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⚡ Source: ReedRef: 56762277

Head Chef - Care Home

Barchester Healthcare·Dorset, South West·Posted 1 months ago
💰 £42k/year
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Job description

Original text imported from Reed

Are you a passionate and qualified Chef looking for a better work life balance? If you are keen to be part of a company that is driven by quality and high standards, Barchester is the place to be!

Your Benefits and Rewards

  • Working days and alternate weekends only, across 4/5 days a week

  • Rewarding Excellence' bonus where you will be financially rewarded up to £500* for a Good or Outstanding CQC inspection

  • Unlimited access to our Refer a Friend' scheme, earning up to £500* per referral

  • Access to a wide range of retail and leisure discounts with big brands, supermarkets and travel companies

  • Free access to medical specialists, who are on hand for a second opinion if you need it

  • Confidential and free access to counselling and legal services

  • Tax Code Review Service to check you're on the right code and paying the right level of tax

  • Option to join our monthly staff lottery alongside your colleagues nationwide

Your Experience and Qualifications

  • A personable and warm approach with a genuine interest in the wellbeing of residents

  • Hold City & Guilds/NVQ/SVQ or equivalent

  • Experience in leading, motivating and inspiring a team

  • Experience of working with fresh seasonal food with a good understanding of nutrition

  • The ability to create a warm and welcoming environment within our homes

  • Confidence engaging with residents to create appetising and nutritious menus

  • Experience working with a front of house team to ensure the restaurants are set up to a high standard

  • Good understanding of HACCP and COSHH

  • Knowledge around modified diets using the IDDSI framework (If new to care, we will train and develop chefs on these techniques)

Your Role and Responsibilities

  • Lead, motivate and inspire a team, develop and upskill where required

  • Menu development, tailoring around residents to ensure we deliver person-centred hospitality

  • Work with fresh produce to deliver high quality and wholesome dishes cooked of the highest standards

  • Bake fresh cakes, scones and breads from scratch

  • Assist the front of house team with setting up of the dining areas

  • Work within budget, complete regular audits and stock control

  • Create a warm, efficient and fun environment

  • Ongoing recruitment and retention

  • Managing the performance of the kitchen team and front of house

As a Head Chef at Barchester, you will have the chance to deliver hotel/restaurant standards without the split shifts and long hours. Our chefs have full autonomy in creating nutritious, flavoursome and well balanced menus, whilst also taking ownership of their kitchen and ongoing team development.

We are exceptionally proud of our Barchester Chef Academy, where chefs have the opportunity to learn new techniques and further develop their skills, whilst also sharing their knowledge to support the growth of others across the business. This fantastic academy experience is held throughout the year and is offered to all of our chefs.

Our internal Learning and Development team also offer industry recognised apprenticeships and further qualifications to chefs and hospitality team members who are looking to build upon and/or develop their skills.

Interested? If you are a motivated and dedicated chef who is ready to be part of something special, apply today!

*Terms & conditions apply



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Key skills

AI-extracted from the job advert

Must-have skills
City & Guilds qualificationNVQ/SVQ certificationKitchen team leadershipFresh seasonal food experienceNutritional knowledgeHACCP complianceCOSHH knowledge
Nice-to-have
IDDSI framework knowledgeCare sector experienceModified diet preparationCQC compliance experience
Soft skills
LeadershipTeam motivationCommunicationAutonomyProblem solvingAdaptabilityTime management
SpeedCV AI

Application advice

5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.

1

⭐ Highlight your City & Guilds/NVQ qualification prominently as this is explicitly required by Barchester

2

📊 Quantify your kitchen leadership: "Led 8-person kitchen team, achieving 95% resident satisfaction scores"

3

🍽️ Emphasise fresh food and nutrition experience as the role focuses on seasonal produce and nutritional planning

4

🏥 Showcase any care sector experience or IDDSI framework knowledge for modified diets

5

🎯 Mention CQC compliance experience as they offer bonuses up to £500 for Good/Outstanding inspections

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Suggested CV bullets

3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.

How to tailor your CV

Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:

  • Led 12-person kitchen team in 80-bed care facility, achieving 98% resident satisfaction scores through person-centred menu development
  • Implemented HACCP compliance procedures and IDDSI framework protocols, reducing food safety incidents by 85% over 18 months
  • Managed £180k annual food budget while sourcing fresh seasonal produce, maintaining 22% gross profit margin through effective stock control

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Letter preview — tailored to Barchester Healthcare

Dear Hiring Manager,

Barchester Healthcare's commitment to delivering hotel-standard dining in care homes aligns perfectly with my culinary philosophy, which is why I am applying for the Head Chef position in Dorset. My City & Guilds qualification and extensive experience with HACCP compliance and nutritional menu planning make me ideally suited to lead your kitchen team while creating person-centred hospitality experiences.

My background in managing kitchen operations, developing seasonal menus, and leading teams of up to 12 staff members has prepared me to excel in this role. I am particularly drawn to the opportunity to work with the IDDSI framework for modified diets and contribute to Barchester's reputation for exceptional care home dining.

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SpeedCV AI

Interview questions

10 questions generated from this advert.

Technical

  • How would you implement HACCP procedures in a care home kitchen environment?
  • Explain your approach to creating modified diets using the IDDSI framework
  • How do you ensure nutritional requirements are met for elderly residents with varying dietary needs?
  • Describe your experience with menu development for person-centred hospitality
  • What systems would you use for stock control and budget management in a care home setting?

Behavioural

  • Tell me about a time you had to motivate a struggling kitchen team member
  • Describe a situation where you had to adapt a menu to meet specific dietary requirements
  • How do you handle pressure when managing both kitchen operations and front of house coordination?
  • Give an example of how you've created a warm and welcoming environment for residents
  • Tell me about a time you had to work within a tight budget while maintaining food quality
SpeedCV AINEW

STAR answer examples

Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.

1Question

Tell me about a time you had to motivate a struggling kitchen team member

Situation: I noticed one of my sous chefs was consistently late with prep work and seemed disengaged during busy service periods. Task: I needed to address this performance issue while maintaining team morale and kitchen efficiency. Action: I scheduled a private meeting to understand the root cause, discovered they were struggling with new HACCP procedures, so I arranged additional training sessions and paired them with our most experienced chef for mentoring. I also adjusted their responsibilities to focus on areas where they excelled while building confidence. Result: Within 6 weeks, their punctuality improved by 95% and they became one of our most reliable team members, eventually training 3 new kitchen assistants in proper food safety procedures.
2Question

Describe a situation where you had to adapt a menu to meet specific dietary requirements

Situation: We had 8 residents with varying swallowing difficulties requiring IDDSI Level 4 and 5 modified textures, but they were dissatisfied with bland, unappetising meals. Task: I needed to create nutritious, flavourful modified diet options that met safety requirements while improving resident satisfaction. Action: I researched texture modification techniques, collaborated with the speech therapist to understand specific needs, and developed 12 new recipes using natural thickeners and flavour enhancement methods. I trained my team on proper texture testing and presentation techniques. Result: Resident satisfaction with modified diet meals increased from 45% to 92% within 3 months, and we received commendation from the CQC inspector for our innovative approach to therapeutic dining.

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