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Job Role
Catering Services (Chef)
Job Role

Catering Services (Chef)

You’ll run an efficient commercial kitchen, and make sure our people have the food they need to get the job done, wherever they are in the world.

Food and drinkHospitalityCateringLogisticsApprenticeshipsChef
  • £18,500 - £58,500
  • No qualifications
  • Surface Fleet
  • Logistics
  • Rating level

At a glance

Make sure our most important asset – our people – have the fuel they need to get the job done. From high-volume catering on operations with the Royal Marines, to fine dining for politically influential VIPs, you’ll learn how to run a professional kitchen.
Chef preparing food.
Cooking on HMS BULWARK for 700 people can be really busy, but I love it. It’s not like being a Caterer at my local pub. I literally travel the world cooking with fresh food from local suppliers – it can be a real challenge but great fun.

Antony

Caterer, Logistics branch

Role details

What you’ll do

The Royal Navy represents the United Kingdom worldwide, forging new alliances and maintaining old ones. Being a Caterer in the Royal Navy is a career that is literally miles from anything you could do at home. Travelling around the world, your job will range from cooking for the ship’s company on board warships or Royal Marines on land operations, to serving a fine dining experience to politically influential VIPs and royalty.

Wherever you may be in the world, you’ll perform a pivotal role: making sure our most important asset – our people – have the fuel they need to get the job done.

Your role

  • Our world-class training means you’ll learn all the ins and outs of running a highly efficient commercial kitchen, including responsibility for ordering, receiving, and accounting for provisions to sustain the menus you’ll write, as well as learning how to offer the highest level of premium front of house experience and the behind the scenes organisation that enables it.
  • Be part of the team whose role is a lot more than just food. Your crewmates, at all levels, look forward to mealtimes, so keeping high morale and optimised health are an essential part of the job.
  • Learn additional, crucial skills as an integral part of the ship’s advanced medical, fire fighting and damage control teams.
  • Travel the world, learning all about new ingredients and cuisines to incorporate into your culinary repertoire.

Pay & benefits

  • A salary of over £23,496 as soon as you finish training
  • Potential earnings of £58,599 as your career progresses
  • An excellent pension scheme
  • Six weeks of paid holiday every year
  • Free medical and dental care

Skills for life

Qualifications you'll gain

  • Study for GCSEs, A-Levels, an apprenticeship, or a degree
  • Gain specialist vocational qualifications as your career progresses including an apprenticeship 12 months after completion of training

Skills you'll develop

  • You’ll learn every aspect of cooking, running a commercial kitchen and how to deliver a hospitality event of the highest standard, regardless of the operational pressures of what is going on around you
  • A pin-sharp eye for detail, collaborative teamwork, leadership and management skills, and the ability to communicate at all levels

Eligibility

  • You'll need to be aged between 16 to 44
  • No prior qualifications are required to enter the CS specialisation; however the CS Fast Track scheme is only available to those with prior catering qualifications or experience
  • You must be a United Kingdom national, or Commonwealth citizen, or Dual National. Dual Nationality restrictions do apply
  • A Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18 and 28 (between 17 and 27 if under 18)
  • Pass the Naval Swimming Test
     

Skills & interests

  • A keen interest in high standards of food and hospitality
  • A cool head for the pressures of a busy kitchen
  • A problem-solver, with a common sense approach, who can work well as part of a team
  • A real sense of adventure, with a high level of physical and mental fitness

Joining process

From picking your role to starting on your first day, these are the steps you'll take to join as a rating.

Career progression

From responsibilities to pay, find out where this role can take you.

Got a question?

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