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Development Chef Pabulum Catering Field-Based with Regional Travel Shape the Future of School Food At Pabulum, we believe that great food has the power to inspire, educate, and bring communities together. We're looking for an innovative and passionate Development Chef to help elevate our food offer across our portfolio of schools, supporting our teams to deliver exceptional dining experiences every day. This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced culinary professional who thrives on developing people, driving food innovation, and influencing food culture across a diverse education catering business. If you're passionate about food trends, education catering, and inspiring teams to be their best, we'd love to hear from you. About the Role As the Development Chef, you will work closely with our Operations teams, senior leadership team, and school stakeholders to champion culinary excellence across the business. You'll play a key role in developing and implementing innovative food concepts, supporting menu development, embedding our food engagement programmes, and ensuring our school catering teams have the skills, tools, and confidence to deliver outstanding food experiences. This role combines culinary creativity, operational support, training, coaching, and client engagement, making it ideal for someone who enjoys variety and making a visible impact.
Job Responsibility
Driving culinary excellence across our school catering operations
Developing exciting and innovative food concepts, themed events, pop-ups, BBQs, and tasting experiences
Creating School Food Standards-compliant dishes and menu enhancements that keep our offer fresh, engaging, and relevant
Supporting the implementation and consistency of company menus, recipes, and food standards
Coaching, mentoring, and developing kitchen teams at all levels
Delivering culinary workshops, training sessions, and development programmes
Supporting and promoting food education and engagement activities within schools
Establishing and leading tasting sessions, recipe clinics, and food innovation workshops
Supporting new contract mobilisations and key operational projects
Working alongside school clients to showcase food innovation and enhance customer satisfaction
Reviewing site food strategies and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement
Supporting large-scale hospitality and special event catering across the business
Acting as a culinary ambassador for Pabulum, championing food quality, nutrition, and innovation
Requirements
A genuine passion for food, innovation, and customer experience
Previous experience in a senior culinary, food development, executive chef, or food innovation role
Strong knowledge of food trends and the ability to translate these into engaging concepts
Experience of menu development and food concept implementation
Strong understanding of purchasing, sourcing, recipe management, and food production
Excellent coaching, training, and leadership skills
Strong stakeholder management and communication abilities
A collaborative and influential approach to working with teams and clients
Excellent planning and project management skills
The flexibility to travel regularly across the business
Nice to have
Experience within education catering, contract catering, or large-scale food service environments
Knowledge of School Food Standards
Experience developing menus for primary and secondary school environments
A recognised professional culinary qualification
What we offer
Competitive salary
Contributory pension scheme
Ongoing learning and development opportunities
Access to a Digital GP and healthcare support
Employee Assistance Programme
Lifestyle, shopping, and travel discounts
Recognition and reward programmes
A supportive and collaborative culture
The opportunity to shape the future of food across a growing education catering business