Mobile Catering Officer
| Posting date: | 17 September 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £22,354 to £24,262 per year |
| Hours: | Part time |
| Closing date: | 01 October 2025 |
| Location: | Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1RQ |
| Company: | West Sussex County Council |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | CPP01150_1758093013 |
Summary
Are you a hospitality and catering professional who enjoys the challenge of working in different kitchens in a fast paced environment?
Do you have excellent catering craft skills and a sound knowledge of catering legislation?
Are you looking for a position that offers a strong work-life balance, with evenings, weekends, and bank holidays off?
If the answer is yes, we want to hear from you!
We are looking for a Mobile Catering Officer to join our Catering Services Team, that provides and arranges catering throughout West Sussex as part of the Communities Directorate.
With a term time only contract that truly nurtures a work/life balance, including weekends and bank holidays off, an excellent pension plan, and a variety of discounts granting our staff access to hundreds of offers, there has never been a more exciting time to join us!
Salary: £22,354 to £24,262 per annum (pro rata for part time)
Contract Type: Permanent, Term Time Only (39 weeks) Monday to Friday
Working Pattern: 32.5 hours per week
Location: Countywide
Interview Date: Thursday 16 October 2025
What is term time only working? A term time only contract is for our staff who are employed to work only during periods when schools are open. Your pay is calculated on an annual basis and then you are paid over twelve equal monthly instalments. West Sussex County Council employees are also subject to receive a yearly pay increase via the NJC pay award.
You will be required to work flexibly, providing support remotely to those teams dependent on service needs. Covering the absence of staff at all grades.
You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. An allocated pool car will be provided during working hours.
About the Job
Reporting to the Senior Catering Officer, you will be working in our special schools, but with an overview of other areas of the business. In West Sussex, we run an in-house School Catering Service for our 11 special schools, spread across 10 sites throughout the county.
You will be expected to travel to these schools and offer short notice emergency absence and vacancy cover for cook supervisors and catering assistants to these kitchens.
You will be responsible for delivering a range of tasks to a high standard within agreed timescales. These include menu and special diet menu compilation, including data input for kitchen management, gathering stakeholder feedback, and acting upon it, as well as supporting team members' development and working closely with the Senior Catering Officer.
You will be required to work flexibly at short notice and will be based in the special schools, providing support remotely to those teams dependent on service needs. Occasionally you will be required to work at one of the County's hub offices.
This is an active role working in a busy kitchen environment, and you will be required to lift, move & handle large equipment frequently. You'll need to be able to travel independently to various locations across the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes available.
If you have exceptional attention to detail, strong communication skills, and the ability to build good working relationships, we would like to hear from you!
We would love to hear from you if you have
- City & Guilds 706/1 & 2 or NVQ level 3 in Catering, or equivalent qualification, or equivalent demonstrable experience.
- Minimum Level 2 Food Safety, ideally Level 3 Food Safety trained.
- Working knowledge of all relevant Food Hygiene and Health and Safety legislation.
- Knowledge of the government School Food Standards and of special dietary requirements.
- Knowledge of menu planning and recipe development.
- Knowledge and experience of appropriate ordering, costing and stock control processes, and making best value decisions within available resources.
- Experience in providing catering on a large scale, preparing, and cooking fresh food from scratch.
- Experience of supervising or managing a catering / hospitality team.
- A full driving licence (many schools are rural and not suitable for public transport).
For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.
Rewards and Benefits
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.
- A excellent local government pension scheme
- A Term Time Only (TTO) contract where you will only work during periods in which schools are open.
- A range of flexible working options, depending on your job role
- Maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
- Volunteering opportunities
- Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
- A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform (see our Staff discounts page if you are a business looking to offer a discount)
- Health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans.
For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.
Further Information
The reference number for this role is CPP01150.
Does this sound like the opportunity for you? Click apply below, upload your CV, and complete the application form, explaining how you meet the key skills in the attached job description and experience you can bring to the role. Please ensure all that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.
Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to right to work within the UK, enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, satisfactory references, and a health check.
Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.
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