Head Chef

Head Chef – Aurora Foxes

Location: Minehead, Somerset

Salary: £37,752 - £38,730,  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. Please see the link below for our full job description:

Job Description: Head Chef

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)

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)

How to apply?

Please complete an online application form in full, remembering to include all employment and education details.  If you need any assistance or would like any more information, please contact Adele in the Aurora Group Recruitment Team at

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.