Who we are

The Hackney School of Food is a thriving community-based cookery school and gardens. We were formed from a partnership between the Leap Federation and the charity Chefs in Schools. Our mission is to teach children, their families, and our local community to cook and grow food.

Through teaching a ‘seed to spoon’ approach to food production and preparation, we provide people with the knowledge, confidence and skills to prepare inexpensive, tasty and nutritious meals. Using produce from our own gardens, prepared in our award-winning professional kitchen, we work with schools, families, community groups and businesses, in the heart of East London.

We are committed to researching, refining and developing what works most effectively in cookery education – drawing from, and sharing with, others here in Hackney, nationwide, and abroad. We share that knowledge freely: proving that it is possible to do better, raising aspirations, and giving others the tools needed to succeed.

We do this because we believe that sharing these skills will give people a better chance of a happy and healthy life. It will empower them to look after their own physical and mental health, and create a more resilient, healthy and happy population.

About you and the role

As our Head Food Educator, you will be fundamental to the planning and delivery of all food education within the School of Food. You will devise and deliver engaging lessons that instil a love of cooking in each and every learner who comes through the door.

You will also be crucial to the smooth and safe running of the kitchen, using your expertise to ensure that the operation runs safely and effectively.

Working closely with the General Manager, you will work to expand and deepen the work of the Hackney School of Food. You will work together to identify and approach new target groups, and you will also act as an ambassador for our work and our mission, representing the school and sharing our learnings with wider audiences.

This is a 4-6 month paternity cover but there may be opportunity to extend your involvement in the School of Food, depending on the success of the initial phase.The successful candidate will have a training period and support from the team to be fully equipped to do the role.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone with a passion for food education and a desire to share your comprehensive cooking and knowledge on food growing, sustainability and healthy eating.

You will be the right person for the role if you…

Have a passion for our mission that you want to share with others
Are an inspiring food educator confident teaching classes of children and adults from different backgrounds and cooking abilities
Can manage the behaviour and health and safety of children during school sessions

Have experience in managing a kitchen, including:

• Managing suppliers
• Food safety management
• Managing a kitchen team

Enjoy working with people and are a confident public speaker
Are hard-working and adaptable, with the ability to multitask and respond calmly to challenges when they arise

The responsibilities, skills and experience listed below give you an idea of what we need for this role. If you don’t meet every requirement but feel you would be able to work with us to deliver the majority of them, we would urge you to apply anyway.

Specific duties

Food education

• Develop and deliver inspiring food education lessons for all ages and abilities
• Responsible for all parts of the lesson delivery from start to finish including the food prep, set-up and clearing down once the lesson ends
• Create a welcoming learning experience by sharing your passion for healthy recipes using fresh, high-quality, seasonal ingredients
  Work with the General Manager to grow programmes, and expand and deepen our reach
• Create, maintain and update all educational materials, including handouts, presentations, and audio-visual materials for lesson use
• Develop and adapt courses and teaching styles to suit different audiences, including schools, the local community and paid-for courses for corporate hires and team away days
• Liaise with the Gardener on:
  • efficient use of garden produce for growing/cooking curriculum
  • seasonally appropriate garden tasks/activities for school groups and other bookings (e.g. CSR volunteer day opportunities
• Support the delivery of events that are led by external trainers or guest chefs, facilitating smooth delivery of these
• Be an ambassador for the School of Food as a leader in Food Education, with scope for presentations and demonstrations with a variety of audiences.
• Kitchen Management
• Manage all kitchen staff within budget, including but not limited to:
  • Planning shift rotas in line with bookings and budgetary constraints including working with paid staff and volunteers
  • Utilising reputable and cost-effective suppliers to achieve the best value cost of food
  • Working with the bookkeeper to ensure the smooth and timely payment of suppliers
  • Efficiently running the Hackney School of Food kitchen, including ordering and receiving deliveries, stock management and quality control.

Safety

• Ensure the highest standards of food safety and health & safety are upheld at all times; including ensuring a food safety management system is in place, and detailed HACCP records are kept in line with best practice
• Uphold safeguarding of children at all times, reporting any concerns to the Designated Safeguarding Lead and supporting them in preventing and managing incidents
• Ensure that the kitchen is operated safely, flagging the required maintenance and inspections of kitchen equipment when needed to the General Manager/Premises Manager to organise repairs.

General

• Assist the General Manager with development of new income-generation activities
• Contribute to regular meetings, reviews and project evaluations to ensure that project aims are translated into content delivery
• Oversee provision of quality catering for events and functions as required
• Any other duties which may reasonably be regarded as within the nature of the duties and responsibilities of the post.

Conduct

• Be familiar with the organisation’s policies, rules and procedures and to adhere to relevant Hackney School of Food or LEAP Federation policies at all times
• Set a standard of behaviour to colleagues which is polite, honest and friendly
• Deal with children and adults alike in a polite, professional and friendly manner.

Benefits

• You will be joining a friendly, supportive team who works hard but believe in a healthy work/life balance. We seek a diverse range of perspectives, skills, experience and knowledge.
• We offer 33 days of holiday per year, including bank holidays for full-time staff – prorated for part-time roles
• Free access to the CODE app for discounted restaurants & hospitality venues
• We are committed to developing our team and will support you with relevant training opportunities.

Equal opportunity

We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and for us the most important ‘experience’ is passion for our mission. We encourage applications from underrepresented groups, whether these be of ethnicity, gender, identity, religion, physical ability, sexual orientation or other.

Other requirements

As we work with children and young people, an offer of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and DBS clearance.

Who we are

The Hackney School of Food is a thriving community-based cookery school and garden. We were formed from a partnership between the Leap Federation and the charity Chefs in Schools. Our mission is to teach children, their families, and our local community to cook and grow food. 

Through teaching a ‘seed to spoon’ approach to food production and preparation, we provide people with the knowledge, confidence and skills to prepare inexpensive, tasty and nutritious meals. Using produce from our own gardens, prepared in our award-winning professional kitchen, we work with schools, families, community groups and businesses, in the heart of East London.

We are committed to researching, refining and developing what works most effectively in cookery education – drawing from, and sharing with, others here in Hackney, nationwide, and abroad. We share that knowledge freely: proving that it is possible to do better, raising aspirations, and giving others the tools needed to succeed.

We do this because we believe that sharing these skills will give people a better chance of a happy and healthy life. It will empower them to look after their own physical and mental health and create a more resilient, healthy and happy population.

About you and the role

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with a passion for our mission to join the Hackney School of Food. This is a brand new role and comes at an exciting time in our growth, as we’ve recently become a Community Interest Company. 

Working under the supervision of the General Manager, you will support the ongoing success of our children’s cookery and food-growing classes. Coordinating the delivery of this core programme will include outreach and liaison with schools, scheduling and logistics of the class delivery, and collecting feedback to ensure we have a lasting impact.

This role also offers the opportunity to contribute fresh ideas to the development and coordination of both income-generating and local community events which are two key pillars of the School of Food. A key focus will be growing income from paid events held on the 175 days the School of Food isn’t open to schools, to reinvest into the running of the kitchen and garden and to provide community classes for those who may not otherwise be able to afford them. This will ensure the role is always varied and no two days look the same – you may be setting up a social prescribing course for local residents one day, then organising a team away day for a corporate team the next. 

This is a one-year, fixed-term contract but, funding permitting, we hope to extend it permanently. 

You will be the right person if you…

• Have a passion for our mission – an understanding/interest in food education, nutrition, sustainability and food growing is a bonus
• Have strong organisational skills and a flair for logistics, diary management, outreach and communications
• Are confident working in partnership with a diverse range of organisations, be it charities, schools or businesses
• Have experience in the delivery of community programmes and/or corporate events
• Can work independently and take the initiative to take things forward within an agreed scope. 

The responsibilities, skills and experience listed below give you an idea of what we need for this role. If you don’t meet every requirement but feel you would be able to work with us to deliver the majority of them, we would urge you to apply anyway.

Specific duties

Cooking and food-growing class coordination

• To coordinate our established school programme of cooking classes, after-school and holiday clubs. This will include outreach to schools and parents, liaising on class scheduling, handling of the booking system, briefing the Head Food Educator and following up with schools on feedback and evaluation 
• Work closely with the General Manager and Head Food Educator to deliver a varied schedule of community events in the kitchen and garden, providing support with the content and logistical planning
• Oversee registration for courses and events, monitoring relevant systems and providing internal updates. 

Corporate events and private hire 

• Work with the General Manager to diversify income-generating activities, for example team away days, fundraisers, pop-ups, chef takeovers, and corporate hire on the days and evenings that the School does not host schools and children
• Act as the first point of contact for enquiries, queries and show-arounds and be responsible for bookings, contracts and invoicing
• Help with the running and logistics of both paid-for and community events.

Marketing and outreach

• Ensure programmes and activities are promoted e.g. social media, digital channels and via our networks
• Support the production of high-quality promotional materials and engaging email communications that are appropriately tailored to our audiences
• Undertake direct outreach to schools and community participants as well as corporate customers. 

Monitoring, evaluation and reporting

• Collect data and feedback to ensure we are meeting funding requirements and to capture the successes and learnings of our programmes
• Work with the GM to use evaluation and impact data to identify gaps in service delivery and opportunities to address local needs
• Support with information for reports for funders on our programme delivery and ensure all outputs and activities are delivered for secured grants.

Finance

• Work with the GM and the finance team to ensure all community and corporate courses, classes and activities are delivered within budget
• Participate in organisational budget planning and monitoring meetings
• Assist with invoicing and expenditure tracking.

General

• Attend team meetings to provide updates regarding programme activities
• Attend networking events to develop strong strategic partnerships in the community, raising the profile of the School of Food 
• Maintain relevant systems, databases and web pages to support the programme coordination
• Any other duties which may reasonably be regarded as within the nature of the duties and responsibilities of the post.

Conduct

• Be familiar with the organisation’s policies, rules and procedures and to adhere to relevant Hackney School of Food or LEAP Federation policies at all times
• Uphold a standard of behaviour to colleagues which is polite, honest and friendly
• Deal with children and adults alike in a polite, professional and friendly manner.

Benefits

• You will be joining a friendly, supportive team who works hard but believe in a healthy work/life balance. We seek a diverse range of perspectives, skills, experience and knowledge
• We offer 33 days of holiday per year, including bank holidays for full-time staff – prorated for part-time roles
• Free access to the CODE app for discounted restaurants & hospitality venues
• We are committed to developing our team and will support you with relevant training opportunities.

Equal opportunity

We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and for us the most important ‘experience’ is passion for our mission. We encourage applications from underrepresented groups, whether these be of ethnicity, gender, identity, religion, physical ability, sexual orientation or other.

Other requirements 

As we work with children & young people, an offer of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and DBS clearance.