Job summary
- Main area
- Catering
- Grade
- Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday - Sunday on a rota basis)
- Job ref
- 362-ANC4CAT-06-26
- Employer
- Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
- Town
- Stockport
- Salary
- £28,392 - £31,157 pro rata per anum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 30/06/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Head Chef
Band 4
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
There are lots of good reasons to choose to come and work at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust. A dynamic integrated Trust with integrity and vision. Exactly the same qualities you’ll see in yourself. Stockport NHS Foundation Trust aims to be the organisation of choice for patients and an employer of choice for staff. In order to continually improve all aspects of our patient experience, we rely upon having a highly skilled, motivated, diverse, productive and patient focused workforce.
Stockport Foundation Trust is one of four ‘specialist’ hospital sites in Greater Manchester. Being a ‘specialist’ hospital will enhance our general surgery, anaesthetics, critical care and emergency medicine for the benefit of people in Stockport, High Peak, Cheshire and across Greater Manchester.
In your application for this post, please describe how your experience and skills align with 'Our values-based behaviours' ( see additional documentation) and provide examples.
Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment
As well as recognising previous NHS service, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust is a member of the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment. If you are currently employed by Greater Manchester Local Authority, Combined Authority, GMFRS, TfGM as well as other public service organisations, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust will recognise your previous service for sickness and maternity/paternity/adoption entitlement and also for annual leave purposes (providing there has been no break in service). If you currently work for one of the above organisations and successfully apply for a post with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, please ensure the Recruitment team are aware so that this service is reflected in your contract of employment.
Job overview
Head Chef – Exciting Leadership Opportunity
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a passionate and talented Head Chef to lead our award-winning team in producing high-quality, traditional, home-made food within a large-scale production kitchen. Our operation provides nutritious meals for both patients and staff, with a strong focus on quality, consistency, and innovation.
We are extremely proud of our continued success, having received multiple national and regional awards, including:
- NHS England NHS Chef of the Year 2022
- Public Sector Catering Hospital Catering Award 2022
- NHS England NHS Chef of the Year 2025
- Public Sector Catering Hospital Catering Award 2026
- Public Sector Catering Caterer of the Year 2026
The Role
As Head Chef, you will:
- Lead and inspire a large, dynamic kitchen team
- Drive menu development, innovation, and food quality standards
- Ensure efficient, safe, and compliant kitchen operations
- Play a key role in maintaining and building on our award-winning reputation
What We Offer
In return, we offer:
- The opportunity to lead within a nationally recognised, award-winning team
- Access to modern, high-spec kitchen equipment and facilities
- Ongoing training, development, and leadership support
- A clear career progression pathway within our organisation
If you are a passionate Head Chef looking to make a real impact in a forward-thinking healthcare environment, we would love to hear from you.
Main duties of the job
Working for our organisation
We hold a unique position in the Stockport community as the provider of healthcare and we are one of its largest employers.
We believe that the best organisations are those that reflect the communities they serve. We are therefore seeking to improve the diversity of our workforce to make it truly representative of our local population.
We actively encourage applications irrespective of race, age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage & civil partnership, or pregnancy or maternity. Recognising those communities that are underrepresented within our workforce, we would particularly welcome applications from you.
If you require support with your application please contact a member of the recruitment team, who can discuss alternative application methods.
We recognise that flexible working is important. We take requests for flexible working seriously, consider any request we receive and try to work with you, so we can explore if your request may fit with the needs of the service.
Benefits we offer to you:
- Between 27-33 days of annual leave plus bank holidays
- NHS pension scheme membership
- Salary sacrifice schemes for lease cars, home electronics and more, to make your salary go further
- NHS Staff discounts
- Cycle to work scheme
- Salary finance – for loans, savings, budget planning and tips on managing debt
- Stockport Credit Union– for local financial advice
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The job description gives an overview of the main tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specifications focusses on the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. These documents are attached on the page and can be downloaded.
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Person specification
Education & Qualification
Essential criteria
- City & Guilds 706/1 & 706/2 or similar qualification
- IEHO Intermediate Food Hygiene Cert / level 3 food hygiene
Desirable criteria
- N.E.B.S.M Cert or Similar Qualification
- Basic Health and safety cert
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Working Knowledge of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point H.A.C.C.P. Procedures
- Understanding of Food Science and Safety Systems
- Understanding of cleaning and monitoring systems
Desirable criteria
- Financial Awareness and Business Acumen
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of planning, organising and controlling of resources across an acute hospital patient feeding function
- Demonstrate desire and ability to promote implement and sustain change
- Proven track record in problem solving
- Minimum of two years experience as Senior Supervisor/Head Chef in similar large scale organisation and ability to analyse complex situations and make decisions leading to positive action
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Erica Bell
- Job title
- Support Service Manager Patient & Retail Catering
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01614195852
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