DescriptionEmployerLocation
Overview and Responsibilities
Head Chef – Aurora Foxes
Location: Minehead, Somerset
Salary: £37,752 - £38,729.60 Depending on experience and qualifications
Hours: 40 hours per week, 52 weeks
Welcome to Aurora Foxes, a specialist college and training hotel for young people with learning disabilities, situated in the friendly seaside town of Minehead. Foxes is a very special place.
This is a unique opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of our young people in an operational hotel environment that supports our students to learn the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to successfully shape their own future. Our aim is to equip our young adults with the life and hospitality skills to become work ready, life ready.
The main purpose of the role:
As Head Chef your role is to lead and manage the Foxes Hotel kitchen, ensuring consistently high standards of food quality, safety, and service while creating an outstanding environment for students to learn and grow. The Head Chef holds dual responsibility for delivering excellence in hospitality operations and providing high-quality teaching and mentoring to young people with learning disabilities. This role requires a hands-on leader who thrives in a dynamic kitchen and sees the value in supporting students to develop vocational and independent living skills
Your role is to help achieve our mission which is to equip young adults with learning disabilities to find sustainable employment in the hospitality sector and to live independently.
You will always promote a professional attitude and approach with students and support staff, to enable students to develop the skills required to be 'work ready, life ready.
Key responsibilities:
Kitchen Leadership and Standards
1. Lead the day-to-day running of the kitchen, ensuring food is prepared and presented to exceptional standards, in line with hotel expectations and guest satisfaction.
2. Set and maintain high standards for cleanliness, organisation, food safety, allergen management, and health & safety compliance across all kitchen areas.
3. Manage kitchen stock control, ordering, storage, and waste reduction procedures.
4. Ensure that the kitchen is always audit-ready and compliant with all relevant legislation and internal protocols.
5. Role model professionalism, teamwork, and a positive culture within the kitchen team.
Student Teaching and Support
6. Plan, deliver, and assess engaging, inclusive, and practical cooking sessions that develop students’ culinary and employability skills.
7. Provide ongoing feedback, encouragement, and challenge to help each student make progress in line with their individual goals.
8. Work collaboratively with tutors and Learning Support Practitioners (LSPs) to ensure students are supported and engaged throughout every session.
9. Use recognised frameworks such as RARPA to track, evidence, and review student progress effectively.
10. Create a safe and supportive learning environment where students feel confident to learn, take risks, and grow in independence.
Collaboration and Quality Assurance
11. Work with the Hotel Manager and senior leadership team to ensure a seamless link between hotel operations and the student learning experience.
12. Support quality assurance processes across both hospitality and education functions.
13. Contribute to curriculum planning, staff development, and team meetings to continuously improve outcomes for students and guests.
14. Conduct risk assessments, planning for off-site activities, and safeguarding reviews as needed.
Skills and Qualifications
Successful candidate qualities:
15. Proven experience as a Head Chef or Senior Chef in a high-quality hospitality setting
16. City & Guilds 706/1 & 2 or NVQ equivalent
17. Strong leadership, team development, and kitchen management skills
18. Confident in planning and delivering structured teaching or training sessions (experience in an educational or training setting is highly desirable)
19. Level 3 Food Hygiene Certificate (or willingness to complete)
20. Relevant catering qualification (e.g. City & Guilds or NVQ Level 3)
21. Level 2 in English and Maths (or willingness to work towards)
22. Knowledge of safeguarding and working with young people or adults with additional needs (desirable)
Benefits and Additional Information
What’s on offer?
Continued training and support
Opportunity to gain qualifications, which will be funded by us!
10% off accommodation, hot drinks and food at Foxes Hotel
Life assurance and pension
Health cash back plan
Car lease scheme
Bike to work scheme
Perk box
Free parking
Apply/Enquiries
If you are interested in this role then please apply on-line and complete our application form.
Successful applicants will be subject to pre-employment safeguarding checks including an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.
The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Aurora Group is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are "spent" unless they are "protected" under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.
The Aurora Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and young adults in our care and is a disability confident and equal opportunities employer
This advert could be taken down at any point in time without prior notice if the position is filled.
Safeguarding Statement
Aurora Foxes is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We particularly welcome applications from under represented groups including ethnicity, gender, transgender, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.