Title: Head Chef
Competitive salary reflecting your experience
We are looking for a passionate and dynamic Chef Manager to lead the catering provision at a prestigious independent senior school in Kent. This is an exciting opportunity for a creative culinary professional with strong leadership skills and a drive to deliver outstanding food and service.
In this role, you’ll oversee the full catering operation — from daily service for students and staff to special events and a vibrant boarding community, ensuring meals are nutritious, engaging, and freshly prepared using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients.
You will manage and motivate a dedicated kitchen team, promoting excellence, innovation, and sustainability at every level. This is a chance to shape a high-quality food offer in a school that values tradition, community, and culinary excellence.
At Holroyd Howe, we’re proud to be one of the UK’s leading contract caterers, specialising in independent schools. We place people and food at the heart of everything we do, and we’re committed to creating supportive environments where teams can thrive.
If you’re an experienced chef with a flair for creativity and the confidence to lead a team, we’d love to hear from you.
Oversee all aspects of kitchen management, from menu planning to food preparation and staff training.
Deliver high-quality, nutritious, and creative meals tailored to students' diverse dietary needs.
Ensure compliance with health and safety regulations while maintaining an organized and efficient kitchen.
Collaborate with school leadership to create bespoke hospitality offerings for events.
Proven experience as a Head Chef/Manager or in a similar senior role, ideally in a high-volume or educational setting.
NVQ Level 3) and excellent knowledge of food safety standards.
Creativity and passion for delivering high-quality, nutritious meals.
Flexibility to adapt to the needs of a busy kitchen, including occasional evening or weekend work.
This is your chance to combine your culinary expertise with a meaningful role in a supportive community. Holroyd Howe is one of the UK’s leading contract caterers, providing fresh innovative food services solely to independent schools and colleges. We are a team of experienced professionals who tailor our catering service provision specifically to suit children of all ages in order to meet the bespoke requirements of each school.
To provide our teams with the right skills to succeed in their jobs, we invest in their training and development. Our exceptional teams of seasoned specialists customise our catering services to fit children of all ages and satisfy the unique needs of our clients.
Sustainability
Sustainability is at the heart of our thinking; Nutrition
We take nutrition seriously and understand the impact a healthy diet has on the fundamental years of development. Food Innovation
We offer a wide portfolio of training opportunities and experiences, which attracts chefs who are passionate about culinary excellence and menu innovation to our team.
From tasting tables, theme days and food theatre, to chef demonstrations and supplier showcases, we create engaging and fun dining experiences for our students. We work together to make mealtimes exploratory, quirky, and fun for our pupils, helping them build strong and healthy relationships with food.
“ We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all employees to share this commitment. All roles within Holroyd Howe are regarded as regulated activity, it is an offence to apply for a role in regulated activity if you are barred from working with children, therefore we will require an Enhanced DBS which includes a Barred List check for all successful applicants. We will also require shortlisted applicants to provide appropriate information regarding any criminal offences and shortlisted applicants will be subject to an online search of public available information on suitability to work with children. “