Operations Team Leader

• Category: Catering - Qualified
• Contract type: Secondment
• Working hours: 36 hours per week
• Posted on: 13 January 2026
• Closing date: 12 February 2026
• Directorate: Resources
• Location: Victoria Gate, Woking, GU21 6JD

We are committed to the development of our workforce.This position is only available to applicants who already work for Surrey County Council. We thank you for your interest in our roles and would encourage you to review our vacancies which are open to all.

This role has a starting salary of £32,535 for working 36 hours per week, 40 weeks per year (pro rata to £36,873 full time equivalent).This is a fixed-term / secondment opportunity until August 2026, supporting the continued delivery of the Twelve15 service.

We are excited to be recruiting an Operations Team Leader to join our fantastic team. This role contributes directly to the success of the Twelve15 service, leading operational delivery across a defined portfolio of school catering sites. You will operate with a limited degree of professional independence and autonomy, with a strong focus on customer service, operational standards, financial performance and people leadership.

This is a term-time only role, working 36 hours per week, 40 weeks per year. Although you will only work during term time, you will receive a monthly salary paid evenly across the year, including school holidays.

Our Offer to You

• Final salary pension
• Discounts on various services including food shopping
• Health and wellbeing support
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Full induction and structured onboarding
• Term time only working to support work/life balance
• Ongoing training and development opportunities

About the Role

As an Operations Team Leader, you will play a key role in delivering a first-class catering service across your portfolio of schools. You will lead, support and manage Chef Managers and site teams, ensuring that the highest standards of food quality, customer service, food safety and health and safety are consistently achieved.

Customer service is at the heart of the Twelve15, and you will work closely with school clients and internal stakeholders, acting as a key point of contact and ensuring that service delivery meets agreed standards and contractual expectations. You will also be responsible for ensuring financial targets are met or exceeded, to train and develop your team to reach their full potential and work towards maximising customer participation and client engagement.

This role champions strong standards, accountability and a "one team" culture, encouraging growth and development within teams to deliver service excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead on the delivery of the Twelve15 service across a defined portfolio, ensuring consistently high standards of food quality and customer service
• Ensure compliance with minimum standards of operation, food safety and health and safety policies
• Monitor and manage financial performance, ensuring budgets and targets are met or exceeded
• Communicate effectively with school clients and stakeholders, managing relationships and expectations
• Capture, monitor and report performance data using CRM and other systems
• Actively support and implement Twelve15 business development and marketing plans across sites
• Performance-manage and develop team members, encouraging growth, engagement and continuous improvement
• Promote a strong "one team" culture aligned with the Twelve15 Vision and Mission

Your Application

In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearly evidence the following skills and align with our behaviours:

• Proven experience managing teams in a catering, food service or operational environment
• Strong understanding of food standards, customer service and operational compliance
• Experience managing budgets and delivering against financial targets
• Excellent people management, leadership and communication skills
• Ability to work independently across multiple locations

We'd love your application to evidence how your skills and experience align with this role and with Twelve15's values and behaviours. We also welcome applications from candidates who may not meet every requirement but bring strong transferable experience and a passion for service excellence.

To apply, we request that you submit a CV and you will be asked the following questions:

• What does excellent customer service look like in a school catering environment, and how would you ensure it is delivered consistently across multiple sites?
• Please tell us about your experience managing teams and supporting their performance and development.

Before submitting your application, we recommend you read the job description and our Life at Surrey handbook to gain insight into working with us.

Contact Us

Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.

If you have any questions about the role, including flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment, please get in touch by emailing .

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 12th February 2026 with interviews to follow.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two-tier system to two new unitary councils in April 2027. If you are employed by Surrey on 1st April 2027, your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of the new organisations, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities.

We are a disability confident employer which means if you have shared a disability on your application form and have evidenced you meet the minimum criteria, we guarantee you an interview.

Your skills and experience truly matter to us. From application to your first day, we're committed to supporting you with any adjustments you need, we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs.