At Chester Zoo we have a number of Food & Beverage outlets catering for a wide range of customers. You could be working in our award winning gastro pub and event space in the The Oakfield, or Junes Food Court where we serve up family friendly classic dishes. Other places you may be working are Bembe Kitchen and Coffee Shop, or Manado Kitchen which is our 450 seat outside dining area serving a range of authentic, South East Asian inspired street food. You could even be working in our modern, purpose built Staff Canteen, keeping our hard working employees well fed with hearty, freshly made dishes!

The successful candidates will be required to learn new recipes; cook and serve freshly prepared food to Chester Zoo’s high standards, in line with standard operating procedures and food safety policy, whilst maintaining a clean and safe working environment. You will also be required to follow health and hygiene policies and associated legislation (for example HACCP).

Dependent on the role, you may be required to oversee Kitchen Assistants and other Chefs as well.

The successful candidate will have:

• A relevant catering/food preparation qualification such as an NVQ Level 2, or be working/willing to work towards this
• A Basic Food Hygiene Certificate (Food Safety level 1 or above)
• Good knowledge of preparing and cooking food from fresh
• Good understanding of Food Safety laws & procedures
• Excellent customer service skills
• Effective communication skills
• A flexible, “can do” attitude and the ability to remain calm under pressure
• Ability to work as part of a small team as well as work independently and use own initiative
• Good literacy and numeracy skills

It would also be desirable to have:

• Experience of supervising others
• Good computer skills and competency in the use of Microsoft Office programmes

Hours of work are varied, but if full time you will be working 40 hours per week, 5 out of 7 days set on a rota basis, including weekends and bank holidays. Our part time roles are based on 20 hours per week.

Generally you will be working during normal zoo opening hours, however we expect you to have a flexible attitude to work to enable cover within the department and additional front of house cover or occasional evening work for events such as weddings or The Lanterns may be necessary.

The salary for these roles range between £18,532.80 and £26,516.71 per annum (based on 40 hours per week) and in addition we offer a range of amazing benefits which can be found at www.chesterzoo.org/work-with-us/staff-benefits/

To apply for one of our Chef positions, click ‘Apply Now’ to provide your current CV and complete the application form highlighting your skills and experience including why you believe you should be considered for one of our Chef roles.

Closing date for applications is 21 June 2021