Assistant Head Cook

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The closing date is 02 February 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a full time Assistant Head Cook to work as part of the catering team based at the Freeman Hospital, but also with the opportunity of working cross sites, in our different bases.

• Interview date: 18 February 2026
• 37 hours 30 minutes per week
• Enhanced rate of pay for working weekends and bank holidays
• You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy

NO AGENCIES PLEASE

• You will work on a three-week rota cycle, working two weekends out of every three on early and late shifts. Early shifts are from 6am to 2pm and late shifts from 12:00pm to 20:00pm. An excellent weekend enhancement package to your pay is also offered.
• Duties include preparation and cooking of hot and cold foods, and maintaining hygiene within the kitchen including Temperature Controls of all products.
• You will be responsible for the staff on duty within the kitchen to ensure all meals are completed for the patient meal service to the standards required, providing approximately 700 meals per service.
• Knowledge and experience with a broad range of cooking methods would be advantageous.
• You must be qualified to City & Guilds 706/2 or NVQ Level 3 in Food Preparation and also have Level 2 Food Hygiene qualification, or have relevant experience in large-scale catering. You must provide proof of qualification or experience at the interview.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

With around 2 million contacts with patients every year, we deliver care from:

• Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
• Freeman Hospital
• Newcastle Dental Hospital
• Newcastle Fertility Centre
• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
• Northern Genetics Service

These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.

We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.

Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under “Documents to download” or “Supporting documents”.

For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit:
Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• A working supervisory role with responsibilities for a food production/service shift with emphasis on food hygiene and safety standards, quality control and supervisory management.

• City & Guilds 706/2 or NVQ 3 (food preparation) or Significant Experience
• Basic Food Hygiene
• Previous experience in large-scale catering
• Knowledge of HACCP Principles Level 3 Supervisory Leadership or equivalent

• Demonstrate an understanding of managing Health & Safety and food hygiene principles
• Working in a customer focused environment
• Customer care

• Basic Information Technology skills to include Word and Excel
• Ability to prioritise workload
• Ability to record information accurately

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust