Group Chef

About the role

The Group Chef will lead HCL’s mobile catering teams across multiple school and commercial sites in South East England. Reporting to the Senior Operations Manager, you will ensure kitchens are fully staffed, compliant with food safety standards, and deliver high‑quality meals to students and staff.

Key responsibilities

• Plan, schedule and deploy a mobile workforce to guarantee adequate kitchen staffing across all locations.
• Lead, train and manage team members, handling performance, absence and HR compliance.
• Provide hands‑on kitchen support, monitor food quality, control food cost, labour and waste.
• Maintain Food Safety, Health & Safety and allergen management standards on every site.
• Recruit, retain and develop mobile staff while supporting wider site recruitment initiatives.
• Assist with new site set‑ups, equipment onboarding and system implementation.
• Support site engagement activities and digital reporting tools.

Required profile

• Experienced Chef or Kitchen Manager, preferably with multi‑site or mobile catering experience.
• Strong leadership and people‑management abilities.
• Solid knowledge of food safety, health & safety and allergen regulations.
• Highly organised, adaptable and able to travel between sites.
• Full UK driving licence.

Required skills

• Food safety compliance.
• Health & safety management.
• Allergen control procedures.

What we offer

• Competitive salary £36,857‑£38,122 per annum (DOE).
• 35‑hour work week across 40 weeks per year (term time plus one week).
• Opportunities to lead a dynamic, multi‑site catering operation.