St Margarets Nursery & Pre-school are hiring an enthusiastic chef/cook to join our team to cover maternity until December 2026, with the opportunity to stay full-time on the team. We are looking for someone who has a passion for food and fresh ideas to create inspiring and tasty dishes for our children.
Our nursery is open from 8am - 6pm, Monday to Fridays - no weekend work!
40 hour per week contract, however hours can be negotiable to suit your work life balance.
St Margarets Nursery & Pre-school also have a kitchen assistant, who would support you in the day-to-day duties, dishes, preparing food, stock rotation, ordering and cooking.
We have fresh ingredients delivered to the setting each week and are proud to serve all organic fruit and vegetables.
We would love someone with the desire to create new meals, add additional tastes to our menu and constantly look for ways to improve our service. St Margarets Nursery & Preschool have a 3-week menu which changes seasonally. We get the children involved with our menus and food tasting, we would welcome anyone who is confident in discussing with the children health benefits and various topics related to food/kitchen.
Key Tasks and Responsibilities
To organise, cook and prepare healthy, balanced meals for up to 50 children per day aged 0 to 5 years in accordance with our nursery menus.
Ensure high standards of hygiene and health and safety is maintained in the kitchen at all times using Cook Safe guidance and documentation.
Adapt meals to suit many children who have special allergies and dietary requirements, the chef/cook will prepare a suitable and safe alternatives.
Use appropriate Early Years documents such as Food Matters, Setting the Table to plan new with the nutritional guidelines.
To have the responsibility of the kitchen, cleaning all of the equipment and appliances, take temperatures of the food, fridge and freezer and record these in the kitchen file.
Day to day running of the kitchen, compliance with registration and legislative requirements at all times.
Maintain and keep up to date necessary kitchen procedures and records in accordance with Nursery and Environmental Health policies and processes by Environmental Health - Edinburgh Council.
Responsible for control, storage and rotation of kitchen stock. Weekly deliveries.
Ensure the kitchen and equipment is kept to a high standard of cleanliness at all times including walls, floors and trolleys to transport food following a cleaning schedule. On a daily basis that all crockery, cutlery and cooking utensils are washed in accordance with food safety guidelines.
Ensure that all meals and snacks are ready at the specified time and correctly served.
St Margarets Nursery & Pre-school will provide the successful candidates with three complete uniform sets, chef hats, correct safety shoes and anything else which may be needed. The successful candidate must ensure they have a clean uniform, including headwear each day.
Training and Development
The successful candidate will need to have the minimum Level 3 Food and Hygiene certificate. Before working in St Margarets Nursery & Pre-school we may need you to complete additional short qualifications such as Allergies and Medical conditions.
Commitment to undertaking appropriate training and continued professional development.
Staff benefits include:
Up to 33 days of annual leave pro rata. We do not deduct the Christmas closure from your entitlement, all staff gain an extra weeks annual leave.
Living wage accredited employer.
up to 50% off childcare.
Competitive
Closed from Christmas Eve over New Year to allow you to spend time with family/friends.
Company card with 40% discount on all food & drink in selected bars & restaurants in Edinburgh.
Star of the month wins 100 & team of the month win a paid day/night out of their choice.
Full nursery uniform for your role.
All staff are welcome to eat our organic cooked food for breakfast, lunch, tea & snacks.
Free teas, coffees & refreshments for all breaks.
Free feminine & hygiene products.
Paid contributions towards further qualifications at university, expanding your knowledge.
Mentoring system in place for all staff. Our team choose their own mentors to support them grow both professionally & personally.
Staff appreciation gifts throughout the year for Easter, Christmas, & many other celebrations.
We have two dogs within the nursery. Milli & Blue are there if any staff need a minute to themselves, they can come to the office for some love from them both!
Team bonding days/nights out are fully paid by the company including Christmas night out each year
Full time chef, kitchen assistant, professional cleaners every evening 7pm-11pm, maintenance, finance admin, lunch support covers, receptionist and management team to allow you to give your full attention to the children in your care.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 13 months
Pay: 29,000.00-30,000.00 per year
Benefits:
Childcare
Discounted or free food
Employee discount
Free parking
Health & wellbeing programme
On-site parking
Store discount
Ability to commute/relocate:
Edinburgh EH14 1LT: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work Location: In person
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