Head Food Educator (Paternity Cover)

About you and the role

As our Head Food Educator you will be fundamental to the planning and delivery of all food education within the School of Food. You will devise and deliver engaging lessons that instil a love of cooking in each and every learner who comes through the door. 

You will also be crucial to the smooth and safe running of the kitchen, using your expertise to ensure that the operation runs safely and effectively.

Working closely with the General Manager, you will work to expand and deepen the work of the Hackney School of Food. You will work together to identify and approach new target groups, and you will also act as an ambassador for our work and our mission, representing the school and sharing our learnings with wider audiences.

This is a 4-6 month paternity cover but there may be opportunity to extend your involvement in the School of Food, depending on the success of the initial phase.The successful candidate will have a training period and support from the team to be fully equipped to do the role.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone with a passion for food education and a desire to share your comprehensive cooking and knowledge on food growing, sustainability and healthy eating. 

You will be the right person for the role if you…

• Have a passion for our mission that you want to share with others

• Are an inspiring food educator confident teaching classes of children and adults from different backgrounds and cooking abilities

• Can manage the behaviour and health and safety of children during school sessions 

• Have experience in managing a kitchen, including:

o   Managing suppliers

o   Food safety management

o   Managing a kitchen team 

• Enjoy working with people and are a confident public speaker

• Are hard working and adaptable, with the ability to multitask and respond calmly to challenges when they arise 

The responsibilities, skills and experience listed below give you an idea of what we need for this role. If you don’t meet every requirement but feel you would be able to work with us to deliver the majority of them, we would urge you to apply anyway. 

Specific duties

Food education
 

Develop and deliver inspiring food education lessons for all ages and abilities

• Responsible for all parts of the lesson delivery from start to finish including the food prep, set-up and clearing down once the lesson ends

• Create a welcoming learning experience by sharing your passion for healthy recipes using fresh, high-quality, seasonal ingredients

• Work with the General Manager to grow programmes, and expand and deepen our reach

• Create, maintain and update all educational materials, including handouts, presentations, and audio-visual materials for lesson use

• Develop and adapt courses and teaching styles to suit different audiences, including schools, the local community and paid-for courses for corporate hires and team away days

•  Liaise with the Gardener on:

o efficient use of garden produce for growing/cooking curriculum

o  seasonally appropriate garden tasks/activities for school groups and other bookings (e.g. CSR volunteer day opportunities)

• Support the delivery of events that are led by external trainers or guest chefs, facilitating smooth delivery of these
• Be an ambassador for the School of Food as a leader in Food Education, with scope for presentations and demonstrations with a variety of audiences.

Kitchen Management

• Manage all kitchen staff within budget, including but not limited to:

o  Planning shift rotas in line with bookings and budgetary constraints including working with paid staff and volunteers

o  Utilising reputable and cost-effective suppliers to achieve the best value cost of food

o  Working with the bookkeeper to ensure the smooth and timely payment of suppliers 

o  Efficiently running the Hackney School of Food kitchen, including ordering and receiving deliveries, stock management and quality control.

Safety
 

• Ensure the highest standards of food safety and health & safety are upheld at all times; including ensuring a food safety management system is in place, and detailed HACCP records are kept in line with best practice
• Uphold safeguarding of children at all times, reporting any concerns to the Designated Safeguarding Lead and supporting them in preventing and managing incidents
• Ensure that the kitchen is operated safely, flagging the required maintenance and inspections of kitchen equipment when needed to the General Manager/Premises Manager to organise repairs.

General

• Assist the General Manager with development of new income-generation activities
• Contribute to regular meetings, reviews and project evaluations to ensure that project aims are translated into content delivery
• Oversee provision of quality catering for events and functions as required
• Any other duties which may reasonably be regarded as within the nature of the duties and responsibilities of the post.

Conduct

• Be familiar with the organisation’s policies, rules and procedures and to adhere to relevant Hackney School of Food or LEAP Federation policies at all times
• Set a standard of behaviour to colleagues which is polite, honest and friendly
• Deal with children and adults alike in a polite, professional and friendly manner.

Benefits

• You will be joining a friendly, supportive team who works hard but believe in a healthy work/life balance. We seek a diverse range of perspectives, skills, experience and knowledge.

• We offer 33 days of holiday per year, including bank holidays for full-time staff - prorated for part-time roles

• Free access to the CODE app for discounted restaurants & hospitality venues

• We are committed to developing our team and will support you with relevant training opportunities.

Equal opportunity

We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and for us the most important ‘experience’ is passion for our mission. We encourage applications from underrepresented groups, whether these be of ethnicity, gender, identity, religion, physical ability, sexual orientation or other.

Other requirements

As we work with children and young people, an offer of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and DBS clearance.

How to apply

Please follow this link to complete the application form for this role: 

https://forms.gle/Xqva9sy5SJQHXgZs6 

The deadline for receiving applications is 9am on Friday 1 December.

We expect first stage interviews to take place on Friday 8 December.