Catering Manager

We are looking to recruit a Catering Manager on a 1 year fixed term contract to run our busy kitchen and lead the catering team. The successful applicant will be a natural leader with good communication skills to motivate the team in providing an exceptional and outstanding service to students and staff. You will have responsibility for managing the school's kitchen including the preparation, cooking and service of freshly cooked food ensuring the highest levels of food hygiene and health and safety are maintained. You will be highly organised and have good leadership and administrative skills.,

• Support the day-to-day running of the catering service, ensuring high standards of cleanliness, food presentation and customer service within the café and kitchen areas.
• Supervise and support the catering team to ensure a consistent and friendly service is provided to students, staff, and visitors.
• Assist with staff induction, training and ongoing development where required.
• Ensure compliance with Food Safety, Environmental Health and Health & Safety procedures and guidelines.
• Assist with monitoring budgets, controlling costs and maintaining accurate catering records and generating reports.
• Monitor stock levels, support ordering processes and help minimise wastage.
• Maintain positive working relationships with suppliers and support value-for-money purchasing.
• Support the School Business Manager in delivering hospitality and catering services across the school., To manage the kitchen, to prepare and cook meals, and to oversee the tasks undertaken by the Kitchen
Assistant(s). This will be conducted in accordance with food handling and preparation regulations, ensuring safe and proper use of the kitchen/catering equipment and materials provided. Main responsibilities and duties 1. To supervise, direct and train Kitchen Assistants. 2. To generate and process all food orders, pass invoices for payment and to keep all records and stock books, as required. 3. To prepare, cook, manage and serve school meals. 4. To supervise lunch time service 5. To maintain all areas of the kitchen and pieces of equipment, to necessary standards of kitchen hygiene. 6. Wash up, as appropriate. 7. To prepare beverages and refreshments, as requested. 8. Promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people in accordance with the school's safeguarding and child protection policy., Deal with routine enquires from staff, students, visitors etc but to refer more complex queries affecting the service / arrangements to the Headteacher. Decision making
• Where there is no specified menu, to decide on the school meals to be provided under the guidance of
the Headteacher
• To order stock when appropriate.
Resources Handles and operates a range of kitchen and food preparation equipment (e.g. Ovens, hobs, food processors, cutting equipment, pans and catering machinery). Training and personal protective equipment will be provided. Working environment Kitchen environment. Exposure to hot equipment, materials on a daily and continuous basis. Requirement to transport/carry foods trays and kitchen equipment (not exceeding 25kg). This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to have an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check (formerly CRB) in line with the Governments safer recruitment guidelines., This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Necessary Necessary Always Enabled Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information. Non-necessary Non-necessary Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

The successful candidate will have experience working within a busy catering or kitchen environment and be confident supporting the day-to-day running of a catering service. You will hold a Level 2 Food Safety Certificate, with a Level 3 qualification desirable. Training and support towards achieving Level 3 will be provided if required., Minimum Basic Food and Hygiene qualification. Preferably City and Guilds 706/1 or equivalent NVQ Qualification and experience in School meals provision. Supervision & management A requirement to supervise and deploy kitchen assistant(s) as appropriate Problem solving and creativity Work to strict deadlines to plan day to day activities, but within established routines, within the budget and guidelines on nutritional content.

Ferndown Upper School operates an in-house catering service for over 1,000 students with provision at breakfast, mid-morning break and lunch time.


• CPD opportunities and training and development programmes.
• Eligibility to join the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Access to health and wellbeing support.
• Private Healthcare Cash Back Plan including 24/7 access to a GP by phone, gym discounts, cashback for optical, dental and other appointment expenses.
• Access to staff benefits and discounts portal through Dorset Council.