RAFAKidz Nurseries Food & Nutrition Lead

Leicester LE3 1UT with Hybrid Working

£38140 37.5 hours per week

A UK driving licence is an essential requirement

About RAFAKidz

RAFAKidz is on a mission to provide exceptional, affordable childcare tailored to the unique needs of Armed Forces and civilian families. With nurseries located on or near RAF and MOD stations across the UK, we are proud to be fully OFSTED-registered and committed to safeguarding, quality, and excellence. We work closely with children, families, and partner organisations to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive. Our strong ties to the RAF and the RAF Association help us deliver a curriculum and environment that supports the needs of serving families.

The Role

This is a newly created role based within our growing RAFAKidz Head Office team based in Leicester. The Food and Nutrition Lead is responsible for the strategic development, implementation and quality assurance of food, nutrition and mealtime provision across all RAFAKidz nurseries. The postholder will ensure that babies and children receive healthy, balanced and nutritious meals, snacks and drinks that support their growth, development, wellbeing and enjoyment of food. The role will provide leadership across all aspects of menu planning, food standards, mealtime practice, dietary safety and compliance, ensuring alignment with Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) nutrition guidance1, food safety requirements, allergen legislation and wider public health guidance, while creating a positive food culture that promotes lifelong healthy habits.

Primary responsibilities include

• Develop, implement and continuously improve the RAFAKidz national food and nutrition strategy
• Establish a clear and consistent framework for food provision across all nurseries, setting standards for menu design, nutritional quality, mealtime practice, food safety and dietary inclusion
• Act as RAFAKidz subject matter expert on early years nutrition, public health and dietary needs safeguarding and food legislation, ensuring RAFAKidz remains current, compliant and forward-looking in its practice
• Ensure food provision across RAFAKidz nurseries complies with the EYFS statutory framework, DfE early years nutrition guidance, Food Standards Agency requirements, food hygiene regulations, allergen legislation and any other relevant standards
• Develop and maintain a robust quality assurance framework for food and nutrition across the nurseries
• Undertake regular visits to nurseries to review food quality, kitchen practice, mealtime environments, documentation and compliance with RAFAKidz standards
• Provide advice on menu implementation, food presentation, portion sizes, dietary adjustments, kitchen routines and food-related problem solving
• Develop and deliver training to nursery teams, cooks and relevant colleagues on early years nutrition
• Act as a point of contact for external professionals and agencies where specialist advice, partnership or assurance is required in relation to food and nutrition.

It is highly recommended that you read the full role profile and person specification which is available to download on our website rafakidz.org.uk

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

About Disability Confident Disability Confident is a government scheme. It encourages employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term health conditions.

Job type: Permanent

Hours: Full-time

Working pattern: Hybrid - 3 days remote

Posting date: 10 Aug 2026 Closing date: 7 Sept 2026