Find your place in the field of good food

Our goal is to connect good people with good food. We advertise sustainable food jobs and training opportunities to help jobseekers and employers find each other.

Roots to Work is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.

Job description

Vacancy: Lead Community Chef, Threehills Community Supermarket & Cafe, Good Food Scotland 

• Location: Threehills Community Supermarket & Cafe, 409B Nitshill Rd, Glasgow G53 7BN 
• Hours: 22.5 hours per week, worked over 3-4 days, including weekends (likely Wed-Sat) 
• Salary: £25-27,500 pro rata, dependent on experience 
• Contract: 12 months (anticipated to extend dependent on funding) 
• Start date: May/June 2025 (as soon as possible) 
• Annual leave: 25 days pro rata 
• Closing date for applications: 6pm 11th May 2025 
• Interviews: week beginning 19th May 
• Reporting to: Threehills General Manager 

Please note this role is being advertised alongside a Cafe Supervisor. These two roles will work together closely to manage the Cafe & Kitchen (with support from a team of volunteers!). If you have experience relevant to both of these roles, it would be very advantageous. Please make it clear in your application which role you are applying for or if you would be interested in either/both. 

This role is generously funded by the Robertson Trust. 

Background 

Good Food Scotland is on a mission to end hunger in Scotland. In October 2024 we opened the Threehills Community Supermarket, which includes an affordable shopping area, a community café and an advice hub. It provides immediate financial relief for households on low incomes by improving access to affordable, nutritious food, while addressing some of the underlying issues which may have left them vulnerable to hunger and food insecurity. This is a flagship store and the first purpose-built food hub in Scotland. 

About the role 

The Community Cafe is a brand new project and we’re looking for two or three people to run this project between them, one Cafe Supervisor and one or two Lead Community Chefs. 

The main role of the Lead Community Chef(s) is to plan, prepare, and serve a range of nutritious and tasty meals in the Threehills Community Cafe. The successful candidate(s) will lead on preparing breakfast and lunch in the Community Cafe for up to 30 covers, working alongside volunteers to support them to assist you in tasks. We anticipate having a core menu, with additional items updated regularly to reflect seasonality of produce, customer demand and to creatively use up any surplus stock from the supermarket, thereby reducing food waste. Meals offered will reflect the diversity of the local area and consider the dietary needs of children and young people as well as those with specific cultural or religious dietary requirements. 

The Cafe will open for 3 days per week initially and the Chef(s) will work closely with the Threehills General Manager and the Cafe Supervisor to identify the needs of the local community and adapt the Cafe menu accordingly.  Shift times may change slightly as the Cafe opening times are adapted to community need. 

We are looking for candidates with experience in some or all of: preparing individual meals to order, developing and preparing recipes for large groups and who thrive working alongside others. You must be capable of working independently and managing your own time and workload well to ensure all food is prepared to high quality on time. Formal cooking qualifications, or experience working in the sector are not absolutely essential - we place more importance on the skills that you can demonstrate, rather than qualifications or sector specific experience. We are looking for someone with the required skills, who is enthusiastic about the community work that we are doing, and who shares the ethos and approach to our work. Maybe you have worked in professional kitchens but want to move to a more community-focused setting, or you have hosted large community meals socially or in a voluntary capacity and want this to develop into a paid role. 

As the Supermarket progresses, there is potential for the role to expand to include preparing homemade ready-meals for sale in the Supermarket and distribution across our Larder network across Glasgow, as well as preparing and hosting free community meals. Therefore, any experience in catering or broader community food work would be an asset. 

Since this post involves working with volunteers, this post is subject to a Disclosure check and 2 reference checks. 

We would highly encourage applications from local residents with knowledge of the Greater Pollok area, and from under-represented communities, particularly minority ethnic communities. 

Main responsibilities: 

• Fresh food preparation for Threehills Community Cafe 
  • Overseeing the day-to-day operations of the kitchen including full responsibility for opening and closing procedures 
  • Professional and consistent preparation and presentation of hot and cold food items including made-to-order sandwiches, rolls, toasties, soups, curries and other hot meals 
  • Stock management: ensuring the kitchen is kept clean, organised, and well-stocked with sufficient supplies.
  • Making regular orders to suppliers, and developing and building partnerships with suppliers as required. 
  • Working closely with the Cafe Supervisor to develop a menu appropriate to a wide range of cultures and dietary needs 
  • Monitoring and documenting compliance with health and safety and food hygiene standards and regulations, supervising a daily cleaning schedule and ensuring correct storage and labelling for allergens to ensure no cross contamination. 
• Volunteer Management 
  • Supervising, training and motivating a team of volunteers to provide exceptional customer service, and prepare and serve high-quality hot drinks and food 
  • Supporting volunteers effectively to support skills development, role satisfaction and confidence 
  • Leading by example, demonstrating strong work ethic and commitment to good practice and fostering a positive and collaborative work environment 
  • Assisting with the recruitment and training of volunteers alongside the Threehills General Manager 
  • Managing the volunteer rota for the Kitchen, including arranging cover if needed 
  • Attending GFS staff meetings and adhering to all GFS policies and procedures 

Other duties: 

• Any other relevant duties as appropriate 
• In time, there would be scope for this role to extend to include preparing and hosting evening community meals, dependent on funding (this would involve additional paid hours) 

Person specification 

Essential 

• Demonstrate a commitment to and enthusiasm for the aims, objectives and ethos of Threehills Community Supermarket & Cafe 
• Experience working in busy kitchens and/or professional catering environment, with the time management skills to effectively prepare high quality, visually appealing meals to order and/or bulk preparing for large numbers (e..g soups/stews) without delay to customers 
• Driven to achieve exceptional standards of customer service, self-motivated and able to manage teams under pressure and in a demanding environment. Friendly, approachable and personable manner, strong interpersonal and communication skills, ability to lead a team to create a positive customer experience 
• Management or supervision of staff and/or volunteers 
• Experience or ability to creatively develop recipes and update menus based on availability of ingredients 
• Experience leading on implementing and documenting great food hygiene and food safety procedures 
• Proactive and self-motivated to manage your own workload 
• Outstanding teamworking skills: collaborating closely with the Cafe Supervisor is essential to this role 
• Organised and reliable approach 
• Excellent English communication skills 
• Up-to-date Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate or be willing to work towards one within the first month of employment. 

Desirable 

• Experience in preparing coffees or working in Front of House roles 
• Experience and/or interest in community development, particularly community food 
• Experience working within the third sector 
• Experience supporting volunteers with a wide variety of abilities and backgrounds e.g. those with disabilities, learning difficulties, neurodivergent people and for whom English isn’t a first language 
• Skills in minority languages spoken within the Greater Pollok community (e.g. Arabic, Punjabi, Urdu) 

Job benefits: 

• Staff discount at Threehills Supermarket and Cafe, and other GFS locations 
• NEST pension contributions 
• Free lunch and coffees on shift 

Application information

Please email heather@threehillsglasgow.org before 6pm on 11th May 2025 with: 

• your CV (max two A4 pages) and 
• a cover letter (max one A4 page) OR a short video (max 3 minutes) explaining how you fit the essential and desirable criteria and why you’d like to join the Threehills team
• details of 2 people we can contact for a reference 

Please also fill out the Equalities and Diversity monitoring form here. 

If you have any questions about the role or have any access needs please contact Heather at heather@threehillsglasgow.org. Note Heather is on holiday from 2nd-11th May (the application deadline). If you have any questions please ensure you get in touch well in advance of 2nd May so there is time to get back to you. 

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs