Head Chef
Foxes Academy
Somerset
- £39,270 - £40,290 per year
- Expired
- Job type:
- Full Time, Permanent
- Start date:
- 02 February 2026
- Apply by:
- 21 January 2026
Job overview
Overview and Responsibilities
Head Chef – Aurora Foxes
Location: Minehead, Somerset
Salary: £39,270 - £40,290, Depending on experience and qualifications
Hours: 40 hours per week, 52 weeks
Welcome to Aurora Foxes, a specialist college and training hotel for young people with learning disabilities, situated in the friendly seaside town of Minehead. Foxes is a very special place.
This is a unique opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of our young people in an operational hotel environment that supports our students to learn the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to successfully shape their own future. Our aim is to equip our young adults with the life and hospitality skills to become work ready, life ready.
The main purpose of the role:
As Head Chef your role is to lead and manage the Foxes Hotel kitchen, ensuring consistently high standards of food quality, safety, and service while creating an outstanding environment for students to learn and grow. The Head Chef holds dual responsibility for delivering excellence in hospitality operations and providing high-quality teaching and mentoring to young people with learning disabilities. This role requires a hands-on leader who thrives in a dynamic kitchen and sees the value in supporting students to develop vocational and independent living skills
Your role is to help achieve our mission which is to equip young adults with learning disabilities to find sustainable employment in the hospitality sector and to live independently.
You will always promote a professional attitude and approach with students and support staff, to enable students to develop the skills required to be 'work ready, life ready.
Key responsibilities:
Kitchen Leadership and Standards:
Lead the day-to-day running of the kitchen, ensuring food is prepared and presented to exceptional standards, in line with hotel expectations and guest satisfaction.
Set and maintain high standards for cleanliness, organisation, food safety, allergen management, and health & safety compliance across all kitchen areas.
Manage kitchen stock control, ordering, storage, and waste reduction procedures.
Ensure that the kitchen is always audit-ready and compliant with all relevant legislation and internal protocols.
Role model professionalism, teamwork, and a positive culture within the kitchen team.
Student Teaching and Support:
Plan, deliver, and assess engaging, inclusive, and practical cooking sessions that develop students’ culinary and employability skills.
Provide ongoing feedback, encouragement, and challenge to help each student make progress in line with their individual goals.
Work collaboratively with tutors and Learning Support Practitioners (LSPs) to ensure students are supported and engaged throughout every session.
Use recognised frameworks such as RARPA to track, evidence, and review student progress effectively.
Create a safe and supportive learning environment where students feel confident to learn, take risks, and grow in independence.
Collaboration and Quality Assurance:
Work with the Hotel Manager and senior leadership team to ensure a seamless link between hotel operations and the student learning experience.
Support quality assurance processes across both hospitality and education functions.
Contribute to curriculum planning, staff development, and team meetings to continuously improve outcomes for students and guests.
Conduct risk assessments, planning for off-site activities, and safeguarding reviews as needed.
Duties will vary, you must expect to diversify and lend a hand wherever is required.
Skills and Qualifications
Successful candidate qualities:
Proven experience as a Head Chef or Senior Chef in a high-quality hospitality setting
City & Guilds 706/1 & 2 or NVQ equivalent
Strong leadership, team development, and kitchen management skills
Confident in planning and delivering structured teaching or training sessions (experience in an educational or training setting is highly desirable)
Level 3 Food Hygiene Certificate (or willingness to complete)
Relevant catering qualification (e.g. City & Guilds or NVQ Level 3)
Level 2 in English and Maths (or willingness to work towards)
Knowledge of safeguarding and working with young people or adults with additional needs (desirable)
Benefits and Additional Information
🌟What’s on Offer at Aurora?
We believe in supporting you as much as we support the children and young people in our care. Here’s a snapshot of the fantastic benefits waiting for you:
📚 Grow with Us – Training & Development
Learning never stops at Aurora! We offer a wide range of training programmes and career development opportunities to help you build your skills and reach your goals.
💸 Save Money on Everyday Essentials
With the rising cost of living, our Perkbox app helps you stretch your money further:
Discounts on groceries, phone plans, internet, dining out, gym memberships & more
Access to our Cycle to Work and Car Scheme
💰 Competitive Pay & Reward
We regularly benchmark our pay and benefits to stay ahead of the curve. You’ll enjoy:
Enhanced Annual Leave
Company Sick Pay
Enhanced Pension
Life Assurance
🩺 24/7 GP Access – For You & Your Household
Need a doctor? No problem. Book a phone or video appointment anytime, day or night. This service covers everyone in your household.
🦷 UK Health Cash Plan
Cover everyday healthcare costs like dental and optician bills. You and your children are included in the scheme, and you can upgrade to add your partner too!
🧠 Employee Assistance Programme
Your wellbeing matters. Get confidential support on a wide range of issues, including:
Freephone counselling (available 24/7)
Online tools and resources
👯♀️ Refer a Friend – Earn £1,000!
Know someone who’d be a great fit? Refer them and get rewarded!
(*Terms apply)
Please complete an online application form in full, remembering to include all employment and education details.
Successful applicants will be subject to pre-employment safeguarding checks including an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.
The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Aurora Group is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are "spent" unless they are "protected" under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.
The Aurora Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and young adults in our care and is a disability confident and equal opportunities employer.
This advert could be taken down at any point in time without prior notice if the position is filled.
Please note that candidates that are shortlisted might be subject to an online search.
Attached documents
About Foxes Academy
- Foxes Academy
- The Esplanade, Selbourne Place, Minehead
- Somerset
- TA24 5TY
- United Kingdom
If we had to capture the essence of Aurora Foxes, it would be employability and independence for adulthood. We strive daily to be the very best and we will continue to do so, to ensure that graduates from Aurora Foxes are: work ready, life ready.
Mark Costello - Principal
Our College"I think people should come to Foxes to work on their independence skills. I have been learning about shopping and budgeting. I can now travel to Taunton on the bus, which is 24 miles away to get to my work experience. My work experience is amazing, I serve customers and do the drinks. I hope to live in a supported living flat when I graduate, because I have all the skills I learnt at Foxes." — George
"I love Foxes because it is an amazing place to be. I love all of the sessions. I like 'Moving On' because you learn to cook and to do your personal shopping. There are so many activities to choose from. The activity I like to do the most is Mindfulness, because I like to do the yoga. I really like Ballroom Dancing, my favourite is the Waltz. I like Minehead Eye because I love the singing. You should come to Foxes because you'll like all the sessions and activities that we do!" — Rebecca
"I like working on going out independently. I like to go shopping independently and I have been on the bus to Dunster to go to the cafe with my friends. I am now travel training to get to my work experience, which is really good. You will learn to do things independently that will help you in the future." — Zac
Accommodation
Aurora Foxes has residential accommodation throughout the safe community of Minehead. Each student has a fully furnished room, as part of a comfortable, caring and happy home.
Each house has a highly experienced Team Leader, Deputy Team Leader and Learner Support Practitioners. There is a wide range of accommodation to meet individual needs. The accommodation ranges from 5 - 16 bedrooms. The students are carefully placed in their accommodation following a robust risk assessment process.
By their final year, students can be living in a small group in one of our independent flats where they have to do as much as possible for themselves; getting themselves up, washing, dressing, travelling to work experience independently, shopping, cooking and cleaning. Just like any young person in further education!
Foxes Hotel
Foxes Hotel is a delightful Victorian seaside hotel in Minehead on the Exmoor coast and is the UK’s only fully operational training hotel for young people with learning disabilities. From day one, our students have the opportunity to gain valuable practical work experience, learning all the skills needed to have a successful working life in the hospitality sector.
To learn more about our hotel, please click here.
The Flying Fox
Aurora Foxes has been in a partnership with Hilton for 8 years. The Hilton Global Foundation donated a grant to Aurora Foxes, which facilitated the purchase of The Flying Fox catering truck.
This has expanded our vocational training space, and has provided our students with the opportunity to transfer their work skills within this unique environment.
Our Community
An important and unique quality of Foxes, which is often remarked upon by visiting parents, is our location. Foxes is located right in the heart of the community. Students are therefore prepared every day for engaging in town life. This valuable experience helps to shape our students and prepare them for life after Foxes, as well as helping to reinforce independent living skills. As the second-biggest employer in Minehead, Foxes forms a signification proportion of the population of the town and is held in high regard by the community for the valuable part we play in shaping the culture of our town and community. This is especially helpful for students who may initially struggle with being out in unfamiliar spaces, as students become more familiar with being able to seek out a safe and friendly face. Over the course of their time with us, students become more confident in accessing the many facilities and events that are on offer and these experiences will form a solid foundation for life beyond their time with us.
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