This role has a starting salary of £11,788 per annum, based on a 18-hour working week pro-rata to £23,576 full-time equivalent.

If you are passionate about cooking healthy, nutritious meals and want to make a real difference in the lives of some of Surrey's most vulnerable children - we'd love to hear from you!

We are looking for a Cook who shares our dedication and will take pride in our home; helping to create a clean, homely environment for our children and cook healthy meals for children and staff on shift.

Rewards and Benefits

26 days' holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
A generous local government salary related pension
Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resource

Our Home

We want our Residential homes to be exceptional for the children we are entrusted to care for. It's what we strive to provide and what our children want and need! We look after up to 8 children per day, aged between 6-18 years old. We strive to provide a safe and nurturing environment for disabled children and young people who also have complex health care needs.

About the Role

As a Cook at our home, you will be joining a dedicated and energetic team who provide the best possible quality of personalised care that meets each child's needs and promotes their welfare. Some of our children have special dietary needs, therefore the right candidate must be thorough, confident and have great time management. This is a very rewarding role, where your work will make a real difference to the lives of the children we support. As a Cook you'll be at the heart of ensuring a healthy, balanced diet is provided daily.

This will include:

Food planning and preparation with a flair for creativity! Including healthy menus that ensure nutritional requirements are met (including allergies)
On-line shopping (making sure budgets are stuck to!)
Stock rotation and daily temperature checks on fridges and freezers
Maintaining a high standard of cleanliness and hygiene (where necessary, using powered equipment e.g., vacuum cleaners, weekly deep clean of kitchen etc)
Ensuring all necessary repairs are reported and that health and safety guidelines are always followed

As a team, we work closely together to ensure we are providing the best possible care for some of Surrey's most vulnerable young people; and at times, this can be challenging, so you'll need to be adaptable and resilient to work in this environment.

Shortlisting Criteria

To be considered for shortlisting for this position, your application will clearly evidence the following:

You hold current CIEH e-learning Food Safety in Catering OR willingness to obtain this qualification within the home, including an awareness of Health and Safety issues and COSHH
You are flexible, organised and able to work methodically
You have great interpersonal skills and can develop appropriate relationships with young people
You can work well as part of a team, but also confident working individually
You have a commitment to undertaking relevant training and development

All of our homes are inspected regularly by OFSTED and have been judged as either 'Good' or 'Outstanding'. We are very proud of the quality of our residential services for some of Surrey's most vulnerable children. As a result, we have invested in our homes and staff and plan to continue this to achieve a service that is ambitious, innovative, and responsive to the needs of young people in our care.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 20/10/2024 with interviews to follow.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applicants where:

The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.