Job Introduction
Development Chef
Pabulum Catering
Field-Based with Regional Travel
Shape the Future of School Food
At Pabulum, we believe that great food has the power to inspire, educate, and bring communities together. We're looking for an innovative and passionate Development Chef to help elevate our food offer across our portfolio of schools, supporting our teams to deliver exceptional dining experiences every day.
This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced culinary professional who thrives on developing people, driving food innovation, and influencing food culture across a diverse education catering business. If you're passionate about food trends, education catering, and inspiring teams to be their best, we'd love to hear from you.
About the Role
As the Development Chef, you will work closely with our Operations teams, senior leadership team, and school stakeholders to champion culinary excellence across the business.
You'll play a key role in developing and implementing innovative food concepts, supporting menu development, embedding our food engagement programmes, and ensuring our school catering teams have the skills, tools, and confidence to deliver outstanding food experiences.
This role combines culinary creativity, operational support, training, coaching, and client engagement, making it ideal for someone who enjoys variety and making a visible impact.
What You'll Be Doing
- Driving culinary excellence across our school catering operations.
- Developing exciting and innovative food concepts, themed events, pop-ups, BBQs, and tasting experiences.
- Creating School Food Standards-compliant dishes and menu enhancements that keep our offer fresh, engaging, and relevant.
- Supporting the implementation and consistency of company menus, recipes, and food standards.
- Coaching, mentoring, and developing kitchen teams at all levels.
- Delivering culinary workshops, training sessions, and development programmes.
- Supporting and promoting food education and engagement activities within schools.
- Establishing and leading tasting sessions, recipe clinics, and food innovation workshops.
- Supporting new contract mobilisations and key operational projects.
- Working alongside school clients to showcase food innovation and enhance customer satisfaction.
- Reviewing site food strategies and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.
- Supporting large-scale hospitality and special event catering across the business.
- Acting as a culinary ambassador for Pabulum, championing food quality, nutrition, and innovation.
Who We're Looking For
We're looking for someone who combines culinary expertise with the ability to inspire and develop others.
You'll Bring:
- A genuine passion for food, innovation, and customer experience.
- Previous experience in a senior culinary, food development, executive chef, or food innovation role.
- Strong knowledge of food trends and the ability to translate these into engaging concepts.
- Experience of menu development and food concept implementation.
- Strong understanding of purchasing, sourcing, recipe management, and food production.
- Excellent coaching, training, and leadership skills.
- Strong stakeholder management and communication abilities.
- A collaborative and influential approach to working with teams and clients.
- Excellent planning and project management skills.
- The flexibility to travel regularly across the business.
Desirable
- Experience within education catering, contract catering, or large-scale food service environments.
- Knowledge of School Food Standards.
- Experience developing menus for primary and secondary school environments.
- A recognised professional culinary qualification.
Why Join Pabulum?
At Pabulum, we're passionate about delivering fresh, nutritious, and exciting food that pupils genuinely enjoy. We pride ourselves on putting food and people at the heart of everything we do.
We offer a comprehensive benefits package including:
- Competitive salary
- Contributory pension scheme
- Ongoing learning and development opportunities
- Access to a Digital GP and healthcare support
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Lifestyle, shopping, and travel discounts
- Recognition and reward programmes
- A supportive and collaborative culture
- The opportunity to shape the future of food across a growing education catering business
About Pabulum
Pabulum is a leading independent catering provider specialising in education. We are passionate about creating fresh, nutritious, and sustainable food that supports learning, wellbeing, and positive dining experiences for pupils and staff alike.
Our focus is on delivering high-quality food, exceptional service, and meaningful partnerships with the schools we serve. Through innovation, creativity, and a commitment to excellence, we continue to set new standards within education catering.
Apply Today
If you're an ambitious culinary leader who is passionate about developing people, creating innovative food experiences, and making a positive impact in education, we'd love to hear from you.
Join Pabulum and help shape the future of school food.