Posted 22 July, 2026
Lead Chef - Café and Catering
Groundwork
Stanley, ENG, GB
Full Time
Job Description
Location: Annfield PlainWorking pattern: 35 hours per week, with flexibility to work additional hours as requiredSalary: £25,480 per annumAbout the roleWe're looking for an experienced Lead Chef to oversee all aspects of our café kitchen and catering operations at Greenhouse Business Centre. This is a hands-on role where you'll lead by example, preparing fresh, high-quality food for daily café trade and conference or meeting catering. You'll manage kitchen operations, ensure full compliance with food safety regulations, and lead a small team to deliver excellent food and service standards.What you'll be doing\n
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- Lead all kitchen operations for the café and catering services \n
- Prepare and cook a variety of dishes including sandwiches, soups, bakes, and hot lunches \n
- Design, plan, and cost seasonal menus for the café and catering events \n
- Ensure all food is prepared to high quality, taste, and presentation standards \n
- Maintain consistency, efficiency, and attention to detail during service \n
- Plan and deliver catering for on-site conferences, meetings, and special events \n
- Liaise with business centre staff to meet client requirements and event timelines \n
- Ensure catering deliveries are accurate, on time, and professionally presented \n
- Take full responsibility for kitchen hygiene, cleanliness, and safety \n
- Implement and maintain HACCP procedures and food hygiene records \n
- Conduct and document all required daily, weekly, and monthly checks \n
- Ensure all staff follow food safety, allergen, and cleaning protocols \n
- Manage ordering, delivery, and storage of food and supplies \n
- Monitor stock levels, control wastage, and operate within agreed budgets \n
- Supervise and support Catering Assistant(s) and any temporary staff \n
- Provide on-the-job training, guidance, coaching and feedback \n
- Foster a positive, efficient and customer-focused kitchen culture \n
- Conduct regular one-to-one meetings and performance reviews for team members \n
- Take ownership of operational issues, complaints and service challenges \n
- Communicate issues, risks and proposed solutions to management \n
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- Proven experience as a Lead Chef or Senior Chef in a café, hospitality or catering environment \n
- Strong culinary skills with the ability to design, cost and deliver varied menus \n
- Excellent understanding of food hygiene, allergen control and HACCP systems \n
- Strong leadership, communication and interpersonal skills \n
- Excellent planning, organisation and time management skills \n
- Ability to balance café service, catering orders, administration, stock management and staff supervision \n
- Strong administrative and record-keeping skills with attention to detail \n
- Competence in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Outlook, Word and Excel \n
- Food Hygiene Level 3 (minimum) \n
- A proactive, solution-focused approach with the ability to work independently and take ownership \n
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- 35 hours per week with flexibility to work additional hours as required \n
- A hands-on role leading a small catering team \n
- Opportunity to design and deliver varied menus for café and catering clients \n
- Work within a community-focused organisation \n
