Catering Development Officer

Do you have experiencing in working in catering or hospitality, and possess great craft skills?

Can you be understanding of the differing needs of young people with special educational needs?

Are you a passionate advocate for healthy and balanced eating?

If so, we'd love to hear from you!

Salary: GBP20,685 to GBP22,533 per annum (calculated to Term Time only)

Contract Type: Permanent, Term Time Only (39 weeks)

Working Pattern: Part-time (32.5 hours per week) Monday to Friday

Location: County Hall, West Street, Chichester, PO19 1RQ or County Hall North, Chart Way, Horsham RH12 1XH or Bridge House, Barrington Rd, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing BN12 4SE (Hybrid and Flexible Working) - the successful candidate will be required to travel and work between Schools across West Sussex. You may be required to work from a County Council Building as and when required. You will also have the opportunity to work from home and/or remotely. Final arrangements to be confirmed with successful candidate.

Interview Date: 08 February 2024

You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes available.

All West Sussex County Council (WSCC) employees have a WSCC location as their contractual work location, however we do operate a 'Smarter working' approach, this is something that you agree locally with your manager, for what works best for you, your role and your team. More details will be shared once you start working.

Do you want to find out more about Catering Services we offer? Click here to find out more.

The Opportunity

We are on the search for a motivated and passionate individual to join our Catering team as a Catering Development Officer.

Reporting to the Senior Catering Officer, you will provide staffing cover as a Cook Supervisor or Catering Assistant in a special school team. You will supervise the team to provide healthy and freshy produced school meals for pupils and staff.

You will be expected to travel to these schools and offer support and emergency cover for catering assistants and cook supervisors to these kitchens.

This role is varied and includes a range of diverse job responsibilities including: compilating menus, gathering stakeholder feedback, championing policy improvements, and supporting team members' development.

This is a role that requires someone with excellent communication and interpersonal skills as well as prioritising between competing demands. You will have a real passion for food and understanding the importance of food to our customers' bodies and minds.

If you have excellent communication and interpersonal skills and are organised, proactive and compassionate, we want to hear from you!

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

Rewards and Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following:

• A excellent local government pension scheme
• A Term Time Only (TTO) contract where you will only work during periods in which schools are open.
• A range of flexible working options, depending on your job role
• Maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
• volunteering opportunities
• Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over GBP1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform (see our Staff discounts page if you are a business looking to offer a discount)
• Health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CPP00869.

Does this sound like the opportunity for you? Click apply below, upload your CV, and complete the application form, explaining how you meet the key skills in the attached job description and experience you can bring to the role. Please ensure all that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.