remaining mindful of budgetary requirements.

Leadership and Team Management

• Deputise for the Head Chef and assume overall responsibility for the Hub Kitchen in their absence.
• Lead, motivate, and supervise Sous Chefs, Chef de Parties, Commis Chefs, Apprentices, and Catering Assistants.
• Organise daily production schedules and allocate resources effectively.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, training, and performance support for kitchen staff.
• Conduct on-the-job training to ensure consistency of standards and working practices.
• Promote a positive, professional, and collaborative kitchen culture.
• Support recruitment, induction, and development of team members where required.

Hub Kitchen Operations

• Support the management of centralised food production for boarding houses, dining facilities, hospitality outlets, and school events.
• Coordinate food production schedules to meet service demands efficiently.
• Assist with stock management, purchasing, stock rotation, and inventory control.
• Monitor deliveries and supplier performance, ensuring quality standards are maintained.
• Support food cost control through effective planning, portion management, and waste reduction.
• Oversee production records, dispatch paperwork, temperature monitoring, and traceability requirements.
• Ensure all kitchen equipment is maintained and used safely and effectively.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives aimed at increasing operational efficiency and sustainability.

Health, Safety and Compliance

• Maintain the highest standards of food hygiene, cleanliness, and housekeeping throughout the Hub Kitchen.
• Ensure full compliance with HACCP procedures, food safety legislation, allergen regulations, and School policies.
• Monitor cooking, cooling, storage, transportation, and reheating procedures to ensure food safety standards are met.
• Complete and oversee all required safety records and documentation.
• Support internal audits, external inspections, and compliance reviews.
• Promote safe working practices and uphold the School's commitment to safeguarding, health, safety, and wellbeing.

Person Specification

Essential Qualifications And Experience

• NVQ Level 3 Professional Cookery, City & Guilds, or equivalent professional qualification.
• Food Safety Level 2 Certificate.
• Significant experience within a Sous Chef, or equivalent leadership role.
• Experience working within a high-volume catering, central production, contract catering, education, healthcare, or similar environment.
• Proven ability to lead, motivate, and develop large kitchen teams.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, allergen management, stock control, and budget management.

Essential Skills And Attributes

• Excellent culinary and food production skills.
• Strong leadership and people management abilities.
• Highly organised with excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to prioritise workloads and perform under pressure.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Commercial awareness and understanding of food cost management.
• Positive, flexible, and proactive approach.
• Commitment to delivering exceptional standards and customer satisfaction.

Desirable

• Experience within an independent school or educational catering environment.
• Experience managing large-scale production kitchens.
• Knowledge of catering management systems and production planning software.
• Understanding of sustainability, waste reduction, and responsible sourcing initiatives.
• First Aid qualification.

Hours of Work

The role operates on a rota basis determined by operational requirements and may include early mornings, evenings, weekends, and school events. This is a role with more sociable hour than your average chefs role.

Safeguarding Statement

Uppingham School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All staff are expected to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to enhanced DBS clearance and all relevant pre-employment checks.

Key Objective

To support the Head Chef in leading the Hub Kitchen operation, ensuring the consistent delivery of high-quality, nutritious, and innovative food across Uppingham School whilst achieving the highest standards of food safety, customer service, operational efficiency, and team development

About Us

As part of Compass you'll help to feed people, fuel progress and forge connections in around 6,000 venues. Join us to grow your career with the industry leader, and get competitive pay, great perks and unrivalled opportunities for learning and development, at one of the UK's biggest businesses.

Job Reference: com/0608/43928001/52825034/SU #Lodestone House

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!