Chef

Full Time, 37 hours per week. 5 days over 7. Salary - £13.74 per hour plus company benefits.

To help prepare and provide the retail service varied food produce and varied menus that meets the expectations of the patients, staff, and visitors both in terms of quality, safety, and value for money in the retail restaurant.

To maintain high food safety and cleaning standards in line with HACCP and Food safety management system.

To produce and prepare menu items that are consistent high quality in accordance with agreed KPIs and Service Level Agreements across the site in the retail catering department.

Main Accountabilities:

• Provide a courteous and efficient catering production service to patients, staff and visitors within the hospital optimising the productivity of the retail restaurant food offerings.
• Prepare, produce and or serve food to customers in a professional and courteous manner using standardised menus.
• Optimising retail sales and demonstrating high levels of customer service through menu delivery.
• To comply with food hygiene regulations and HACCP policy.
• To maintain food safety and hygiene standards in your work area and apply the food safety procedures applicable in work area.
• To actively upsell retail promotions and devise menus to maximise revenue opportunity as well as cost effectiveness.
• Assist in the preparation of special functions which may be outside normal working hours.
• Ensure that all work is carried out in line with Health and Safety, Quality and Serco and Board policies and procedures and all documentation and work records are completed accurately.
• To correctly use and take care of all equipment and materials associated with tasks and immediately report any faults to a team leader or head chef.
• Store goods correctly and use stock on a rotational basis to optimise sales and minimise food wastage.
• Participate as a full member of the team, e.g., supporting and training other staff, participating in team meetings, working flexibly as required to cover other members of the team.
• Use judgement and empathy to ensure appropriate caring and supportive communication to enhance customer experience.
• Perform tasks always wearing the correct uniform and protective clothing.

What you will need to do the role:

• Food Safety Management Intermediate food hygiene certificate Professional cookery certification.
• HACCP COSHH All FM equipment Professional experience: Intermediate food hygiene certification Food preparation, Diet and Allergen awareness.
• Requires full knowledge of Serco and NHS working practices and procedures and Health and Safety requirements including infection control and Food Hygiene (training will be provided).
• Good Communication Skills, e.g., communicating with customers and colleagues.
• Good Customer Care Skills, e.g., for communicating with customers and increasing retail spend.
• Completing of mandatory training, e.g., manual handling/risk assessment/fire safety training.
• Able to work to agreed standards and follow work instructions.
• Flexible to respond to changing demands, and to work across retail functions and restaurant.
• Empathetic – using judgement, understanding and empathy to support patients.
• Safety conscious.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Physical Requirements:

• Be trained in the correct way of carrying out activities safely and efficiently and in the safe use of different types of machinery and equipment, such as loading/unloading trolleys, plating, and portioning food items, operating tills, dismantling and reassembling equipment.
• Correctly use protective equipment.
• Ensure the Health and Safety of self and other hospital users.
• Demonstrate a flexible approach e.g., when asked to change routines.
• Be multi skilled and flexible when undertaking all activities.
• Use degrees of physical effort for all activities, such as: standing/ mobile for most of the shift; lifting stocks / supplies; pushing and pulling trolleys.
• Flexible to work across retail functions. Day to Day operations may dictate business priorities and areas of work with short or no notice period.

Mental Demands:

• Maintain level of general awareness during working day.
• Short periods of concentration and responding to customer enquiries and complaints.
• Display resilience and emotional intelligence to read and appropriately respond to patients and relatives during frequent interactions, where there will be occasions of distress, deterioration, and bereavement.
• Work under pressure in a busy department to tight deadlines while maintaining professional image.

Working Conditions:

• Occasional exposure to physical aggression with patients or visitors, escalating to security and reporting as necessary.
• Working area can get hot and humid.

What we offer:

• Salary: Competitive salaries with annual reviews.
• Pension: Up to 6% contributory pension scheme.
• Holidays: 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Training and development: We offer a wide range of learning opportunities with over 1,100 internal courses available, funding for qualifications and apprenticeships, mentoring opportunities, and a focus on internal progression.
• Wellbeing: 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, BUPA Anytime HealthLine, wellbeing app, Simplyhealth cash plans to claim back money towards healthcare costs, 30% off at Serco-managed leisure centres.
• Discounts: Save across around 1,000 retailers, from food and clothing to days out, entertainment and travel.
• Share Save scheme: Helps you save regularly with the choice to buy Serco shares at a discount at the end of your savings period.
• Employee networks: Dedicated networks where colleagues can come together to find support, share challenges, discuss ideas, network and be part of a community.
• Charity: Support a charity or organisation with a paid volunteering day each year. You can also choose to donate to your favourite charity tax-free, through our Payroll Giving Scheme.

About Serco:

At Serco, not only is the nature of the work we do important, everyone has an important role to play, from caring for vulnerable people to managing complex public services. We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are innovators, committed to redesigning and improving public services for the benefit of everyone.

By joining Serco you will have unlimited access to our Global Employee Networks – Serco Inspire (Gender), Serco Embrace (Multicultural), Serco Unlimited (Disability) and In@Serco (LGBT & Networks). Serco Employee Networks, led by colleagues who are passionate about diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Please click on the apply button to complete your application. Occasionally we receive a large volume of applications for our roles and when that happens we sometimes bring the closing date forward, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment.

At Serco, we see people first and foremost for their performance and potential. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. As such we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working. We operate a hybrid work structure in many of our business areas. We are proudly Disability Confident Leader employers and holder of the Gold Inclusive Employer Standard. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.

For help with your application please contact 0345 010 4000. At Serco we support fair access to employment for those with unspent criminal convictions through the ‘Ban the Box’ pledge (some may be exempt due to the nature of the role and the security clearance required). Please contact our recruitment team directly on 0345 010 4000 to discuss.