Community Impact & Engagement Manager

About the role

The Community Impact & Engagement Manager will bring HCL’s purpose to life within schools across the South East. Reporting to the Executive Chef, you will act as the bridge between strategy and delivery, connecting pupils, families and staff with food‑education programmes that inspire healthier habits and stronger community ties.

Key responsibilities

• Champion HCL’s vision by redefining the role of a school caterer, delivering social value beyond food provision.
• Work closely with schools to understand needs, support retention strategies and feed insights back into central initiatives.
• Design, coordinate and deliver age‑appropriate food‑education assemblies, workshops and ongoing engagement activities for primary and secondary schools.
• Collaborate with operational teams to ensure seamless programme delivery and collect feedback from pupils, staff and partners.
• Partner with the Marketing team to create campaigns, produce content (photos, videos, case studies) and support the rollout of educational resource packs.
• Analyse data on nutrition, behaviour and waste reduction to demonstrate impact and inform reporting.

Required profile

• Proven experience working with schools, community programmes or similar educational initiatives.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, able to engage pupils and staff of all ages.
• Ability to gather, analyse and act on feedback from multiple stakeholders.
• Collaborative mindset with experience working across cross‑functional teams.
• Passion for healthy eating, sustainability and creating lasting social impact.

Required skills

What we offer

• Permanent, full‑time contract (37 hours per week) based at our Welwyn Garden City head office.
• Competitive salary of £44,447 per annum (DOE).
• Opportunity to shape national school food‑education programmes and make a measurable community impact.
• Supportive environment with close collaboration between catering, marketing and operations teams.