Location
Northampton, England
Salary
£28,392 - £31,157 per annum
Profession
Chef
Grade
Band 4
Deadline
16 Sep 2026
Contract Type
Permanent
Posted Date
02 Sep 2026
Medical Protection — the side of locally employed doctors from £83

Job requirements

Requirements from the employer’s person specification. These describe the role, not your personal match.

Essential

24 listed

Requirements the employer expects applicants to meet.

  • Skills

    Preparation of food to deadlines and general food production such as butchery

  • Skills

    Kitchen task planning and organising, adjusting work schedule as required

  • Knowledge & Experience

    Recognized Catering Craft Skill

  • Knowledge & Experience

    Strong People Management Skills including general HR skills in recruitment, training and managing employee performance including disciplinary & grievance procedures

  • Knowledge & Experience

    Delivered a service in a smililar role

  • Knowledge & Experience

    Financial Acumen, managing budget

  • Knowledge & Experience

    Catering experience & a great passion for food & team engagement

  • Education, Training & Qualifications

    Food Safety Level 3

  • Education, Training & Qualifications

    NVQ3 Vocational Chef Qualification, or equivalent knowledge acquired through training & experience

  • Education, Training & Qualifications

    Knowledge acquired through training & experience to diploma level on special diets & health & safety management

  • Education, Training & Qualifications

    Willingness to undergo additional training

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Passionate & committed to bringing our Dedicated to Excellence Values to life, improving the way we work with each other, particularly focusing on empowerment, equality, diversity & inclusion of staff, patients & service users.

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Management of day to day kitchen operations & delegation of work to colleagues

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Ensures safe use of equipment & associated training

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Strong level of literacy & numeracy

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate with staff & customers

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Good time management & organisational skills with the ability to think ahead

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Computer Literacy

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Completing Staff surveys & local audits

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Ability to achieve & set standards

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Self motivated, have own initiative & the ability to meet deadlines

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Mental effort & concentration required when cooking and using equipment

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Processing of time sheets & work records for staff & colleagues

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities & Attributes

    Ability to develop employees through training

Desirable

Not listed in the available specification.

Job overview

We’re looking for someone who can motivate, engage, and lead a team in the catering department. This fantastic opportunity has arisen for a motivated and experienced Head Chef to join our team at our renovated restaurant to a lead and develop the food offer.

We are looking for a chef who is passionate about food, enthusiastic, personable, creative, organised, and flexible. As you will be responsible for managing a brigade of chefs and kitchen assistants, you will need strong leadership skills with the ability to engage, instruct, motivate whilst remaining calm under pressure. Working a varied rota, five days from seven.

You will be a real foodie with a passion and flair for innovation and different styles of food including street food trends as well as hospitality.

This is an excellent opportunity to develop your career in a growing business within the NHS.

Main duties of the job

  • To produce all catering services at the required service times to the company standards, within the agreed specification, to the agreed performance and financial targets.
  • To take full responsibility and accountability for the catering in our restaurant and café outlets.
  • To lead by example by providing guidance and direction to staff in the team. Conducting yourself in a respectful and professional manner and to encourage others to act in the same manner.
  • To manage and undertake regular team meetings with the teams and provide feedback to the senior management team.
  • Manage the department in line with the Food Safety Management System.
  • To ensure that all food production areas, ancillary rooms’ fridges, and general catering equipment are kept in a clean and hygienic state through-out the duration of production, cooking, and service.
  • Carry out weekly & monthly audits against daily/monthly due diligence and cleaning schedules.
  • Actively enforce the relevant Food Safety compliance, that your knowledge of Health and Safety, Risk Management and COSHH requirements are kept up to date and that this knowledge is cascaded to your team.
  • To have a thorough knowledge of the Food Safety Procedures, cleaning techniques and standards and to ensure that staff use and maintain these.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

  • Encourage, engage, and lead the catering team to perform their roles to a high standard, in alignment to the NHS policies and procedures.
  • Actively seek and identify opportunities for sales growth.
  • Create proposals for improvements in the department areas when the need occurs to the Catering Services Management Team and to contribute to the improvement of the services.
  • Manage tariff prices, that all catering services are costed and charged accordingly.
  • Maintain stock levels, consumption & wastage.
  • Management of the ordering of food and supplies.
  • Successfully completing weekly stock takes to manage the department consumption spend.
  • Trust wide, Directorate and Departmental procedures are implemented and complied with by all catering staff.
  • Manage departmental attendance and sickness, in line with the absence and sickness policies.
  • Manage all Short Term and Long-Term sickness.
  • Manage Recruitment, Onboarding & Training, ensure that staffing levels meet budgets.
  • To co-ordinate the mandatory training needs for all catering team members and report on completion statistics
  • Report any work difficulties and potential hazards such as equipment defects promptly to the responsible line manager or external service provider.
  • To maintain a pleasant customer focussed manner always. Be the face of the food service front and back of house.
  • To undertake, manage and supervise annual appraisals with all catering team members and to report back any figures a necessary.
  • Monitor and Adhere to the Trust and Departmental uniform policies and codes.
  • To complete weekly timesheets on the e-rostering system for bank and substantive staff.
  • Work with other department managers to organise hospitality events.
  • Any other reasonable request related to tasks identified by the Catering Services Manager.

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

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Applying for this NHS job

This advert is for Senior Chef Supervisor with Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust in Northampton, England. It is listed as a Band 4 Chef role. The advertised salary is £28,392 - £31,157 per annum. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 16 Sep 2026.

Before you apply, compare the job description with the person specification and mirror the employer's essential criteria in your supporting information. Use the vacancy title, employer, location, salary, contract type, closing date and posted date (02 Sep 2026) to decide whether this role fits your current NHSjob search. If the employer can close applications early, prepare the application before the stated deadline rather than waiting for the final day.

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