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Job summary

Main area
Catering
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 4
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
Job ref
196-ESS1610-S
Employer
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
St Thomas's Hospital
Town
Westminster
Salary
£33,094 - £36,195 p.a. inc. of HCA
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
03/08/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust logo

Chef Team Leader

NHS AfC: Band 4

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.

Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. 

Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.

In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.

We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.

Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.

The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.

We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.



Job overview

Are you a talented chef with a passion for quality cooking and team leadership? An exciting opportunity awaits you in our Retail Catering department!

We are looking for a dedicated Team Leader Chef to join us Monday to Friday, with occasional weekend openings. The role is to oversee the preparation and cooking of nutritionally balanced meals to the highest standards for a diverse customers including staff, patients, and visitors. With over 800-900 customers served daily, your supervisory experience in a large kitchen will be invaluable.

As a key player in our busy restaurants and café, you'll lead by example, ensuring impeccable food quality, safety, and presentation. Your role will involve preparing breakfast and lunch menus, managing a live cooking environment, and inspiring your team to excel.

To succeed, you will need:

  • Previous supervisory experience in a high-volume kitchen.
  • A passion for cooking excellence and innovation.
  • Strong communication skills to collaborate effectively with our dynamic team.
  • Flexibility, initiative, and a proactive approach to challenges.

Join us in delivering exceptional dining experiences that nourish and delight our outlets. If you're ready to take the next step in your culinary career, apply now and be part of our vibrant team.

Main duties of the job

  •  Preparing, cooking and presenting of all food to a consistent high standard for all retail outlets
  • To liaise with the chef manager, deputy retail catering manager and retail catering manager to ensure the food is always to the high standard in presentation and portion controls.
  •  Preparation and cooking of modified diets if required.
  • To ensure all food is displayed well and the correct meal offer is available throughout service at all times.
  • To lead and assist with the meal service provision and associated duties ensuring meal times are adhered to.  
  •  To have a scheduled workplan within of kitchen and to adjust own working patterns to meet the demands of the business where necessary.
  •  Involvement with planning and costings of menus providing information on nutrition, allergen and healthy diet options.  
  • To manage food safety across all the outlets and to ensure all staff are following the correct food hygiene procedures

Working for our organisation

Our outlets are open for breakfast and lunch Monday to Friday but there is the need to open at weekends when required. We have six retail outlets, each managed by a dedicated team committed to providing a high standard of service and ensuring that our customers can enjoy a delicious and healthy meal at their convenience.

 We provide a wide choice of high quality, appetising, well balanced meals.

 We pride ourselves on providing to our clients, Fresh, Healthy, Seasonal, Traceable and Sustainable food.

Organisational Values:

Our values help us to define and develop our culture, what we do and how we do it.  It is important that you understand and reflect these values throughout your employment with the Trust. 

We are: Caring, Ambitious, Inclusive

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

As a member of the retail catering team, your role involves providing a meal service to patients, visitors, and staff. Your responsibilities include ensuring that food is nutritious, well-presented, and cooked to the highest standards. 

You will oversee menu planning, ordering, costing, and stock management. It is crucial to maintain compliance with Health and Hygiene regulations and Food Safety procedures. Accurate record-keeping is essential for internal and external audits. Collaboration within the team is key, and you should be comfortable working calmly in a fast-paced environment.

 The ideal candidate will possess knowledge of preparing and cooking nutritionally balanced meals according to standardised recipes, meeting high-volume demands daily. Understanding cooking techniques, temperatures, allergens, consistency and food texture is essential. Additionally, you will contribute creative and appealing ideas for our extensive menus.

  • Observing correct and safe working procedures in accordance with the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
  • To maintain all ‘due-diligence’ processes relating to cook-chill cooking procedures as stated in the Trust food safety policy.
  •  Ensure all food stored in fridges/freezers have correct labelling and are properly stored and rotated
  •   Ensuring economical and correct use of all materials and equipment.
  •  Ensuring the highest level of hygiene and cleanliness is maintained at all times.
  •  Covering for other team leader chef’s as and when required.         
  •  Assure a high level of staff morale and motivation by personal leadership, communication and appropriate procedures 
  • Help deal with customers feed-back and complaints
  • Maintaining a tidy place of work including undertaking light cleaning duties.
  • Maintaining a neat appearance at all times consistent with the catering dress code. 
  •  To report any mechanical or safety defects and need for repairs to the supervisor for immediate action.
  • Attend training courses where necessary.
  • To be able to work flexibly across all the retail outlets as and when required.
  •     Participation in the department’s appraisal scheme.
  • To promote the service and reputation of the department at all times.
  • Full awareness of all dietary supplements that are required.
  • Any other duties commensurate with the grade for the efficient running of the department.
  • Safe working practices in the retail kitchen in accordance with good catering practice and provision of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
  • To report any accident immediately as per the Accident Procedure in accordance with Trust policy and Incident Reporting Form (IR1) – Radar procedure and complete and all appropriate paperwork and inform your line manager.
  •  Adhere to departmental operational standards and procedures.
  •  Follow and adhere to the Trust Values and Behaviour.
  • To observe and where necessary, follow all Fire Precautions as laid out within the general hospital guidelines.

 

Person specification

Physical Requirements

Essential criteria
  • Ability to fulfil the role as described in line with the Trust Manual handling Policy and the Equality Act
  • Over 18 to operate machinery

Skills/Knowledge/Ability

Essential criteria
  • Self motivating
  • Ability to work without direct supervision
  • Ability to work under pressure
  • Patient, organised and friendly
  • Problem Solving
  • Ability to work quickly and efficiently
  • Ability to motivate staff and delegate duties
  • Good Customer Care Skills
  • People management skills

Previous Experience

Essential criteria
  • Significant experience working in a similar environment
  • IT Literate in Microsoft applications and working knowledge of Catering ordering systems.
  • An understanding of allergens and special dietary requirements
  • Previous experience of Stock Management and ordering
Desirable criteria
  • Working within an NHS environment

Qualifications/Education

Essential criteria
  • Good level of education
  • Recognised supervisory qualification
  • Level 2 Food Hygiene
  • Good command of spoken and written English
  • Relevant chef qualification (NVQ 3) or equivalent
Desirable criteria
  • Level 3 food hygiene certificate
  • Health & Safety Training
  • Manual Handling policy knowledge

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Timewise helps businesses to attract and develop the best talent through flexible working.Care quality commission - GoodDisability confident employer

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Nedko Rusev
Job title
Catering Manager
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
02071886525
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