School Menu Development Chef

Centurion Staunch Innovative Solutions Ltd | Full time

School Menu Development Chef

Nottingham, United Kingdom | Posted on 06/12/2025

This is not a standard development chef role. We are looking for an innovative, practical and collaborativeSchool Menu Development Chef to inspire and develop school catering teams and deliver outstanding meals for children.

You will design fresh, seasonal menus (updated twice per year), ensure compliance with School Food Standards and Food for Life criteria, deliver audits and improvement recommendations, run taster sessions and demonstrations at schools, and support/upskill school cooks in producing high-quality, cost-effective meals at scale.

This role supports large-scale catering operations serving millions of meals annually and requires a mix of menu development, practical recipe scaling, training and hands-on kitchen support.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement fresh, seasonal school menus that meet School Food Standards and Food for Life criteria (menus changed twice yearly).
• Translate small-scale recipes into large-scale recipes (e.g., scaling to serve up to 200+).
• Inspire, train and upskill school cooks and catering teams through coaching, demonstrations and on-site support.
• Carry out kitchen audits, identify opportunities for improvement and provide clear, practical recommendations.
• Promote the school meal offer through taster sessions, food demonstrations and school events.
• Ensure strict allergen management and food safety/compliance in all menus and procedures.
• Support continuous improvement across school and commercial catering operations (portion control, cost management, consistency).
• Travel between the central kitchen and schools to provide on-site support as required.

Requirements

Person Specification — Ideal Candidate

• Proven experience in school catering or substantial experience in large-scale/public sector catering environments.
• Awareness and working knowledge of School Food Standards and government guidance for school meals.
• Strong understanding of allergen compliance and management in a school setting.
• Demonstrable ability to scale recipes and produce consistent high-quality output at volume.
• Confident trainer/coach experience delivering practical training and demonstrations to kitchen teams.
• Good written and verbal communication skills; able to engage pupils, staff and parents at events.
• Full UK driving licence and ability to travel between sites.
• Experience working with Food for Life or similar quality food accreditation.
• Prior experience developing special dietary menus (e.g., dairy-free, allergen-specific menus).
• Previous experience working across multiple school sites or local-authority catering services.

Practical Details / Clarifications (from client Q&A)

• Geography: Role supports up to52 schools across the council area and2 schools in Derby .
• School visits per week: Variable dependent on school needs (could be 1 site or multiple); the majority of development work will be at the head office/central kitchen.
• Contract duration: Current assignment runs untilend of March (fixed-term).
• Menu creation frequency: Menus are created/updatedtwice per year . There is also periodic work for bespoke special-diet menus (e.g., allergy-specific).
• Mandatory requirements: None additional specified at this stage. (If you’re on the client supply chain, please state this in your application; if not, let us know you are a new supplier.)
• Rate: £20.75 per hour (umbrella) rate is fixed and non-negotiable.

How to Apply

Please send a CV highlighting your school/large-scale catering experience and examples of menu development or training delivered to:

• Whether you are already enrolled on the client’s supply chain (please indicate enrolment status),or if you are a new supplier.
• Your availability and confirmation you can work full-time to end of March.
• Confirmation you can travel between sites and hold a valid driving licence.

Privacy Assurance

All personal information provided during the recruitment process will be handled securely and processed in accordance with GDPR. Data will be used only for recruitment, onboarding and compliance purposes and will not be shared outside authorised channels.

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