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Role Description

An introduction to the role of Blair Castle Chef and Catering Manager:

Bringing home made organic food to the day visitors at the café/restaurant. The chef will be in charge of the café known as ‘Tullibardine Restaurant’ the coffee and snack kiosk in the grounds known as ‘The Cannon’ and the breakfast and tea hut in the caravan park known as ‘The Sheiling’. The main thing we are looking for is an experienced commercially minded catering manager that has a passion for using good quality local ingredients and can produce healthy attractive food with a profit margin, while keeping a cheerful disposition! We expect the chef to be a manager who signs up to our Values, able to take responsibility for their team and implementing the vision of simple good quality food at the various outlets. In the winter months there is opportunity to host events and banquets as well as making jams and chutneys using fruits from the walled garden to be sold in the gift shop and organic mini-mart. 

We are serious about the provenance of our ingredients and would want our chef to be excited by the opportunity to create a café that is genuinely trying to do something different, to be thinking local, fresh, simple and organic. We hope you have the passion and experience to be the perfect fit. 

Bertie Troughton 

Resident Trustee

Overview

Blair Castle attracts an average of 140,000 visitors to its exhibition and gardens annually, with the day visitor restaurant open between April and October inclusively. During the winter and over the summer, we host weddings, exhibitions, conferences and gala dinners. The head chef / catering manager leads a seasonal team that consists of two sous chefs, a front of house team of four and kitchen porters.

During the winter season, some staff are retained on occasional hours and events delivered with the support of agency staff. Delivering winter events is key to profitability.

Responsibilities of the role

• Head chef and catering manager, leading the catering operation to deliver the vision consistently.
• Excellent team leadership, representing our values, setting clear expectations followed through with suitable training and performance management.
• Team recruitment, onboarding, contract administration and payroll reporting 
• Achieve sales targets while maintaining budgetary control 
• Setting prices and quoting for services to meet target profit margins
• Manage stock levels efficiently while ensuring best value for money in procurement negotiations
• Ensuring the operation is compliant with health and safety measures, Natasha’s Law, HACCP and COSHH Maintaining professional standards of housekeeping and cleanliness through the restaurant and kitchen areas.
• Working with our Property Services department to maintain equipment and implement preventative maintenance and service records
• Working collaboratively with the Castle Operations Manager and other department heads, approaching communication constructively, dealing with issues with a win/win objective.
• Keep food waste to an absolute minimum and when we have surplus, find creative means of ensuring that good food is consumed and not binned.
• Seek to constantly improve our recycle to general waste refuse disposal ratios

The chef manager works on a shift pattern of 5 days over 7 during the open season and a traditional working week during the winter, apart from duties to cover events. We currently close over the festive season. 

Blair Castle is located in a beautiful region of Scotland called Highland Perthshire, with good transport links to local towns and cities and with the rest of the UK by rail and road. The region also hosts an excellent range of schools and opportunities for leisure and culture. 

We are offering a very competitive remuneration package and option to rent accommodation on the estate.