London Early Years Foundation (LEYF)
Nursery Relief Chef - Deanery Road Nursery and Pre-school
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Nursery Relief Chef - Full Time - London - £34,119 per annum + amazing benefits
Bring your skills to LEYF and make the biggest impact on London’s families ¦ Drive healthy choices ¦ Join us as a Relief Chef with your central base at Deanery Road, E15 ¦ Starting salary of £34,119 per year.
We're the London Early Years Foundation; we run 43 nurseries in London. With our unique charitable social enterprise model, we're leading change in Early Years, ensuring equal education and care for all children to give them the best start in life. Any profits we make get reinvested back into the business, giving more to you and to the children.
We're dedicated to keeping children safe, healthy, and fit, with nutritious meals being a key part of this. As a Chef at LEYF, you’ll have a big impact, helping children, families and your wider nursery team make healthier choices for life.
- "When I arrive at the nursery in the morning, the children's faces light up." - Senior Nursery Chef
- "It's a different working environment - a lot friendlier and calmer." - Senior Nursery Chef
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What We Give To You
- A starting salary of £34,119 per year (full-time, 40 hours/week - 8am-5pm)
- Work life balance – Monday to Friday schedule!
- 7% pension contribution (you only contribute 1% so your take home pay is more)
- 70% childcare discount for your child or grandchild at LEYF
- 35 days annual leave (including 8 bank holidays) and your birthday off
- Sector-leading parental leave, wellbeing support, shopping discounts, company events, team celebrations, and more!
- £1,000 salary increase upon completing our Level 3 Chef Academy qualification
Who We’re Looking For
As an Early Years Relief Chef, you’ll support LEYF nurseries across London when permanent chefs are absent. You’ll prepare tasty and nutritious meals for children and colleagues, and help to educate children, parents and the team on healthy eating.
Your main base will be at our Deanery Road Nursery, and we’ll cover travel expenses beyond your base.
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Our nursery team is welcoming, down-to-earth, and genuinely supportive, making it easy for you to be yourself at work. As a Chef at LEYF, you won’t just be cooking. you’ll have the chance to grow your skills through our Chef Academy, contribute to menu development, and prepare fresh, nutritious meals every day (no reheating here!).
Bring your love of good food and your naturally kind, patient approach to help the children explore new flavours and build healthy habits for life.
You’ll need
- The right to work in the UK
- An ability to engage with the children, making food fun!
- Level 2 Food hygiene cert, or be willing to do the course (for free) in your first week
If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you! Our recruitment process is quick, so you’ll hear from us within 1-2 days after applying. Reach us at jointheteam@leyf.org.uk or 0203 834 8679 for any questions.
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