Catering Supervisor
Who are we?
We are Manchester Students’ Union, the biggest SU in the country, supporting over 40,000 students throughout their time at university. We help to make student life the best it can be by supporting students to campaign for change, creating opportunities to meet new people, providing employment opportunities, providing advice and support and being a safe place on campus.
We are a values-centred organisation that employs around 90 permanent, full-time members of staff. We recruit a wide range of roles throughout the year within all our departments from our Commercial team operating Manchester Academy Venues, 13 Media, Bar 532 & Kitchen and Corridor Coffee to our Student Activities, Student Engagement, Marketing and Communications, Finance, HR and Facilities teams. Our team of around 400 part-time, studying staff are instrumental in providing to support to all departments as well as leading major projects like Student Angels. When you join UMSU, you’ll be immersed in an environment that empowers staff to make great things happen and we're always on the lookout for innovative, passionate, and proactive people to join us.
Our values are really important to us and shape the work that we do every day. As part of our recruitment process, we want you to demonstrate how your experiences, behaviours and skills align with our values. You can find more detailed explanations of our values on our website.
About the role
Do you have a passion for hospitality? Do you thrive in a busy Café/kitchen environment and enjoy leading a team to deliver great service? Join us as a Catering Supervisor at the Students’ Union – and help shape a warm, efficient, and student-focused food service!
As a Catering Supervisor, you’ll play a key leadership role in our catering operations, supporting the day-to-day service of food and drinks across our food outlets You’ll supervise a team of student staff, ensuring smooth shifts, high hygiene standards, and friendly, efficient service.
You’ll lead by example – preparing food, serving customers, overseeing cleanliness, and guiding others. Whether you’re running a lunchtime shift in the café or supporting a catering event, your calm and proactive approach will help keep everything on track.
This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to gain valuable leadership experience in hospitality, while still studying.
Key Responsibilities of a Catering Supervisor
- Supervise a team of catering assistants during service periods, ensuring roles are clearly delegated and standards are maintained.
- Support food preparation tasks such as portioning, cooking, and presenting meals in accordance with food hygiene regulations.
- Serve customers in our catering outlets– offering great service with a smile.
- Ensure cleanliness of food service areas, prep areas, and equipment, and lead by example in carrying out cleaning and closing duties.
- Manage stock control tasks – including accepting deliveries, rotating stock, and reporting shortages.
- Provide on-the-job training and guidance for new staff and act as the first point of contact during shifts.
- Maintain compliance with health and safety procedures and food safety legislation.
What We’re Looking For
- Experience working in a catering or hospitality environment (ideally in a leadership or supervisory role)
- A positive, hands-on leader who can motivate others and lead by example
- understanding of food hygiene and safety (training will be provided)
- Reliable, flexible, and organised – able to prioritise tasks and remain calm during busy service
- Excellent customer service and communication skills
This role is perfect for students looking to take on more responsibility while gaining real-world leadership experience in a fun and fast-paced environment. If you’re passionate about food, teamwork, and service – we’d love to hear from you!
Please read the full role profile before applying, as well as our guide to recruitment.
Details
Wage: £13.60 per hour + holiday pay
Contract: Zero Hours, Fixed-Term until 31st July 2026
Hours: approximately 10-15 hours per week during term time
Our Reward Package
You'll get access to our reward package which you can see here.
Recruitment Guide
We have a guide that explains our full recruitment process. We recommend reading through this before beginning an application.
If you are invited to interview with us, we will share our interview questions in advance so you can prepare your responses. We’re more interested in hearing about your experiences and ideas than in testing your memory, and so we want you to feel as prepared as possible.
Inclusivity and Accessibility
We are committed to equality of opportunity, and we work hard to ensure we appoint based on skill and values.
We particularly encourage applications from Disabled or Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African candidates as these groups are currently underrepresented in our staff team.
If you have any accessibility requirements or require adjustments to support you to apply to work with us, please get in touch. We can offer reasonable adjustments at all stages of our recruitment process.
Recruitment Timeline
Applications opened: 15/05/2025
Applications close: 22/05/2025 23:59
Interviews: w/c 2/06/2025
Role Commencing: ASAP
We may close applications early if we receive a high volume of applications. We recommend that you apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. In this case, all applicants who have started an application will be contacted 2 hours before we close the role.
Contact
People Team:
You can contact the People Team with any questions regarding this vacancy or our recruitment process.
Email: jobs.su@manchester.ac.uk
Phone: 0161 306 3279