Chef Trainer - School Plates & Hospital Plates

ProVeg e.V.; Malaysia; Remote; Confidential; Part time

Job summary

A leading food sustainability organization is seeking a Chef Trainer to enhance the School Plates and Hospital Plates programmes. The role focuses on training teams, recipe development, and educating about plant-based nutrition. Candidates should have experience in culinary workshops and be passionate about food systems change. This role requires travel across the UK and offers flexible hours.

Benefits

Generous annual leave entitlement

Training budget for personal development

Flexible working arrangements

Access to virtual GP services

Employee Assistance Programme

Membership to wellness platforms

Qualifications

• Experience of working in a culinary setting.
• Ability to work well unsupervised with reliable internet.
• Passionate about food systems change.
• Alignment with the organization's vision and mission.

Responsibilities

• Co-lead the creation and development of new plant-based recipes.
• Work closely with programme managers to develop strategies.
• Represent the organisation at events and provide expert catering advice.
• Teach pupils basic plant-based culinary skills aligned with the National Curriculum.
• Build and maintain relationships with catering partners.

Skills

Experience in planning and delivering cooking workshops

Strong interest in plant-based recipes

Excellent communication skills

Strong organisational skills

Ability to work under pressure

Proactive with initiative

Detail oriented

Job description

Overview

Join our team and help us improve public sector food across the UK with our School Plates and new Hospital Plates programmes. We're looking for a passionate and driven Chef Trainer to support schools and hospitals in delivering healthier and more sustainable menus.

The programmes continue to go from strength to strength. Through School Plates, we currently support over a third of all UK local authorities, catering for more than 12,000 schools and feeding over 1.25 million children daily. To date, we have been responsible for swapping over 50 million school meals from meat-based to meat-free or plant-based. We're now expanding our successful model into the health sector with our new Hospital Plates programme, bringing the same positive change to patient and staff menus.

Are you a skilled chef trainer with a passion for improving public food? Can you match our ambition? You'll be using your culinary expertise to train catering teams in both schools and hospitals, provide menu advice, and get involved with recipe development and culinary education. You will also run cooking workshops for pupils in secondary schools, inspiring the next generation to get excited about plant-based food. You will also build and manage relationships with our catering partners, helping them deliver delicious and sustainable meals. This is a UK-wide role and will require travel to different sites.

We’re looking for someone to join our team for 3 days a week but are open to applicants looking for flexible working hours, including, potentially, 4 days a week.

Tasks

As our Chef Trainer & Programme Support, you\'ll be a key player in developing and delivering our School Plates and Hospital Plates programmes. You\'ll use your culinary expertise and passion for food system change to create resources, train professionals, and engage with our partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Recipe Development & Training: You\'ll co-lead the creation, testing, and development of new plant-based recipes for our school and hospital programmes, and lead on developing ‘grab-and-go’ and internationally inspired options for secondary schools. You\'ll also plan and deliver training sessions, including in-person and online workshops, and create e-learning courses for caterers.
• Programme Development & Support: Work closely with programme managers to develop and refine the strategy for our initiatives. This includes supporting pilot programmes, measuring their impact, and creating bespoke catering resources for our partners.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Communication: Represent our organisation at events and in meetings, providing expert catering advice and information on our programmes. Collaborate with our communications manager to create engaging content, including recipes and videos for our website, e-learning platform and social media.
• Education & Outreach: Partner with our education manager to plan and co-deliver secondary school cooking workshops. These sessions will teach pupils basic plant-based culinary skills that align with the National Curriculum as well as inspire the next generation to choose plant-forward options and learn about the impact of their food choices in a positive way.
• Inspire Catering Teams: Your role is to build and maintain relationships with catering partners, providing expert catering advice and practical recipe suggestions. You\'ll work with them directly on pilot programmes, offering bespoke support to inspire positive menu changes. You\'ll also provide essential administrative support for our programmes and help create and deliver presentations to promote our work to a wider audience.

Requirements

Essential

• Experienced in planning and delivering cooking workshops to groups.
• Experience of working in a culinary setting and developing recipes with a strong interest in plant-based recipes.
• Excellent communication skills and be a confident and engaging educator.
• Flexible and agile approach, with a willingness to be a true team player and fill gaps as needed.
• Proactive with initiative and drive.
• Strong organisational skills.
• Attention to detail.
• Solution-focused and resilient.
• Confident in creating basic spreadsheets and slide decks.
• Ability to work well under pressure and manage time effectively in a fast-paced and small but fast-growing non-profit work environment.
• Ability to work well unsupervised with experience of working in remote teams with a reliable internet connection.
• Passionate about food systems change.
• Alignment with our vision and mission.
• Based in the UK and able to attend meetings, events, and training to represent the team and programme across the UK.
• Willing to travel across the UK for workshops and events.

Desirable

• Experience of working within school and/or hospital food.
• Experience of food photography and creating recipe content for social platforms or online courses.
• Experience of managing projects.
• Experience of liaising with local authorities, schools, or other public sector bodies.
• Experience in the field of nutrition, including an interest in plant-based nutrition.
• Experience of working in the food, health or environmental sector.
• Experience of using customer relationship management (CRM) systems (training will be provided).

Benefits

• Generous annual leave entitlement - 25 days per year, with an additional day granted at the start of each calendar up to a maximum of 30 days (plus bank holidays)
• A strong organisational focus on personal development, with a designated training budget.
• Provision of a work laptop.
• Flexible, trust-based working arrangements and home-office arrangements.
• Career development support
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay
• Compassionate animal companion leave
• Employee Assistance Programme including counselling
• Access to 24/7 virtual GP Service
• Mindfulness support via a free Headspace account for you and up to 5 friends or family members
• Access to the Wisdom app with exclusive perks and discounts
• Membership to the OpenUp platform
• We are a workplace that encourages everyone to bring their whole selves to work. We are an inclusive workplace for our diverse employees around the world.
• And, last but not least, become part of a great team and work with us towards a world where everyone chooses delicious and healthy food that is good for all humans, animals, and our planet!

Job Details

Job Title: Chef Trainer - School Plates & Hospital Plates

Reporting to: Programme Manager, UK

Location: Remote (home-based with travel across UK)

Hours: 21-28 hours per week (0.6-0.8 FTE)

Salary: £32,000 per annum pro rata (based on 1.0 FTE)

When?

Application deadline: 5th October 2025

Start date: November 2025

Application process and timeline

Please submit your application using our online form including your CV and cover letter. By submitting your application you agree that your personal data will be processed by and shared with our UK entity (ProVeg C.I.C.) and German entity (ProVeg e.V.).

The recruitment process consists of two rounds: 1): an online trial task; 2): an interview with the Programme Manager and Director.

• Application deadline: 5th October 2025
• Online trial task: sent to longlisted candidates by 10th October 5pm, to be completed by 12 October at 5pm
• Interviews: take place on 21st and 22nd October 2025
• Start date: November 2025