Catering Managers work in many areas of the NHS and Social Care and ensure that food and beverages for their organisation are well planned, nutritious and of good quality.
As a Catering Manager, you’ll be supporting the work of the catering team to deliver food and drink to not just our patients or service users, but also to our staff and visitors too.
Working life
Working as a Catering Manager means that you will take part in a variety of tasks each day to keep the catering services operating smoothly. You will:
- Ensure that all food served meets food hygiene and food safety regulations.
- Plan menus ensuring high levels of nutrition. This could include catering for those who have a medical need, diabetes, or need a low fat, or gluten free or vegetarian diet.
- Arrange staffing rotas.
- Ensure your food services are delivered within your given budget.
- Order and control stock rotations to maximise longevity of products.
- Supervise the work of the catering team.
- Work with the dietetic team to plan meals for those requiring special diets.
- Recruit and train catering staff.
Working as a Catering Manager could mean that you work in or across:
- Acute hospital settings
- Community hospital settings
- For NHS England
- At the head office of an NHS Trust
- In Social Care
Requirements
Becoming a Catering Manager usually means that you already hold a relevant qualification such as a degree or HND in either hospitality management, hotel and catering management or culinary arts management. NHS and Social Care employers will expect good literacy, numeracy and IT skills as these are an important part of working as a Catering Manager. Depending on the role, some employers may ask for GCSEs or equivalent qualifications. When applying for a role as a Catering Manager, there may be other skills or qualifications required but this will depend on the role.
Employers will also require you to have some relevant work experience or knowledge of having worked in a similar role previously. If you are considering a role in the catering team, it is a good idea if you can demonstrate where you have previously worked or volunteered in a similar role or where you have gained customer service experience.
Working as a Catering Manager will provide further opportunities to develop your career through apprenticeships and internal training and there are sometimes other ways to access employment in catering such as traineeships or internships depending on the Trust you work for.
Personal Characteristics
To work successfully as a Catering Manager, you need to consider your own personal characteristics. You would need to have the following attributes or similar:
- Be accurate and methodical and have good attention to detail.
- Be able to work as part of a team but also able to use your own initiative.
- Be able to work with all people from various backgrounds with different experiences.
- Be interested in food and drink.
Skills Required
To work successfully as a Catering Manager, you also need to consider the skills that you have. You would need to demonstrate the following:
- Be well organised and able to plan your time.
- Be able to communicate with a variety of people using different methods.
- Be able to successfully demonstrate a good level of IT knowledge.
- Have positive customer service skills.
- Be organised and methodical.
- Be able to manage people and budgets.
- Be able to solve problems.
- Be flexible, adaptable and responsive to changing situations.
Training and Development Opportunities
When you begin to work as a Catering Manager, you will receive training you require to be able to undertake the role successfully. You will receive an induction which will introduce you to the department you will be working in, will support you to access the IT systems and will ensure you are aware of the policies and procedures you will be required to following in the undertaking of your role. You will also have to complete any statutory and mandatory training that your employer requires such as fire training, data security training and customer service.
Career Development Opportunities
Once you have experience of working within the Catering team, there are other roles you could progress into. You could lead a team at a larger organisation or could become the Head of Catering Services for an NHS or Social Care employer.
Pay and benefits
Catering Managers usually work around 37.5 hours per week. Depending on the role and the setting you work in, you may be required to work shifts, nights, evenings or weekends.
Catering Managers in the NHS are paid using the Agenda for Change (AfC) system will typically start their career on AfC band 4 but with experience, further training and additional qualifications, can progress further up the pay scale.
Catering Managers working for Social Care settings will be paid according to the employer they work for and the renumeration for the role will be shown on their job advert.
Other benefits of working within the catering team include access to a pension scheme, health service discounts such as Blue Light Card and 27 days of annual leave in addition to bank holidays.