About the Role
Leeds City College is seeking a talented Senior Chef to join our Food Services and Catering team, playing a key role at the heart of the student experience. We are committed to creating an environment that supports a better future through positive, inspiring actions that make a real difference.
In this role, you will be responsible for preparing a variety of fresh, nutritious meals that appeal to both students and staff, while consistently delivering an excellent standard of service.
This is a hands-on position, requiring you to lead and support a team of food service assistants across two cafés, ensuring smooth day-to-day operations.
This opportunity is ideal for someone looking for a rewarding and challenging role within a supportive environment. The position offers a great work-life balance, with Monday to Friday daytime hours and only occasional evening or weekend work.
What You Will Do
- Manage two onsite cafés, delivering a consistently high-quality food and customer service experience
- Prepare and cook fresh, nutritious meals while developing innovative menus that meet customer needs
- Oversee budgets, purchasing, stock control, and financial processes to achieve GP targets
- Lead, train, and motivate the catering team, managing staffing matters effectively
- Ensure compliance with food safety, HACCP, and hygiene standards while supporting events and wider catering operations
About You
- Proven experience within the catering and hospitality sector, including cooking in a commercial kitchen
- Experience managing refectory or canteen-style operations, ideally across multiple outlets
- Strong track record of producing a wide variety of food to a high standard
- Experience leading teams, with a focus on training and staff development
- Knowledge of food cost control, stock management, and GP margins
- Understanding of food hygiene systems, due diligence, and compliance requirements
- Holds a Level 2 Food Safety Certificate
Benefits
The group offers a range of excellent benefits, including:
Annual leave:
Curriculum and Management: 44 days plus bank holidays
Curriculum support and business support: 39 days plus bank holidays
Pension schemes with generous employer contributions:
Teachers’ Pension Scheme
Local Government Pension Scheme
People’s Pension Scheme
CPD opportunities:
Annual staff conference plus 2 additional staff development days.
Qualifications including PGCE, Apprenticeships, Leadership and Management courses.
Employee wellbeing initiatives: Family Friendly Policies, discounted onsite spa (Printworks) and gym (Park Lane).
Travel and commuting: Discounted travel available through Metro card, Northern Rail, First Bus, Arriva Bus and Cycle to work schemes.
Flexible and hybrid working opportunities: Please speak to the recruiting manager regarding flexible opportunities as these differ between roles.
About Us
Luminate Education Group is a collective of education providers based in Yorkshire with one clear purpose: to make a positive difference to people’s lives through genuinely transformative education and training.
We offer a wide range of job vacancies across our business support functions - Finance, Human Resources, ITSS, Marketing, Communications, Executive Support, Estates and Food Services. Our large size and diverse range of member organisations means there are always exciting opportunities to progress.
As an education provider, we are committed to lifelong learning and investing in our workforce, and you’ll have access to a broad variety of training and professional development designed to help you continually develop and grow.
Luminate Education Group consists of; Harrogate College, Keighley College, Leeds City College, Leeds Sixth Form College, Pudsey Sixth Form College, Leeds Conservatoire and University Centre Leeds.
SAFEGUARDING
At Luminate Education Group we are committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all our students. We expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All successful applicants will be required to complete mandatory pre-employment checks which include an enhanced DBS check, online checks and must have two satisfactory references. Please be aware that it is a criminal offence to apply for this post if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity in connection to children.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in recruitment is key to our Group’s values. We are dedicated to fostering a workplace that embraces equality, diversity and inclusion in all its forms, where every candidate is treated with fairness, respect, and equity.
Our recruitment processes are designed to ensure equal opportunities, remove bias, and promote a diverse talent pool. To find out more about what our commitment to EDI means to us please Click here to learn more about our EDI objectives.
RECRUITMENT AGENCIES
We do not accept unsolicited CV’s and applications from agencies and will not be liable for any fee in connection with a candidate that has been submitted speculatively through any agency that has not been expressly instructed for a particular vacancy as part of our Preferred Supplier List.
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