Find your place in the field of good food

Our goal is to connect good people with good food. We advertise sustainable food jobs and training opportunities to help jobseekers and employers find each other.

Roots to Work is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.

Job description

The Chef is responsible for leading all kitchen operations at Platform Café, delivering a high-quality, vegetarian and vegan food offer within a small, busy community café setting. The role combines hands-on food preparation with leadership of kitchen standards, food safety, menu development and contribution to income generation.

The Chef plays a key role in ensuring the café operates as a welcoming and inclusive community space, supporting LJAG’s mission to improve health, wellbeing and opportunity. This includes developing affordable food options and making effective use of surplus ingredients to reduce waste and support access to high-quality meals.

The role works closely with the Senior Café Assistant to ensure strong alignment between kitchen and front of house service and supports LJAG’s youth employability work by providing opportunities for young people to develop basic food preparation skills.

Key Responsibilities

Kitchen Leadership and Food Delivery

• Lead all aspects of food preparation and service.
• Deliver a high-quality vegetarian hot and cold menu.
• Maintain consistently high standards of food quality, presentation and portion control.
• Ensure efficient and well-organised kitchen operations during service.

Team Working and Supervision

• Work closely and supportively with the Senior Café Assistant, who leads front of house service, to ensure smooth daily operations.
• Maintain strong communication between kitchen and front of house to deliver a consistent, high-quality customer experience.
• Provide guidance and appropriate supervision to volunteers and learners within the kitchen environment.

Menu Development and Food Offer

• Develop and deliver a high-quality vegetarian and vegan menu aligned with customer demand and community needs.
• Ensure menus are commercially viable and support café income.
• Plan menus to incorporate surplus and donated food, using ingredients creatively to produce meals and other food products.
• Maintain a healthy and affordable meal option to support access for customers on limited incomes.
• Ensure menus are inclusive, nutritionally balanced and responsive to cultural, dietary and allergen requirements.
• Support the fulfilment of catering offers and external food opportunities.

Food Safety, Hygiene and Compliance

• Maintain all food safety and allergen management systems.
• Ensure full compliance with food hygiene and health and safety regulations.
• Ensure safe food handling practices are followed at all times.
• Keep the kitchen and food systems inspection-ready at all times.
• Maintain accurate records and support inspections and audits.

Kitchen Equipment and Environment

• Maintain a clean, organised and safe kitchen environment at all times.
• Ensure the safe use and day-to-day care of all kitchen equipment.
• Identify and notify any faults to the Senior Café Assistant.

Sustainability

• Contribute to income generation through effective menu planning and pricing.
• Support catering opportunities and food-related events.
• Minimise waste and maximise the use of available resources, including surplus food.

Community and Social Impact

• Contribute to a welcoming, inclusive and respectful café environment for all customers.
• Support the café’s role in promoting community connection and wellbeing.
• Deliver affordable and, where appropriate, free meal offers in a way that maintains dignity and avoids stigma.
• Support youth employability and training initiatives by enabling young people to learn basic food preparation skills in a safe and structured environment.

Person Specification

Essential

• Experience working as a chef in a busy kitchen environment.
• Experience leading a kitchen or food operation.
• Level 3 Food Safety qualification (or equivalent).
• Strong understanding of food hygiene, allergens and compliance requirements.
• Ability to maintain high standards under pressure.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Positive, flexible and professional approach to work.
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Understanding of the role of a community café in supporting local wellbeing.
• Commitment to dignity-led, inclusive approaches to food access.
• Ability to support young people and learners within a kitchen environment.

Desirable

• Experience working in a community café or social enterprise setting.
• Experience developing vegetarian menus.
• Experience contributing to catering or external food offers.

Application information

Apply by emailing a CV and cover letter to anita@loughboroughjunction.org by Wednesday 10 June 2026 at 12pm.

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs