Trust Catering Manager

The Gorse Academies Trust; Leeds; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Teacher or local government pension

Continued investment in professionals

Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle to work scheme

Job summary

The GORSE Academies Trust is seeking an experienced Trust Catering Manager to shape and lead a high-quality school catering service across our academies in Leeds. You will provide strategic leadership, develop a cohesive trust-wide catering strategy, and drive continuous improvement across all sites.

You will lead and recruit a central catering support team, oversee budgets and procurement, and ensure compliance with food safety and health and safety regulations.

Qualifications

• Experience managing large-scale or multi-site catering operations.
• Strong leadership skills with ability to motivate diverse teams.
• Excellent knowledge of food safety legislation, hygiene standards and allergen management.
• Strong organisational, communication and problem-solving skills.
• Financial management experience, including budgeting and procurement.
• Commitment to promoting healthy eating and a positive food culture.
• Willingness to travel across multiple sites and engage regularly with kitchen teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead catering operations across The GORSE Academies Trust, developing a cohesive catering strategy.
• Ensure high-quality, nutritious and inclusive menus across all academies.
• Support and manage catering managers; oversee budgets, procurement and cost control.
• Ensure full compliance with food safety and health and safety regulations, including HACCP.
• Build strong relationships with trust and academy leaders, staff, suppliers and external partners.

Job description

Start date to be agreed with the successful candidate.

Are you ready to shape and lead an exceptional catering service across a high performing multi academy trust? The GORSE Academies Trust is seeking an experienced, forward thinking Trust Catering Manager to provide strategic leadership and operational excellence across all our academies. For many of our pupils, the meal they receive at school is the most important meal of the day. This is a unique opportunity to take ownership of a trust wide service where your impact will be seen, felt, and appreciated by thousands of pupils, staff, and visitors every day.

The postholder will have the opportunity to shape and recruit their own central catering support team, enabling a trust-wide model that delivers consistency, quality and continuous improvement.

This role is perfect for someone who:

• Is passionate about delivering high quality, nutritious and appealing food to children and young people.
• Has the leadership presence and confidence to inspire catering teams across multiple settings.
• Is commercially aware, financially astute and driven to secure outstanding value for money.
• Thrives in a varied, fast paced environment where strategic oversight and hands on guidance go hand in hand.
• Wants to play a crucial part in enhancing the daily experience of pupils, staff and visitors across the trust.

The successful candidate will lead catering operations across the trust, developing a cohesive catering strategy and ensuring high-quality, nutritious and inclusive menus. You'll maintain consistent standards across all academies, support and manage catering managers, and oversee budgets, procurement and cost control. You will also ensure full compliance with food safety and health and safety regulations, including HACCP, while building strong relationships with trust and academy leaders, staff, suppliers and external partners. Experience in education or the public sector is desirable but not essential.

What we're looking for:

We are seeking an individual who can demonstrate:

• Experience managing large-scale or multi-site catering operations.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to motivate and develop diverse teams.
• Excellent knowledge of food safety legislation, hygiene standards and allergen management.
• Strong organisational, communication and problem-solving skills.
• Financial management experience, including budgeting and procurement.
• A commitment to promoting healthy eating and a positive food culture.
• A willingness to travel across multiple sites and engage regularly with kitchen teams.

What we offer you:

As a trust, we want to ensure that professionals at every stage in their career have the opportunity to enjoy expert support and training. We are pleased to offer a generous benefits package to our team - as we work together to create a rewarding future for all including:

• Membership of a teacher or local government pension scheme, depending on the role.
• A commitment to continued investment in our professionals, supporting every member of staff throughout their career in the trust.
• Access to an Employee Assistance Programme which provides confidential professional advice and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• £2k Cycle to work scheme.

About us:

Led by Sir John Townsley, GORSE has a well-known reputation for changing the deal for children and young adults who come from some of the most impoverished parts of the country. Our central mission is to ensure that we play a significant role in removing the stubborn link between poverty and academic underperformance. Consequently, our students and our professionals are in the vanguard of the national drive which seeks to prove that where teaching is excellent, leadership inspiring and behaviour standards exemplary all children excel regardless of background.

Our 15 academies, our central team, our Teaching School Hub and GORSE SCITT work in a tightknit manner which sees our students prospering as a result of great partnership. Our professionals recognise the enormous advantage that comes from belonging to a network of excellence and we as a trust recognise that there is much to be gained when great organisations work with integrity, moral purpose and determination.

If you would like to know more about our Trust, please visit our website at www.tgat.org.uk .

We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process, and we welcome applications from people with disabilities as defined by the Equality Act . If you would benefit from any adjustments during the application or interview process, please inform us so we can support you appropriately.

We are committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to full employment checks, including an enhanced DBS disclosure and barring service check. We promote diversity and aim to establish a workforce that reflects the population of Leeds.

GORSE Policy statement on the recruitment of ex-offenders

The GORSE Academies Trust use 'OnlineSCR' for the processing of safeguarding checks -their privacy notice can be seen at: https://onlinescr.co.uk/policies/privacy-policy/ .

Employment is conditional on confirmation of the right to work in the UK - either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

Please note that, as a sponsor licence holder, we only provide sponsorship for teacher vacancies.