An exciting opportunity to work and run the kitchen team in one of the Dartmoor MATs Primary Schools in Okehampton, St James Primary School. to manage the main kitchen to provide healthy and nutritious meals to the children in our care at St James and other primary schools within our Trust.

Job Purpose:

• To Lead in the cooking and serving of nutritious food to our students and staff and provide an efficient and high quality service across our family of schools.
• To have overall responsibility for the day to day running of the kitchen, including compliance and health and safety.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Comply with all aspects of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974, the food safety Act 2006, the food safety, and hygiene regulations 2013 and all other relevant legislation.
• The daily provision of a catering services and production kitchen.
• Work in conjunction with our catering partner.
• Be aware of and comply with all procedures set down in the site operations manual.
• To work within the establishment’s budget for food, sundries, and labour.
• To produce healthy, nutritionally balanced, and tasty meals.
• Promote and encourage healthy food choices.
• To always provide excellent service.

Responsibility for Resources:

• Day-to-day care of light and heavy catering equipment.
• Use and storage of chemicals, cleaning equipment and personal protective equipment.
• Food and disposable item stocks, and rotation of food stock items.

Job Activities:

• Day-to-day preparation and cooking of food to agreed standards and procedures.
• Responsible for the delegation of duties to kitchen staff, being the initial point of contact for any concerns arising from kitchen staff.
• Escalate any staffing issues to the Line Manager as necessary.
• Provide catering outside the normal working day as and when required.
• Provide induction and on-the-job training to staff in the kitchen environment.
• Complete all kitchen documentation on daily, monthly, and annual basis as procedures in site operations manual.
• Temperature test of food and record results
• Complete monthly financial documentation and stock taking
• Ensure the kitchen is a hygienic environment.
• Ordering of food and materials
• Maintain good communications with school staff and pupils with day-to-day customer requests, queries, and comments.
• To actively promote the service to attract the maximum number of customers.
• Reporting any building or equipment faults to either their Line Manager or Caretaker.

Person Specification

Please see attached document.

Data Protection / General Data Protection Regulations Compliance  

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible. 

All schools in The Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 

The successful candidate will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) and will be required to come to DMAT HQ to complete mandatory training.

Training Details:

Location: Central Head Office (Wardhayes) 8 Simmons Way, Okehampton, EX20 1PY

Duration: Monday – Friday

Purpose: To provide comprehensive training on company policies, procedures, and systems necessary for successful integration into the role.

Training Schedule: Daily sessions from 9am to 4pm, with breaks provided.

Benefits of Training Week:

To gain valuable insights into our company culture and values.

Interact with key stakeholders and team members.

Acquire essential knowledge and skills to excel in your role.

Establish a strong foundation for your career growth within Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust.

‘This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (2013 and 2020). This means that certain convictions and cautions are considered ‘protected’ and do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Guidance about whether a conviction or caution should be disclosed can be found on the Ministry of Justice website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-guidance-on-the-rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-1974.’ 

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