Chef
| Posting date: | 30 June 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £26,793 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 13 July 2025 |
| Location: | Scotney Castle, Lamberhurst, Tunbridge Wells, TN3 8JN |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | National Trust |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | IRC165041 |
Summary
Are you looking to step up your career in food and beverage? The National Trust is renowned for its food and hospitality. We run 185 cafes, tea-rooms, and restaurants all over England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and we'd love you to join us.
We’re looking for a Chef to join us. Because we are in a rural area, please think about how
you’d be able to get here for work, before applying for the job.
Benefits: We want to help you look after the things that matter to you, such as saving for your future, getting a discount on your weekly shop, or encouraging you to find a work-life balance. Please read our package, below, to see what benefits we offer you.
Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week. Rota is flexible with at least one weekend off per month, generally working 9am to 5pm.
Salary: £26,793 per annum
Duration: Permanent
Interview date: Friday 18th July
Potential start date: TBC
What it's like to work here
Step into the kitchen at Scotney Castle, where fresh, seasonal ingredients meet passion, creativity, and a real sense of place. As a chef here, you won’t just be preparing food—you’ll be crafting memorable experiences for our visitors in a truly picturesque setting.
You’ll be part of a friendly, supportive team that thrives in a busy but fun environment, proud of the high-quality dishes we serve and the spirit we bring to every shift. With a strong focus on teamwork, personal development, and a healthy work-life balance, this is a chance to grow your skills while contributing to something bigger—supporting conservation, community, and a truly special place. If you care about people, nature, and great food, we’d love to welcome you to the team.
You'll report to the Food and Beverage Manager.
To find out more about what it’s like to work in a food and beverage team for the National Trust,
What you'll be doing
Your main focus is the kitchen, a busy and creative hub. You’ll be working within the framework of our ‘National Trust Cookbook’ to prepare delicious food from scratch using fresh, seasonal ingredients. Your food will be served directly to visitors.
You’ll help to build a great place to work, which includes showing empathy and giving support to team members when needed. The aim is to foster a positive spirit where everyone is focussed on giving the best possible service to visitors.
By maintaining high standards of food hygiene and COSHH procedures, you’ll minimise risks to visitors, staff and contractors.
We’ll give you an induction that fits the job, and training in allergens and food safety, plus any mentoring needed to help you in your role. You can sign up for further professional training and development if you wish.
You can view the full role profile for this role in the document attached. You don't need to have all of the knowledge, skills and experience listed in the role profile; this is just to provide a full picture of what’s possible in this role.
Who we're looking for
We’d love to hear from you if you’re:
• Experienced as a professional chef or cook, with a passion for food and a friendly and positive attitude.
• Confident about following recipes and batch-cooking, and willing to learn.
• Aware of health and safety compliance.
• Happy working within a team, and good at communicating with people.
The package
The National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.
• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary
• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
• Rental deposit loan scheme
• Season ticket loan
• EV car lease scheme
• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts
• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.
• Flexible working whenever possible
• Employee assistance programme
• Free parking at most Trust places
We’re looking for a Chef to join us. Because we are in a rural area, please think about how
you’d be able to get here for work, before applying for the job.
Benefits: We want to help you look after the things that matter to you, such as saving for your future, getting a discount on your weekly shop, or encouraging you to find a work-life balance. Please read our package, below, to see what benefits we offer you.
Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week. Rota is flexible with at least one weekend off per month, generally working 9am to 5pm.
Salary: £26,793 per annum
Duration: Permanent
Interview date: Friday 18th July
Potential start date: TBC
What it's like to work here
Step into the kitchen at Scotney Castle, where fresh, seasonal ingredients meet passion, creativity, and a real sense of place. As a chef here, you won’t just be preparing food—you’ll be crafting memorable experiences for our visitors in a truly picturesque setting.
You’ll be part of a friendly, supportive team that thrives in a busy but fun environment, proud of the high-quality dishes we serve and the spirit we bring to every shift. With a strong focus on teamwork, personal development, and a healthy work-life balance, this is a chance to grow your skills while contributing to something bigger—supporting conservation, community, and a truly special place. If you care about people, nature, and great food, we’d love to welcome you to the team.
You'll report to the Food and Beverage Manager.
To find out more about what it’s like to work in a food and beverage team for the National Trust,
What you'll be doing
Your main focus is the kitchen, a busy and creative hub. You’ll be working within the framework of our ‘National Trust Cookbook’ to prepare delicious food from scratch using fresh, seasonal ingredients. Your food will be served directly to visitors.
You’ll help to build a great place to work, which includes showing empathy and giving support to team members when needed. The aim is to foster a positive spirit where everyone is focussed on giving the best possible service to visitors.
By maintaining high standards of food hygiene and COSHH procedures, you’ll minimise risks to visitors, staff and contractors.
We’ll give you an induction that fits the job, and training in allergens and food safety, plus any mentoring needed to help you in your role. You can sign up for further professional training and development if you wish.
You can view the full role profile for this role in the document attached. You don't need to have all of the knowledge, skills and experience listed in the role profile; this is just to provide a full picture of what’s possible in this role.
Who we're looking for
We’d love to hear from you if you’re:
• Experienced as a professional chef or cook, with a passion for food and a friendly and positive attitude.
• Confident about following recipes and batch-cooking, and willing to learn.
• Aware of health and safety compliance.
• Happy working within a team, and good at communicating with people.
The package
The National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.
• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary
• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
• Rental deposit loan scheme
• Season ticket loan
• EV car lease scheme
• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts
• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.
• Flexible working whenever possible
• Employee assistance programme
• Free parking at most Trust places