Job Description

Overview

We are proud of the amazing success of our community business project. Just 18 months after starting with a cafe three days a week we rapidly expanded to running the full shop and cafe Monday to Saturday (9am-5:30pm) and this year we extended into Sundays with a limited menu. In future we would like to open some evenings as well.

Our venture relies on the combined support of our amazing volunteers and paid staff who all work closely together to deliver a consistently positive experience for our customers. Everyone loves our friendly, welcoming atmosphere and we endeavour to make this a fun and fulfilling place to work and volunteer.

About this Role:

We are currently looking for an experienced and dedicated Kitchen Lead who can help us to develop our Normandy Community Shop and Cafe through the next exciting phase of growth.

This is a full-time (8.00 a.m.-3.30 p.m. / 5 days per week) paid position which will include weekend working. The main ingredients we are looking for in an ideal candidate are:

Ability to consistently prepare high-quality meals and handle multiple food orders under pressure.
Be responsible for managing the kitchen, quality control of dishes, and ensuring the working environment, refrigerators, and storerooms are kept clean and organized in accordance with health and safety laws.
Have excellent leadership and organisational skills, a keen eye for detail and a proactive work ethic that can help improve and develop our cafe offering.

FULL JOB DESCRIPTION

Title:

Kitchen Lead

Reporting to: General Manager (GM), Normandy Community Shop and Cafe Ltd (NCSAC)

Hourly rate:

14.00

Weekly working required:

35 hours. The hours will vary and include weekend shifts and some evenings.

Purpose:

Prepare high-quality meals and handle multiple food orders without compromising on quality. Manage the kitchen, quality control of dishes, and ensure the working environment, refrigerators, and storerooms are kept spotless and organized in accordance with health and safety laws. Manage all kitchen-related stock and supplies.

Duties:

General

Take responsibility for the preparation, presentation and serving of all meals to an exceptional standard. Cater for functions and events.

Specific

Prepare a variety of high-quality meals and food items, plan menus and create new dishes. Ensure all food is presented well. Manage all kitchen-related stock and supplies by ensuring rotation of stock, monitoring supplies, minimising spoilage, and re-ordering as needed. Organise the kitchen by stocking it with the necessary tools and equipment, ensuring all equipment is in good working order, and dealing with any issues. Uphold high standards of cleanliness and hygiene in the kitchen, ensuring that food health and safety regulations are followed. Ensure that routine data is collected as required and that all daily checks, including temperature control during production, preparation, service and storage are carried out properly. Comply with and ensure implementation of NCSAC health and safety policies, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH), and emergency and fire prevention procedures. Ensure preparation is complete for the next shift. Provide good, prompt customer service, efficiently resolving problems with customers' orders. Collaborate with other kitchen staff to ensure the kitchen runs calmly in a team and all orders are prepared and served in a timely manner. Resolve any conflicts promptly. Teach, instruct, and monitor the kitchen team, which includes wonderful volunteers, delegating tasks and workload as appropriate. Listen to our volunteers for their suggestions and input and involve them fully in the kitchen operations. Immediately report all accidents, near misses, damage or breakages to the GM. Maintain a five-star food hygiene rating. Ensure that the kitchen opens and closes at the required times and is secured when not in use. Ensure the kitchen is cleaned every day before closing. Undertake other tasks appropriate to the duties and responsibilities of the post, including front of house duties from time to time. Complete any relevant training sessions to ensure that you are fully equipped to perform your role effectively. Comply with any reasonable request from the GM to undertake work of a similar level that is not specified in this job description. This job description is current at the time of issue but may be changed by management to reflect changes in the role, which are commensurate with the salary and job title.

Person specification:

Essential Requirements:

Available to work weekends regularly. Ability to carry out all aspects of the role to a high standard at all times. Excellent social and verbal communication skills. Positive attitude. Approachable and flexible. A common sense, pragmatic approach. Must be able to work on own initiative, and with resilience. The ability to organise workload and multi-task. The ability to work without direct supervision. The ability to work as a member of a team and lead as appropriate. Excellent attendance and punctuality. Highly motivated with a drive to introduce continuous improvement.

Desirable Requirements:

NVQ level 1/2 in Catering & Hospitality. Certificate in food hygiene training. Certificate in First Aid. Certificate in Health and Safety including Knowledge of COSHH regulations, safe storage, and working practices.

Minimum training:

The following training courses are considered to be a minimum requirement for the post and will be planned as appropriate to support the role, responsibilities and duties undertaken:

Health and safety Fire safety awareness Food Hygiene

All employees of NCSAC are expected to do the following:

Actively follow, uphold, and promote NCSAC policies, in particular equal opportunities, fire, and health and safety. Be responsible for considering the health and safety of themselves and others as an integral part of their job. Maintain an awareness and observation of fire regulations. Carry out any other duties within the scope, spirit, and purpose of the post as requested by the GM. Demonstrate their ongoing commitment to delivering the highest standards through their delivery of service. To establish good standards of communication with all stakeholders as appropriate: customers, fellow employees, volunteers, suppliers, shareholders, regulators, auditors, inspectors, and accompanied pets. To take an interest in how NCSAC operates. To be an appropriate role model of reliability, behaviour, and appearance.

Appointment Terms & Conditions

Paid Holidays:

Pro-rated equivalent of 28 days per annum including bank holidays. The holiday year runs 1 January to 31 December.

Probationary period:

6 months

Notice:

During the probationary period by NSCAC and Employee notice is one week in writing. Post probationary notice is 1 month in writing.

Closing date

: Applications will be considered as they arrive.

Last updated:

November 2025

Name:

Cliff Taylor

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: 14.00 per hour

Expected hours: 35 per week

Benefits:

Company pension Discounted or free food Free parking Sick pay
Experience:

Chef: 1 year (preferred) Cooking: 3 years (preferred) Kitchen: 2 years (preferred)
Work Location: In person