HEAD CHEF
Job Type : Permanent, Full Time
Salary : £45000/annum
Job title: Head Chef
Salary: £45,000
Location: Cambridge Colleges
Duties and responsibilities:
Ensure fresh, interesting and vibrant food offerings across all outlets are of the highest standards and where possible are locally sourced and seasonal.
Deliver outstanding, creative cafeteria dining, collaborating closely with the Pantry team in its delivery, to a level that is recognized among intercollegiate peers.
Creating exciting menus with nutritional balance as a priority across student dining.
Deliver dishes of exceptional standards for important events such as feasts, Master’s Lodge and Graduations.
To be passionate about farm to fork/ nose to tail cookery, preparing from scratch.
Utilising a variety of media, ensure the food offering is modern, adaptive and on trend with a wide variety of customer demands.
Create interesting offerings for all dietary needs, with an understanding of the importance of vegetarian and plant-based menu design.
Create multiple seasonal menus each term including cafeteria, Formal Dining and External Conference Dining within the budget constraints given.
To ensure the kitchen team live sustainable policies and are conscious of the impact food has on our environment.
Liaise with Catering Manager regularly to ensure the smooth running of all kitchen operations.
Management
Be a leader across all the Catering department, maintaining a positive and enthusiastic approach and outlook.
Motivate and manage all kitchen staff, hold team and 1 to 1 meetings to provide an environment in which colleagues can thrive.
Recruit, train and develop your team to ensure they thrive and are passionate about exceeding expectations, including developing craft apprentice chefs.
Encourage development of team members through a range of creative means.
Ensure all department budgets are achieved, costing all dishes and ensuring that the best value to quality ratio is maintained with suppliers.
Engage with all college departments, especially with Senior Officers and recognise the unique pressures each is under that may influence requests.
Successfully utilise tools available (KX, Uniware, Foodcourt, Hawk) to streamline operations, maintaining correct stock levels, food safety and understanding incoming demand.
Undertake staff inductions, appraisals, training, welfare, supervision and minor disciplinary matters.
Ensure accurate staff record keeping, including training records, overtime records, attendance and sickness records.
Empower your team to run the kitchen seamlessly in your absence.
Ensure the Kitchen Porters are motivated and appreciated as key members of the team to maintain exceptional cleanliness across the facilities.
Maintain overtime hours through effective planning and roster flexibility ensuring good work life balance.
Ensure the fabric and equipment of the kitchen is maintained
Ensure the College’s commitment to Equal Opportunities is maintained
Client Relations
Hold regular meetings, alongside the Catering Manager, with the Master’s Lodge,
President, Senior Tutor, Food and Wine Steward, and student bodies (JCR & MCR) Be available to the Catering team, particularly at service times
Be an ambassador of the College, engaging with the intercollegiate Chefs community. Deal with all queries or client comments promptly and efficiently.
Proactively engage with the immediate college community and a wider audience through a variety of media including social media platforms.
Hygiene, Health and Safety
Ensure all hygiene, health and safety standards are adhered to and the College’s Health & Safety policy are complied with.
Ensure all allergy policies are adhered to, allergen information is communicated effectively and maintain accurate records both physical and electronic.
Ensure all kitchen team members display exemplary allergen awareness and are ambassadors to the community in this regard.
Ensure that both College sites retain 5-star Food Hygiene rating.
Have ownership of Kitchen maintenance contracts and ensure competitor checks are regularly undertaken.
Ensure all team members wear correct uniform and follow personal hygiene rules.
Other Responsibilities
Display a problem solving and positive attitude towards supporting the Catering Department and College objectives and values.
Attend all College training, any staff meetings and any other reasonable duties as requested by the Catering Manager
Maintain all aspects of on- site security and all relevant instructions are followed.
The above is not an exhaustive list and the post holder may be expected to undertake other related duties as required by the Catering Manager. The list of duties may be subject to revision at the end of the probationary period.
Person Specification
Essential
Desirable
Education/Qualifications
City & Guilds 706 1 & 2 or NVQ
Full, current, clean driving
equivalent qualification
licence
CIEH/ level 2 in Food Safety in Catering
CIEH level 2 in Health & Safety
Certificate
in the Workplace Certificate
Knowledge/Experience
Good knowledge of current food
Previous experienced working
trends
within an educational facility,
Breadth of experience, skills and
ideally Oxbridge Colleges
achievements gained from working
Understanding and passion
within high end hotels, restaurants or
for food nutrition and
contract catering environments
healthy eating.
Management experience running a
Good understanding of food
kitchen team including HR aspects
sustainability with a passion
Management experience of utilising
to pursue and develop this
and generating financial
aspect of their knowledge.
documentation such as food costings,
budgets.
IT Skills
Working knowledge of Word, Excel
Knowledge of KX,
and Outlook
Uniware, Foodcourt, Hawk
Ability and willingness to use IT
systems as a tool to efficient
operational management
Skills
Excellent oral communication skills
Accurate record keeping skills and
general attention to detail
Highly organised in order to be able to
run a busy food service area
Ability to maintain financial targets in
respect of menus
Ability to be flexible to College
demands, sometimes at short notice
Motivational skills and to lead by
example
Problem-solving
Ability to work as part of a team
Ability to supervise staff
Attention to detail, especially in
regards to accurate allergen
information
Personal Qualities
Positive and professional attitude
High standard of personal cleanliness
and appearance
Polite manner in dealing with
customers and staff
Ability to work under pressure
Physical/Special Requirements
Due to the age and layout of the College, there are a number of steep staircases and areas of restricted access. Some heavy lifting of materials and equipment
If you are interested in this position or for more info please contact Marouf on (phone number removed) or email your CV to (url removed)
More Information
- Address Cambridge
