Chef

Every meal we serve matters. For a patient nearing the end of life, food they can manage and look forward to is one of the real comforts left to them. For a family sitting at a bedside all day, our cafe is where they catch their breath. We are looking for a Chef who wants to cook somewhere the work means something.

You will cook fresh food across our kitchen, restaurant and café, and ward kitchens, and you will be the senior person in the kitchen when the Chef Manager is away.

What you will be doing

• Preparing and cooking breakfast, lunch and supper for our inpatient unit, day hospice plus café, restaurant and hospitality catering
• Cooking for specific nutritional needs, special diets, allergens and PPDS requirements
• Supervising catering assistants, porters, volunteers and apprentices' day-to-day
• Keeping the kitchen to the standards our HACCP and food safety management system require, and completing due diligence records on time
• Taking part in menu development, and helping with monthly stock takes and ordering

About you

You will need:

• City and Guilds 7061/2 at Level 2 or an NVQ equivalent, and a Level 2 Food Hygiene certificate (or willing to gain one within a month of starting)
• Up-to-date cooking knowledge and confident food safety practice, including special diets and allergens
• Experience of cooking to meet patients' nutritional needs - hospital, care home or hospice experience is welcome but not essential
• Warm, clear communication with patients, families, colleagues and visitors
• Comfortable working alongside palliative and end-of-life care patients, and happy to work to our values

Contract: Permanent, full-time, 37.5 hours per week, working a 5-day-in-7 rota, including weekends and bank holidays.

Where you'll work

St Joseph's Hospice was founded in 1905 by the Religious Sisters of Charity and built on a rich Catholic heritage. Today, we are an Investors in Diversity-awarded charity, providing expert, compassionate care to people of all backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs across East and North London.

Our specialist palliative care services - delivered at home, in our inpatient unit, and through outpatient clinics - are grounded in respect for human dignity and guided by compassion, justice, and a deep commitment to quality. Our values guide us in everything that we do. We work to ensure that everyone receives the support they need, with kindness, understanding, and respect, by delivering individualised, responsive and holistic support to patients and their families.

Why work for us?

• 27 days holiday plus public holidays, increasing up to 33 days with service
• Subsidised café and early access to retail sale events
• Season ticket loan
• Continuation of NHS Pension Scheme or an excellent salary-exchange pension scheme.
• Santander cycles discount and cycle to work scheme
• Health Cash Plan and access to the EAP services

Join St Joseph's team and find out more!

For more information and to apply, please visit our dedicated recruitment page via the 'Apply' button.

Closing date: 19 October 2026.

Interview date: TBC

We are an equal opportunity and a disability confident employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.

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