We’re looking for someone who can motivate, engage, and lead a team in the catering department. This fantastic opportunity has arisen for a motivated and experienced Head Chef to join our team at our renovated restaurant to a lead and develop the food offer.
We are looking for a chef who is passionate about food, enthusiastic, personable, creative, organised, and flexible. As you will be responsible for managing a brigade of chefs and kitchen assistants, you will need strong leadership skills with the ability to engage, instruct, motivate whilst remaining calm under pressure. Working a varied rota, five days from seven.
You will be a real foodie with a passion and flair for innovation and different styles of food including street food trends as well as hospitality.
This is an excellent opportunity to develop your career in a growing business within the NHS.
- To produce all catering services at the required service times to the company standards, within the agreed specification, to the agreed performance and financial targets.
- To take full responsibility and accountability for the catering in our restaurant and café outlets.
- To lead by example by providing guidance and direction to staff in the team. Conducting yourself in a respectful and professional manner and to encourage others to act in the same manner.
- To manage and undertake regular team meetings with the teams and provide feedback to the senior management team.
- Manage the department in line with the Food Safety Management System.
- To ensure that all food production areas, ancillary rooms’ fridges, and general catering equipment are kept in a clean and hygienic state through-out the duration of production, cooking, and service.
- Carry out weekly & monthly audits against daily/monthly due diligence and cleaning schedules.
- Actively enforce the relevant Food Safety compliance, that your knowledge of Health and Safety, Risk Management and COSHH requirements are kept up to date and that this knowledge is cascaded to your team.
- To have a thorough knowledge of the Food Safety Procedures, cleaning techniques and standards and to ensure that staff use and maintain these.
Please submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close adverts once sufficient applications have been received.
We recognise that AI tools can support application writing; however, candidates are asked to keep their use to a minimum. Responses should reflect your own experience, skills and knowledge, as over-reliance on AI-generated content may result in generic answers that do not accurately represent your abilities.
University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) brings together Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As a group, we are committed to improving services for our communities through collaboration, modernising care delivery and striving for excellence. Working together enables us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities, and there may be a requirement to work across sites depending on service needs.
Our Excellence Values are Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage. UHN welcomes applications from all backgrounds and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and hold the Gold Award under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Candidates who identify as members of the Armed Forces community and meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview.
- To produce all catering services at the required service times to the company standards, within the agreed specification, to the agreed performance and financial targets.
- To take full responsibility and accountability for the catering in our restaurant and café outlets.
- To lead by example by providing guidance and direction to staff in the team. Conducting yourself in a respectful and professional manner and to encourage others to act in the same manner.
- To manage and undertake regular team meetings with the teams and provide feedback to the senior management team.
- Manage the department in line with the Food Safety Management System.
- To ensure that all food production areas, ancillary rooms’ fridges, and general catering equipment are kept in a clean and hygienic state through-out the duration of production, cooking, and service.
- Carry out weekly & monthly audits against daily/monthly due diligence and cleaning schedules.
- Actively enforce the relevant Food Safety compliance, that your knowledge of Health and Safety, Risk Management and COSHH requirements are kept up to date and that this knowledge is cascaded to your team.
- To have a thorough knowledge of the Food Safety Procedures, cleaning techniques and standards and to ensure that staff use and maintain these.
- Encourage, engage, and lead the catering team to perform their roles to a high standard, in alignment to the NHS policies and procedures.
- Actively seek and identify opportunities for sales growth.
- Create proposals for improvements in the department areas when the need occurs to the Catering Services Management Team and to contribute to the improvement of the services.
- Manage tariff prices, that all catering services are costed and charged accordingly.
- Maintain stock levels, consumption & wastage.
- Management of the ordering of food and supplies.
- Successfully completing weekly stock takes to manage the department consumption spend.
- Trust wide, Directorate and Departmental procedures are implemented and complied with by all catering staff.
- Manage departmental attendance and sickness, in line with the absence and sickness policies.
- Manage all Short Term and Long-Term sickness.
- Manage Recruitment, Onboarding & Training, ensure that staffing levels meet budgets.
- To co-ordinate the mandatory training needs for all catering team members and report on completion statistics
- Report any work difficulties and potential hazards such as equipment defects promptly to the responsible line manager or external service provider.
- To maintain a pleasant customer focussed manner always. Be the face of the food service front and back of house.
- To undertake, manage and supervise annual appraisals with all catering team members and to report back any figures a necessary.
- Monitor and Adhere to the Trust and Departmental uniform policies and codes.
- To complete weekly timesheets on the e-rostering system for bank and substantive staff.
- Work with other department managers to organise hospitality events.
- Any other reasonable request related to tasks identified by the Catering Services Manager.
