Sous Chef
Who are we?
We are Manchester Students’ Union, the biggest SU in the country, supporting over 48,000 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
This new venture is our most significant commercial launch in a decade, and the Sous Chef will play an important role in helping build the kitchen operation from day one.
You will support the Head Chef in launching and running the kitchen for a new all-day Oxford Road bar
and social venue, delivering a food offer that supports the rhythm of the site from morning coffee and
lunch through to early evening, events, group bookings and pre-gig trade. This is not a fine-dining
kitchen, but it is a serious commercial food operation where pace, quality, consistency, organisation
and teamwork will really matter.
Working closely with the Head Chef, you will help set up the kitchen, build its routines, support food
preparation and service, and help maintain the standards that make the venue successful. You will
lead kitchen shifts, support junior colleagues and studying staff, and help make sure food quality,
kitchen organisation, food safety, allergens, stock control, waste and service speed are consistently
well managed.
This is a strong development opportunity for someone who wants to grow into a senior kitchen
leadership role. You will gain experience of a new opening, commercial kitchen controls, team
leadership, service delivery and the wider role food plays in a busy bar and social venue. Just as
importantly, you will help create the kitchen culture from the start: organised, calm, safe, supportive
and proud of the food being served.
The food offer will be central to the success of the venue. It needs to work hard commercially, support
the bar, deliver value for students and be strong enough to compete on Oxford Road. As Sous Chef,
you will help balance speed with quality, consistency with creativity, and affordability with margin.
Every commercial pound generated by the venue goes back into supporting students at the University
of Manchester. That makes this a Sous Chef role where good food, strong teamwork, safe working and
student impact all matter.
You will work as part of the wider Commercial team, alongside colleagues in Manchester Academy
Venues, Bar 532 & Kitchen and Corridor Coffee, contributing to a growing Union hospitality operation
with ambition beyond a single site. This is a rare opportunity for a hands-on, ambitious Sous Chef to be
part of a major new opening and help build a kitchen with real purpose behind it.
Details
Salary: £28,000 – £32,000 per year
Contract: Permanent
Hours: 40 hours per week
Eligibility: Open to applicants with relevant skills and experience who are eligible to work in the UK. A Personal Licence is essential.
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.
AI Use
GenAI tools, like ChatGPT, are revolutionising how we approach a whole host of tasks at work. As a future-focused employer, we believe in embracing, not banning, these tools. However, as with all tech, some ways of using it are better than others. You can use GenAI to refine and articulate your ideas. It’s a tool to help structure your thoughts and improve clarity, not to replace your unique voice and experiences. Please don’t just copy and paste what AI tells you to write.
We recommend you read our guide on how to approach the use of AI within our recruitment process:
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.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. Under this scheme, we aim to offer an interview to candidates who declare a disability and meet the minimum essential criteria for the role. Minimum criteria are marked with an asterisk on the person specification. However, during periods of exceptionally high application volumes or peak recruitment times (i.e. July, August and September), it may not always be possible to guarantee an interview for every eligible candidate. In such cases, we will take steps to ensure that the process remains fair, consistent, and inclusive.
Recruitment Timeline
Applications opened: 16/07/2026
Applications close: 28/07/2026 23:59pm
Interviews: 04/08/2026
Role Commencing: 01/09/2026
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. Once the vacancy has closed, we’re unable to accept late applications to ensure a fair process for all candidates.
Once you have submitted your application, you will not be able to make any further changes. Please ensure you are happy with your responses before submitting.
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
Hiring Manager: jonny.allen@manchester.ac.uk
You can contact the hiring manager with any questions regarding this vacancy or our recruitment process.