Cook - Part-Time | 20 Hours | 2 Days Per Week
- Harewood Park | Cheadle, Staffordshire, ST10 2EE
- £13.33 per hour | 20 hours per week | Permanent
- 2 x 10-hour shifts | Rolling rota | 1 in 3 weekends
Love cooking and confident taking charge of a kitchen during your shift?
We're looking for a Cook to join the team at Harewood Park, preparing fresh, nutritious and enjoyable meals for the people who live with us.
This is a hands-on cooking role. During your shift, you'll be responsible for preparing and cooking residents' meals, so we're looking for someone who is comfortable working independently in the kitchen and confident preparing proper, home-cooked food.
You don't need to have worked in a care home before.
We're happy to consider applicants from a range of catering backgrounds and your current or previous job title doesn't necessarily need to be "Cook". What matters to us is that you have genuine practical cooking experience and are confident preparing and cooking full meals, rather than only having experience serving food or working front of house.
What You'll Be Doing
Food is an important part of everyday life at Harewood Park. You'll play a key role in making sure residents receive meals that are tasty, nutritious and appropriate for their individual needs.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Preparing and cooking fresh, balanced meals
- Taking responsibility for the kitchen and meal preparation during your shift
- Catering for individual dietary requirements, allergies and preferences
- Following menus and adapting meals where required
- Maintaining high standards of food hygiene and kitchen cleanliness
- Completing food safety and environmental health records
- Monitoring stock levels and supporting with ordering
- Working with the wider team around residents' nutritional needs
- Ensuring food is prepared, stored and served safely
Who We're Looking For
We're interested in what you can actually cook, not just your job title.
You might already work as a Cook or you may be a Catering Assistant, Kitchen Assistant or have another catering job title where preparing and cooking meals forms a genuine part of your role.
We're happy to consider cooking experience gained in settings such as care homes, pubs, cafés, restaurants, schools, nurseries, hospitals or other catering environments.
You'll need to:
- Have practical experience preparing and cooking meals
- Be confident working independently in a kitchen
- Be comfortable taking responsibility for meal preparation during your shift
- Take pride in preparing good-quality, home-cooked food
- Be organised and able to manage your time effectively
- Understand good food hygiene and safe working practices
- Be reliable and committed to your rota
- Be willing to cater for different dietary requirements with appropriate guidance and training
A Food Hygiene Certificate is desirable but isn't essential.
Experience of specialist diets or working within health and social care would be an advantage but we won't rule out a good Cook simply because you haven't worked in a care setting before.
Your Hours
This is a permanent, part-time position working 20 hours per week across two 10-hour shifts.
You'll work on a rolling rota, including 1 in 3 weekends.
What We Offer
- £13.33 per hour
- Permanent 20-hour contract
- Just 2 shifts per week
- Paid DBS check
- Full induction and ongoing training
- Career development opportunities across our organisation
- Company pension scheme
- Employee wellbeing support
- Annual staff awards and recognition events
- A welcoming and supportive team
- A role where the food you prepare genuinely contributes to people's wellbeing and quality of life
About Harewood Park
Harewood Park is a specialist rehabilitation service supporting adults living with enduring mental health conditions, acquired brain injuries and mild learning disabilities.
Our team provides a safe and supportive environment while helping the people we support maintain and develop their independence.
Interested?
If you genuinely enjoy cooking, have practical experience preparing full meals and are confident taking responsibility for the kitchen during your shift, we'd really like to hear from you.
Apply today with your CV.
We're happy to consider applicants from outside the care sector, your practical cooking experience is what we're most interested in.
All appointments are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, including references and an Enhanced DBS check.
Pay: £13.33 per hour
Application question(s):
- Please briefly tell us about your practical cooking experience, including the types of meals you have prepared and the setting you worked in.
- Do you currently have unrestricted right to work in the UK and are you able to work the full hours required for this role without sponsorship?
- Do you currently hold an Enhanced DBS certificate issued within the last 12 months for the Adults Workforce or Adults & Children Workforce?
- If you answered Yes to the previous question, is your DBS certificate currently registered with the DBS Update Service?
- This is a permanent 20-hour position working 2 x 10-hour shifts per week on a rolling rota, including 1 in 3 weekends. Are you able to work this pattern?
Work Location: In person
