School Catering Manager
📍 Location: Birmingham
📅 Permanent, 37 hours per week, term time + 3 weeks
💰 Salary: From £30,447-£35,395 per annum (actual salary)
⏰ Hours: Monday to Friday, 37 hours per week
🚨 Immediate Start Available (subject to interview and pre-employment checks)
📚 Sector: Education & Catering
Blue Arrow is recruiting for an experienced and passionate School Catering Manager to lead the catering operation within a busy school in Birmingham.
This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated catering professional to take ownership of a busy school kitchen, lead a dedicated team, and play a key role in enhancing the dining experience for students and staff. If you have experience managing high-volume catering operations and are passionate about delivering nutritious, high-quality meals, we'd love to hear from you.
As School Catering Manager, you will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the school's catering service, ensuring the delivery of excellent food, exceptional hygiene standards, and an outstanding customer experience.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, motivate, train and supervise the catering team to deliver a high-quality food service.
- Develop creative, nutritious and varied menus that appeal to students while meeting dietary and allergen requirements.
- Manage catering provision for school events, meetings, open evenings and extended school activities.
- Control food and labour costs, manage stock levels and rotation, and maintain strong supplier relationships.
- Drive meal uptake by continuously improving the food offer and dining experience.
- Ensure full compliance with food safety regulations, HACCP procedures, and company policies.
- Complete and oversee all kitchen records, including temperature checks, cleaning schedules and food safety documentation.
- Prepare and maintain the kitchen to meet Environmental Health, Ofsted and school audit requirements.
Requirements
To be successful in this role, you will have:
✅ Previous experience as a Catering Manager, Kitchen Manager or Head Chef, ideally within a school, college, university, healthcare or other high-volume catering environment.
✅ Experience managing and developing catering teams.
✅ Strong knowledge of food safety legislation, HACCP procedures and allergen management.
✅ Food Hygiene Level 3 qualification (or equivalent).
✅ Excellent organisational, leadership and time management skills.
✅ The ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment while maintaining high standards.
✅ A proactive, hands-on approach with strong problem-solving abilities.
✅ A professional and reliable attitude with a genuine passion for delivering excellent customer service.
✅ The ability to successfully obtain an Enhanced DBS Check, as this role involves working within a child-focused environment.
What You'll Receive
⭐ Competitive salary of £30,447 - £35,395 per annum
⭐ Excellent work-life balance with term-time working plus 3 additional weeks
⭐ School hours and weekends off
⭐ Opportunity to lead and shape a successful catering service
⭐ Long-term stability within a permanent position
⭐ Supportive and rewarding working environment
Apply Today
If you're an experienced Catering Manager looking for your next leadership opportunity within education catering, we'd love to hear from you.
To apply for this role, please complete the form below by filling out your name and contact details, and attaching your CV.
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