Area Manager- Education Catering

Job description

About

Date posted: 16 September 2026

Pay: £16.00 per hour

Job Description:

Area Manager – Education Catering

Coppersmith Recruitment and Services Ltd is recruiting on behalf of our client for an experienced Area Manager – Education Catering to oversee a portfolio of catering operations across multiple education sites.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Catering Area Manager, Operations Manager or Multi-Site Catering Manager with a strong background in school, education or contract catering.

You will take responsibility for the day-to-day performance of multiple sites, leading Catering Managers and operational teams to deliver excellent food, customer service, compliance and commercial performance.

The Role

As Area Manager, you will be responsible for ensuring consistently high standards across your portfolio while developing strong relationships with clients, site teams and other stakeholders.

Your responsibilities will include:

Managing catering operations across multiple education sites

Leading, supporting and developing Catering Managers and operational teams

Ensuring excellent standards of food quality, presentation and customer service

Maintaining high standards of food safety, hygiene, Health & Safety and compliance

Conducting regular site visits, checks and audits

Ensuring risk assessments and statutory records are maintained correctly

Managing staffing levels, absence cover, vacancies and training requirements

Monitoring performance and implementing improvement plans where required

Building strong relationships with clients and key stakeholders

Responding effectively to customer feedback and operational issues

Managing budgets and monitoring sales, costs and profitability

Supporting the delivery of financial and operational targets

Identifying opportunities to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction

Leading teams positively through operational and organisational change

The position has significant responsibility for financial control, including sales, costs, profit targets and financial reporting.

What We're Looking For

We would particularly like to hear from candidates with experience in education catering, school catering, contract catering or multi-site food service management.

The successful candidate will ideally have:

Previous experience as an Area Manager or similar multi-site management position

Experience within school catering, education catering or a comparable environment

Strong people-management and leadership skills

Experience managing budgets and P&L performance

Excellent client and stakeholder management skills

Strong organisational and communication skills

The ability to manage multiple locations and competing priorities

A proactive, hands-on approach to problem solving

Excellent attention to detail and a strong understanding of operational compliance

The client's original specification asks for at least one year's Area Manager experience in school catering or equivalent, while also allowing for candidates with the potential to develop with additional training.

Essential Qualifications

Level 3 Food Safety Certificate or equivalent

Health & Safety Certificate or equivalent

Full clean UK driving licence

Good working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook

A Train the Trainer qualification would be advantageous but is not essential.

INDWC

Experience:

managing catering operations: 1 year (preferred)

Licence/Certification:

Driving Licence (required)

Level Three Food Safety Certificate (required)

Work Location: On the road