HEAD COOK – Safe Harbor Care Homes
£400 Starting Bonus* | Competitive Pay | Free Parking | Discounted Meals | Training + Development
Safe Harbor is a family-run provider of Residential and Residential Dementia Care Homes across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. We’re proud of the supportive culture in our homes and the standards we continue to build—quality, dignity, safety, and person-centred care, every day.
Our values (how we work)
· Together: Residents and staff at the heart of everything we do. Strong relationships with residents, families and each other
· Safe: Safety as the foundation—robust care planning and continuous review
· Improving: Always learning, listening and raising standards
· Compassion: Individualised, gentle, respectful care
We’re looking for a Head Cook who can lead a well-run kitchen, deliver consistently great meals, and keep standards high—nutrition, hygiene, compliance and resident experience.
The role (what you’ll be doing)
· Leading the kitchen day-to-day, ensuring a calm, organised and professional service
· Preparing and serving nutritious, varied meals that residents enjoy, with choice wherever possible
· Planning menus and supporting menu changes in line with preferences, allergies, special diets and texture-modified meals
· Maintaining high standards of taste, presentation and portion control
· Managing kitchen staff, including day-to-day supervision, supervisions, coaching and performance standards
· Producing and managing rotas to ensure safe, effective cover
· Managing ordering, deliveries, stock rotation and ensuring stock levels are always adequate
· Working within an agreed budget, managing stock control and reducing waste
· Keeping the kitchen clean, safe and compliant with Health & Safety and food hygiene requirements
· Completing and overseeing required checks and records accurately (e.g., temperatures, cleaning schedules, audits)
· Supporting special occasions and events in the home (working closely with the activities team)
· Supporting the home’s quality assurance programme and being audit-ready at all times
What we’re looking for
· A warm, professional approach and genuine care for residents’ wellbeing
· Strong kitchen leadership experience (care/healthcare/hospitality experience all welcome)
· Confidence managing people (rotas, supervision, standards, coaching)
· Strong organisation skills and attention to detail—accurate record keeping is essential
· Confidence with menu planning, ordering, stock control and working to budgets
· Intermediate Food Hygiene Certificate (or equivalent)
· A professional catering qualification (e.g., City & Guilds/NVQ/SVQ or equivalent) is preferred
· Right to work in the UK — applicants must not require sponsorship now or in the future
What you’ll get at Safe Harbor
· £400 “Golden Hello” starting bonus*
· Free parking
· Discounted meals
· Refer-a-friend bonus*
· Training and development support
· Recognition and appreciation initiatives (including staff awards and team treats)
· A provider that is actively investing in improvements across our homes
Working hours
· To cover hours between 7.30am to 18:00 this will be rota'd as earlies and lates
If you’re a strong kitchen leader who cares about quality, consistency and compliance—and you want a role where your work genuinely improves residents’ day—apply now.
*Terms and conditions apply.
For more information about our careers and our company, please see our company website details below
https://safeharbor.co.uk/careers/
https://safeharbor.co.uk/
https://safeharbor.co.uk/care-homes/florence-house/
Pay: £13.50 per hour
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Discounted or free food
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
