Head Chef

Lead Culinary Excellence as Head Chef at Wellington College

Location: Wellington College, Duke's Ride, Crowthorne, Berkshire, RG45 7PU
Days/Shift Pattern: 5 out of 7 days, including evenings and weekends as required
Total Hours Per Week: 40 Hours
Salary: Competitive, with excellent benefits

We are seeking a passionate and inspirational Head Chef to lead our Core Feeding operation at the prestigious Wellington College.

About the Opportunity

At Sodexo, we believe in delivering exceptional dining experiences, fostering meaningful relationships, and empowering our teams to thrive. We are seeking a confident, resilient, and inspirational Head Chef to lead our flagship core feeding operation at Wellington College, one of the UK's most prestigious independent schools. This is a career-defining leadership role within a high-volume, high-profile environment, responsible for shaping the daily dining experience of students, teaching staff, and the wider College community. Working closely with the Executive Head Chef, you will act as a key operational leader and "helping hand" across a busy and fast evolving site-driving standards, innovation, and team performance.

About Wellington College

Set within approximately 400 acres of stunning Berkshire countryside, Wellington College is one of the UK's leading independent schools, renowned for academic excellence, sporting achievement, and a rich co curricular programme.

The College offers a unique environment where tradition meets modern excellence. From world class sporting facilities to outstanding academic and creative provision, Wellington provides space to breathe, think, and perform at the highest level.

School life is vibrant and distinctive, with traditions such as chapel services and Combined Cadet Force (CCF) parades featuring drums and marching routines that reflect the rhythm and heritage of the College.

As Head Chef, you will be part of this exceptional community-helping to fuel academic performance, elite sport, and creative excellence across the entire school.

The Operation

This is a large scale, high performing catering operation delivering:

• Approximately 600 breakfasts daily
• Approximately 1,900 lunches daily
• Approximately 800 evening meals daily

You will hold full responsibility for student and staff dining across the College, ensuring food is nutritious, innovative, beautifully presented, and delivered consistently at scale.

Nutrition is a critical part of performance at Wellington College. From elite athletes in rugby, cricket, and football, to students excelling in music, drama, and the arts, you will understand how dietary needs vary and ensure the food offer supports physical performance, focus, and wellbeing.

What You'll be Doing

You will lead a large and structured kitchen brigade with four Shift Leaders covering:

• Pastry Production
• Breakfast Service
• Lunch Service
• Evening Dining Operations

These teams are supported by approximately 15+ culinary staff, including Chef de Parties and kitchen assistants.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading, developing, and inspiring a high performing kitchen brigade
• Driving operational excellence across all meal services
• Delegating responsibility effectively across Shift Leaders and the wider team
• Workforce planning, rota creation, and daily operational coordination
• Ordering, stock control, supplier management, and cost control
• Maintaining strong budgetary performance while delivering high quality food at scale
• Ensuring planned maintenance, equipment standards, and kitchen readiness
• Leading recruitment, training, development, and performance management
• Embedding strong food safety, health & safety, and compliance standards
• Acting as a visible, approachable leader across dining halls and service areas
• Building strong relationships with students, Housemasters, teaching staff, and senior stakeholders
• Engaging daily in the dining environment to gather feedback and enhance the student experience
• Driving innovation, sustainability, and continuous improvement across the operation

What We're Looking For

We are looking for a strong, confident, innovative and resilient culinary leader who thrives in high volume, high expectation environments, and who can bring genuine professional fine dining and prestigious hospitality experience into a large scale operation.

The ideal candidate will have a background in high volume quality catering, alongside the ability to translate that standard of excellence into a large, fast paced school setting.

You will bring:

• Experience as a Head Chef or Senior Sous Chef in a large scale catering environment
• A strong fine dining or premium hospitality background, ideally within reputable, high standard establishments
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to challenge, influence, and inspire
• A creative, innovative approach to food, presentation, and service standards
• The confidence to challenge both peers and senior stakeholders, with strong people management skills where required
• A supportive team member who drives collective success and continuous improvement
• Proven ability to deliver consistent, high quality food at scale
• Strong financial acumen including budgeting, food cost control, and labour management
• Experience managing rota systems, team structures, and operational delivery
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail
• A proactive, approachable leadership style with strong communication skills
• Passion for delivering elevated, restaurant quality dining experiences within a premium institutional setting
• Strong IT, literacy, and numeracy skills

Qualifications

Essential:

• NVQ or City & Guilds Professional Cookery Level 2 or 3 (or equivalent)
• Level 3 Food Safety Certificate
• Intermediate Food Hygiene Certificate
• Intermediate Managing Safely qualification
• Experience within independent schools or premium education catering environments
• Background in luxury hospitality, multi outlet or high end, large contract catering operations
• Passion for sustainability, ethical sourcing, and modern food culture
• Experience contributing to culinary development, innovation projects, or menu led transformation programmes

Why Join Sodexo at Wellington College

This is more than a Head Chef role-it is an opportunity to lead culinary excellence within one of the UK's most prestigious independent schools.

You will benefit from:

• Competitive salary and excellent benefits package
• Career progression within Sodexo's premium education portfolio
• Industry leading training and development opportunities
• A flagship working environment with a high performing team culture
• The ability to directly impact the daily experience of over 2,000 students and staff
• A supportive and forward thinking organisation
• Access to Crowthorne train station
• Free onsite parking
• Meals on duty

Additional Benefits

• 24/7 access to mental health and wellbeing support platform
• Employee Assistance Programme (legal, financial, personal support)
• 24/7 virtual GP access
• Sodexo Discounts Scheme for you and your family
• Mercer Aspire Pension Plan
• Learning and development opportunities
• Bike to Work Scheme
• Volunteering opportunities in local communities