Sous Chef – Eastwood Hall, Nottingham | Full-Time / Permanent
up to £35,880 per annum + excellent benefits including healthcare, wellbeing support, 23 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays, life assurance, meals on duty, and more.
We’re looking for a passionate and talented Sous Chef to join our kitchen team at Eastwood Hall in Nottingham! Working closely with our Head Chef, you’ll help deliver fantastic food, support the smooth running of the kitchen and inspire the team to bring their best every day. If you love great food, enjoy developing people and thrive in a busy hospitality environment, this is a brilliant opportunity to take the next step in your culinary career.
We are The Venues Collection
Great things happen when people get together in our spaces to meet and spaces to sleep. From conferences, meetings and training to every business event in between, our venues offer welcoming spaces where guests and colleagues can be themselves.
The Venues Collection is part of Compass Group UK & Ireland, bringing together distinctive venues with stylish event spaces and hotel-style residential and leisure facilities.
Our passionate hospitality teams work hard to create memorable experiences through exceptional food, warm service and attention to detail. We’re committed to doing the right thing for our people and our planet, with a focus on sustainability, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion.
Join us and grow your career with an industry leader, with great benefits, ongoing development and plenty of opportunities to learn.
Sous Chef – The Role
Working alongside the Head Chef, you’ll help manage the day-to-day kitchen operation, ensuring we deliver consistently great food, maintain high standards and provide an excellent experience for every guest.
Your Responsibilities Will Include
- Supporting the Head Chef with the day-to-day running of the kitchen, ensuring food is prepared and presented to consistently high standards.
- Helping deliver a quality food offering across the venue, supporting guest satisfaction and positive customer feedback.
- Assisting with food ordering, monitoring deliveries and maintaining effective stock rotation.
- Keeping food waste to a minimum by monitoring usage and making the most of available resources.
- Supporting the management of kitchen budgets and targets, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and control costs.
- Helping manage rotas and kitchen resources in line with business needs, ensuring the team is in the right place at the right time.
- Leading, motivating and developing kitchen colleagues, encouraging progression and helping team members build their skills.
- Working closely with the Head Chef to introduce current food trends, new ideas and cooking techniques to keep our offering fresh and exciting.
- Supporting the delivery of conferences, meetings and events, ensuring food is prepared and delivered to the expected standard.
- Working with kitchen, food and beverage and sales colleagues to share product knowledge and ensure everyone understands how to deliver our food offering.
- Following company procedures and maintaining efficient ways of working across the kitchen.
- Maintaining excellent food safety, health and safety and hygiene standards at all times.
- Following food information and allergen procedures, ensuring accurate information is available to customers and allergen risks are managed effectively.
- Supporting environmental health requirements and internal health and safety audits, taking action where improvements are needed.
- Contributing to a positive kitchen culture where teamwork, communication and high standards are part of everyday life.
- Championing our commitments to people, food, enriching environments, social purpose and sustainability, supporting Compass Group’s Net Zero ambitions.
What we’re looking for
- Excellent culinary skills and a genuine passion for creating great food.
- Experience working in a similar kitchen role within hospitality, catering or a hotel environment.
- The confidence to lead by example, support the Head Chef and motivate a busy kitchen team.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with colleagues across the venue.
- An understanding of food ordering, stock rotation, waste management and kitchen cost control.
- A commitment to maintaining high standards of food quality, consistency and presentation.
- Good knowledge of food safety, health and safety and allergen procedures.
- The ability to organise workloads, maintain efficient processes and adapt to changing business demands.
- A positive, hands-on approach and the ability to remain focused in a fast-paced kitchen.
- A Level 3 NVQ in Professional Cookery or equivalent would be desirable.
- An intermediate food hygiene qualification would be an advantage.
What you’ll get in return
- Competitive salary of up to £35,880 per annum.
- 23 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays, your birthday off and a holiday purchase scheme.
- Healthcare benefits through Medicash, including dental, optical and therapy treatments.
- Aviva Digicare, including a free annual healthcare check.
- 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme and mental health support.
- Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave, plus additional family-friendly benefits.
- An additional two days’ leave following your return from maternity leave during your first year back, and a day off for your baby’s first birthday.
- Exclusive shopping, entertainment and travel discounts through our Benefits & Wellbeing platform.
- Discounts on cinema tickets, Nuffield Health memberships, PureGym memberships and more.
- Pension scheme, Life Assurance and preferred rates on salary finance products.
- Meals on duty.
- Ongoing training, development opportunities and structured career pathways.
- Paid professional subscriptions where applicable.
- Financial wellbeing support and Vodafone discounts.
- A structured induction programme to help you settle into the business and your role.
Why Join Us?
The Venues Collection is part of Compass Group UK & Ireland, a leading name in hospitality and support services.
We believe in celebrating individuality and building inclusive teams where everyone feels they belong. Our diverse teams bring creativity, passion and fresh ideas to everything they do.
Whether you’re looking to develop your culinary skills, grow your leadership experience or take the next step in your career, we’ll support you to reach your potential.
We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and welcome candidates from all backgrounds to join us in creating a supportive, empowering workplace where everyone can thrive.
Together, we create unforgettable experiences – one plate at a time.
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 respect and celebrate the unique talents, beliefs, backgrounds and abilities of all our team members, because diversity is our strength!