Assistant Development Chef

Cookfood; Sittingbourne; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 31,000; Full time

Job summary

A family-owned food company in Sittingbourne is looking for an Assistant Development Chef. This entry-level position involves supporting the Development Chefs in daily kitchen operations and developing essential culinary skills. Responsibilities include preparing ingredients, maintaining kitchen cleanliness, and ensuring compliance with food safety standards. Ideal candidates should have a positive attitude and the ability to follow recipes. Excellent benefits are included, such as paid leave for special occasions and staff discounts.

Benefits

Paid leave on birthdays

Staff profit share

Wellbeing program

30% staff discount

Free food perks

Team meals and events

Qualifications

• Willingness to learn and develop culinary skills.
• Interest in food safety and quality processes.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Support the Development Chefs with cooking and preparation.
• Maintain cleanliness in the Development Kitchen.
• Follow food safety and hygiene procedures.

Skills

Attention to detail

Ability to follow recipes

Organised

Positive attitude

Time management

Job description

Assistant Development Chef

Location: Sittingbourne

Salary: -£26,208 per year

Hours: Mon–Fri 8:00 – 16.00

Overview

Purpose

To provide hands‑on support to the Development Chefs and wider Food Team to deliver remarkable COOK food.

About the Role

This is an entry‑level kitchen position designed for individuals beginning their professional culinary career, and what better way to start than to be part of the Development team! You’ll be pivotal in supporting the daily NPD kitchen operations while developing essential culinary skills, food safety knowledge, and a key understanding of the new product development process, and how this progresses into a production kitchen.

Main Responsibilities

Product Development Support

• Prepare ingredients and components (weighing/peeling/chopping/blanching) in line with development briefs and concept recipes.
• Provide support to the various Food Meetings (collecting & cooking up samples).
• Assist with providing samples for photography, transport trials, shelf‑life testing, nutritional testing etc.

Kitchen Operations & Organisation

• Ensure the Development Kitchen is kept clean, tidy & organised.
• Carry out regular cleaning duties across the kitchen, including surfaces, equipment, floors and washing up - ensuring daily cleaning schedules are completed.
• Label, date and store ingredients, samples and finished products correctly.
• Assist with managing stock levels of ingredients & packaging within the Development kitchen – replenishing as necessary and ensuring FIFO.

Food Safety & Quality

• Follow COOK food safety, hygiene, and allergen procedures at all times.

Learning & Development

• Develop practical kitchen skills and understanding of the product development processes.
• Learning about food manufacturing and how our kitchens work on a larger scale.
• Take feedback constructively and demonstrate a willingness to improve and grow within the role.

Good to Have

• Attention to detail and ability to follow recipes and instructions accurately.
• Organised, reliable, and able to manage multiple tasks in a fast‑paced environment.
• Positive, can‑do attitude and willingness to support the wider team.
• Comfortable working to deadlines and adapting to changing priorities.

Excellent Benefits including

• Paid leave on your birthdays, moving house, become grandparent or your child starts school for the first time
• staff profit share
• Wellbeing program
• 30% staff discount
• Access to CookieJar Smart Spending discounts and free food perks.
• Team meals , events & away days
• Be part of a B-Corp-certified business that values sustainability, people, and the community.

And many more ‿.

What Cook is About

We’re a proudly independent, family-owned B Corp, which basically means we care. A lot. About our food. About our people. And about doing the right thing—even when it’s not the easy thing.

Our vision for COOK has always been that we are a place where EVERYONE is welcome. We want everyone to feel like they belong at COOK. We all have different roles, different abilities and different personalities. By collaborating we can do remarkable things. Whatever your story, if you would like to grow with COOK please apply.