Catering Monitoring Officer

Are you a hospitality and catering professional who enjoys the fast paced and challenging environment the industry offers?

Do you have excellent catering craft skills and a sound knowledge of catering legislation?

If the answer is yes, we want to hear from you!

We are looking for a Catering Monitoring Officer to join Catering Services. Catering Services provide and arrange catering throughout West Sussex as part of the Communities Directorate.

With a term time only contract that truly nurtures a work/life balance, including weekends and bank holidays off, an excellent pension plan, and a variety of discounts granting our staff access to hundreds of offers, there has never been a more exciting time to join us!

Are you keen to learn more about a rewarding career in Catering? Explore our Catering Opportunities page here.

Salary: £21,661 to £23,510 per annum (pro rata for part time and calculated to term time only, this is the actual salary you will receive)

Contract Type: Permanent, Term Time Only (39 weeks)

Working Pattern: 32.5 hours per week

Location: County Hall, West Street, Chichester PO19 1RQ with required countywide travel.

Interview Date: Tuesday 13 May 2025

What is term time only working? A term time only contract is for our staff who are employed to work only during periods when schools are open. Your pay is calculated on an annual basis and then you are paid over twelve equal monthly instalments. West Sussex County Council employees are also subject to receive a yearly pay increase via the NJC pay award.

You will be required to work flexibly at a designated office hub at times, although mainly you will be based at schools, providing support remotely to those teams dependent on service needs.

You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes available.

About the job

As a Catering Monitoring Officer, you will be a key member of the team responsible for conducting school catering audits related to all food services within schools, offering invaluable professional advice to stakeholders, and ensuring that the services people are receiving are provided in a safe way.

Our work in Catering Services on any given day can often feel quite different from the next! You will be required to carry out a minimum of one monitoring visit a year to each allocated school and present reports to ensure that service delivery aligns with the specifications and complies with government standards.

The successful candidate will support the service delivery in special schools, and on occasion be required to cover staff absence at short notice. This is an active role working in busy kitchen environments, and you will be required to lift, move and handle large equipment at times and stand for long periods.

As an essential member of the Catering Team, you will monitor all schools catering services and attend all necessary training and meetings to remain up to date with relevant legislation and the organisation's policies and procedures.

If you have exceptional attention to detail, strong communication skills, and the ability to build good working relationships, we would like to hear from you!

We would love to hear from you if you have

• City & Guilds 706/1 & 2 or NVQ level 3 in Catering, or equivalent qualification, or equivalent demonstrable experience.
• Minimum Level 2 Food Safety, ideally Level 3 Food Safety trained.
• Full UK Driving Licence
• Experience in large-scale catering, including the preparation and cooking of fresh food from scratch.
• Strong communication skills to help you interact with a range of customers and stakeholders including pupils with special needs, parents and carers and school staff.
• Excellent literacy and numeracy skills to understand detailed written instructions and to review financial invoices and other documents.
• The ability to organise and prioritise work and coordinate a variety of tasks in a clear and logical way, to meet agreed deadlines.
• The ability to be able to input audit data into Microsoft Excel reports, and be able to use Microsoft Word, and e-mail to prepare reports and to communicate.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

Rewards and benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

• A excellent local government pension scheme
• A Term Time Only (TTO) contract where you will only work during periods in which schools are open.
• A range of flexible working options, depending on your job role
• Maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
• Volunteering opportunities
• Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform (see ourStaff discounts page if you are a business looking to offer a discount)
• Health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans.

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further information

The reference number for this role is CPP01067.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact hiring manager at hiring manager email

For an informal conversation regarding the application process, please contact Rosa Siracusa (Recruitment Specialist) at Rosa.Siracusa@westsussex.gov.uk .

For issues or queries regarding your application please contact hrrecruitment@westsussex.gov.uk .

Does this sound like the opportunity for you? Click apply below, upload your CV, and complete the application form, explaining how you meet the key skills in the attached job description and experience you can bring to the role. Please ensure all that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to right to work within the UK, enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, satisfactory references, and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application helppage.

RSi