Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Head Chef

The closing date is 05 February 2026

Job summary

We are looking for an enthusiastic and self-motivated individual to join the Catering Services Team for the role of Head Chef. You will support the Catering Manager and manage the kitchen team within the department, producing the finest quality food for our patients, staff and visitors as well as delivering excellent customer service.

We require an individual who has achieved a good grounding within the catering business, but would like to further develop and become proficient in all aspects of managing a busy Catering Service within an NHS Hospital.

Main duties of the job

We are presently expanding our team to meet the needs of our patients, staff and visitors in our on site cook chill production kitchen where we also produce cook fresh for our busy restaurant. The successful candidate will be sharing the running of the production kitchen and restaurant service alongside an equivalent co-equal colleague.

You will be responsible for the day to day organisation of the kitchen brigade including chefs, support chefs and catering assistants.

About us

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester

Our workforce is more than 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.

We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us. Our values, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.

Being open and honest

Ensuring people feel cared for

Showing respect to everyone

We are committed to developing a culture of continuous improvement by embedding the principles of our Improvement System.

We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.

DBS Checks and Costs

Any applicants who are offered posts requiring a DBS check as part of their employment check will have the cost of this check (at the current rate) deducted from their salary. Please see link in Supporting Information section for more details on DBS checks and costs.

Date posted

22 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£27,485 to £30,162 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

C9365-26-0060

Job locations

The Alexandra Hospital

Woodrow Drive

Redditch

Worcestershire

B987UB

Job description

Job responsibilities

To be responsible on a day-to-day basis for the safe, secure and efficient production of meals.

To ensure the maintenance of good relationships, communication and teamwork.

To always adhere to the policies and procedures of the Trust.

To be aware of the responsibilities of all employees and to help maintain a safe and healthy environment for staff and visitors.

To maintain confidentiality at all times.

To provide day to day leadership and assist in the operational control of the catering staff within the department as a whole.

To organise and plan work rotas including the cover of sickness and annual leave on both a pro-active and re-active basis.

To participate in the recruitment and selection process of new staff.

To conduct exit interviews with staff.

To carry out informal disciplinary interviews within the Trusts Disciplinary Procedures and in consultation with the Trust Catering Manager.

To co-operate with the Environmental Health Department to ensure that the standards of hygiene and organisation are being met.

To requisition food required for production taking into account agreed standards and portion sizes.

To ensure staff store all food in the correct manner to prevent cross contamination or spoilage.

To oversee the portioning of food for storage in the chilled store or for processing through the blast chiller.

To ensure that food is correctly labelled in line with the departments guidelines.

To ensure all staff are aware and follow all aspects of food control on hot and cold temperatures in line with quality control and food safety requirements.

To ensure the safe handling of all equipment and cleaning chemicals within the main kitchen and to report any equipment that is not safe to the Trusts Estate department.

To complete all relevant control documentation as laid down by the departments operational policy.

To report food hazards, incidents and complaints to comply with the departments operational policies.

To be responsible for the authorisation and maintenance of staff annual leave requests.

To check, authorise and forward departmental time sheets after ensuring correct information and coding has been included.

To carry out on the job training to ensure all kitchen staff are aware of all aspects of production & storage including the principles of Hazard Analysis Critical Controls to conform to legislation and departmental procedures.

To assist in the organisation of internal & external functions.

To play an active part in the management of the department by attending supervisory meetings.

To ensure all staff report any illnesses or accidents to record in the relevant documentation.

To ensure the availability and service of food complies with Hospital Catering-Delivering a Quality Service.

To ensure all new staff are trained in the correct manner to ensure compliance with production, chilling and storage departmental procedures.

To ensure the department is kept clean and in a hygienic manner at all times.

To check all completed control documentation to ensure compliance.

To deal with all phone calls in an appropriate manner.

To attend mandatory and statutory training as instructed.