Chef de Partie

Company: Plumpton College
Closing Date: 20-11-2025
Location: Plumpton, Lewes
Salary: £30,000 - £33,600
Hours: Full Time - 45h / week
Benefits: 26 days annual leave plus up to five efficiency days
How to Apply: Complete Application form and Equality/Diversity Monitoring Form and submit by email to recruitment@plumpton.ac.uk

Description

Role: Chef de Partie (CDP)

Salary: £30,063 - £33,646

Hours: Full-time - 45 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

We are looking to recruit an experienced Chef De Partie (CDP) to support our in-house catering team in delivering an outstanding catering service to our students and staff. This will include our events and hospitality services. Our state-of-the-art AgriFood centre has space for conferences and events catering up to 500 attendees, and our college dining room service provides for all our students and a large number of staff every day. The successful applicant will assist in the daily running of our college dining room services for our day and residential students as well as the Graze Café, which is open for HE students, staff, and external visitors. This is an exciting time to join the College as we grow our catering business to adapt to the needs of our students and growth in our commercial activities in conferences and events.

The ideal candidate will be a professional, hardworking, and confident team player with a track record of working in a similar environment or in fresh produce catering establishments.

Essential criteria for the post

A catering qualification or demonstrable experience in a high-volume kitchen

Hold a current Food Hygiene Certificate and have strong working knowledge of the regulations which apply in a professional kitchen

Have at least two years’ experience in a similar role

Proficiency in a range of cuisines and cooking techniques

A passion for good food, sustainability and providing a healthy menu

Physically fit, able to undertake manual handling duties

Able to demonstrate great customer service skills

Strong understanding of allergens, dietary requirements and cross-contamination

Excellent communication skills to interact with kitchen staff and managerial staff

Full UK drivers’ licence

Desirable criteria for the post

Outgoing and approachable with staff, students and visitors

Experience in menu planning, costing and procurement

Confident when working in a team and when working independently

Previous experience leading/supporting junior colleagues

Working Hours

Basic working hours are five days over a seven-day rota, agreed with line manager. This usually includes one weekend per month. Daily hours are approximately 7am-5pm or 8am-6pm, working a 10 hour day with one hour for lunch. Our catering outlets must meet the needs of the business so some flexibility around weekends and evenings will be required. Hours and working times will be agreed with the Head Chef, based on the needs of the business.

This is an all year-round post. There will be some evening and weekend working required to support faculty activities, and whole college recruitment and promotional functions and events.

Annual Leave

The holiday year is from 1 September - 31 August each year. The pro-rata annual leave entitlement for this role is 26 working days, plus 8 bank holidays and up to 5 efficiency days when the college closes at Christmas. Annual leave is bookable subject to business needs and should be planned and agreed with your Line Manager. Annual leave is requested, booked and managed via our online portal, iTrent.

We reserve the right to call candidates to interview/withdraw this vacancy at any time if there is a good level of response. Therefore, we recommend you submit your application as soon as possible.

Plumpton College is committed to the promotion of equal opportunities and is dedicated to pursuing non-discriminatory policies and practices and eliminating unfair discrimination on any basis.

Plumpton is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of learners and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.