We're growing, so we're recruiting! Are you our new Project Manager?
ChangeKitchen CIC is kicking off 2025 by seeking an exceptional individual to join our thriving social enterprise team. As our new PROJECT MANAGER, you will be leading an exciting new Project and reporting directly to our CEO.
Skills and experience required, yes, but kindness and compassion are equally essential to us.
Is this you?
PLEASE READ ON & APPLY BY Friday 17th January 2025, midnight. Interviews begin the week commencing Monday 20th January 2025.
Let your personality shine through in your application - we’re human and we want a great human to join our team!
Good luck with your application and we will try to provide feedback to all applications as best we can.
Birgit Kehrer (CEO) and Thomas Randa (General Manager)
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ChangeKitchen CIC is a social enterprise based in Balsall Heath, that began its journey of social impact, food justice, improving life opportunities and cooking up delicious, climate-friendly, plant-based menus back in 2010...
♥ We believe random acts of kindness can change lives.
♥ We believe everyone has the potential to be amazing.
♥ We believe in a fairer, more compassionate world for all.
The ChangeKitchen CIC team, led by Dr Birgit Kehrer, was a small team that had big ambitions. We took over a former Birmingham drop-in centre and converted it into a commercial catering kitchen. But hard work pays off… and today we have an event catering business, a catering skills academy, a community foodbank, and play our part in the Birmingham Food Justice Network.
We cook tasty plant-based meals from locally-sourced ingredients, all made fresh with kindness and lots of love. Our environmental ethics mean lots of recycling and almost zero food waste.
ChangeKitchen CIC is also delighted to be the home of The Social Supper Club, started during the pandemic, and ChangeKitchen CIC | Kindness Café - the latest addition to our social enterprise.
So, every event booking, every delicious meal, every artisan coffee, every tasty slice of cake means we can Pay It Forward to someone in our community who maybe in need of a little extra kindness.
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Position: Project Manager, reporting to the General Manager and the ChangeKitchen CIC CEO. Upon successful implementation of an exciting New Project we have planned, there will be the opportunity to interview for a Deputy Manager role.
Working hours: 37.5 hours per week and made up of flexible working days dependent on the business needs and event bookings. This will mean you being able to work evenings and/or weekends when needed and by mutual agreement.
Location: Our main kitchen is based at Jericho, 196-198 Edward Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, B12 9LX but on some days you may be working on sites across the wider West Midlands dependent on event bookings. A full, clean driving licence will be helpful.
Salary: £14-15 per hour, dependent on experience.
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We’re a growing, friendly team so finding the right person is very important to us. Writing this, we also understand that starting a new role, in a new organisation, is a big change for you too. Our commitment is that we will work hard to make it an enjoyable process to apply, come along to meet us, and succeed in this position.
We really want you to grow with us, be able to contribute to the wider social business, and feel valued every day… even on the busy, deadline-driven days!
Please provide a CV and a carefully considered covering letter, telling us a little about yourself, why this role interests you, and what you feel you can bring to our kitchen team and social enterprise. Please know ChangeKitchen CIC is a fully inclusive employer.
Your applications should be sent by email to: changekitchenbookings@gmail.com
APPLICATIONS
Please ensure we receive your application no later than Friday 17th January 2025, midnight.
Please note that we will not accept any applications which do not contain a CV and covering letter so please make sure you send us both.
INTERVIEWS
Pop a note in your diary that you may be invited to an interview with us the week commencing Monday 20th January 2025.
START
The sooner the better - we’re busier than ever so need you with us!
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JOB DESCRIPTION
Your main Duties and Responsibilities as Project Manager are outlined below – we trust you will find these useful to understand and frame our business needs and expectations.
Please bear in mind, these are not limited to those given. Because we are a busy, thriving, customer-led enterprise, we are looking for someone who has a ‘can do’ attitude and be both professional and flexible in how they approach this role and being part of the wider team.
The primary role of the Project Manager is to help to craft, develop and implement an exciting New Project with which we hope to expand our target market, working closely with a Creative Marketing Apprentice. Prior to this, there will be a short mini-Project to engage in, working closely alongside the General Manager which will provide time and space to learn more about the business and our ethos. Additionally, there will generally be one day of the week where you will need to manage the kitchen environment or an event, leading the delivery of high-quality events and service, some corporate or otherwise high profile, representing ChangeKitchen CIC in line with our highly valued reputation. The remainder of the time will be devoted to the New Project.
As Project Manager, you should feel confident in leading a New Project and its delivery from start to finish, managing our Creative Marketing Apprentice, relationships with potential customers, elements of design and marketing, and experience with meeting deadlines. On days where you lead the kitchen environment or an event, you should feel confident in leading the coordination of staff and ensuring smooth event execution, creatively addressing any challenges that arise, and working alongside the Kitchen Manager to achieve seamless service delivery.
Further, the Project Manager must ensure their knowledge, practice, and record keeping of food safety and hygiene requirements are upheld to the highest standards.
GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES
With the support of the ChangeKitchen CIC CEO and General Manager, you will provide support the strategic management and development of the ChangeKitchen CIC service experience, including:
♥ To ensure the social enterprise offers healthy, interesting, tasty food and competitive, quality, personable services at all times, and in line with our stated values and ethics.
♥ To support the General Manager and Kitchen Manager with, and display competency to, direct, oversee, and ensure all legal requirements concerning Food Hygiene and Health & Safety, including record keeping, are rigorously maintained, and to maintain the five-star food hygiene status of the social enterprise in collaboration with the Kitchen Manager.
♥ To support the General Manager, full/part time core staff and volunteers. Our staff and volunteers come from diverse backgrounds, sometimes facing personal and occupational barriers to work. Kindness and compassion are essential personal qualities for this role.
♥ To contribute to ideas generation and implementation across a broad range of offerings over the long term, helping to strengthen current and future partnerships.
♥ To perform a variety of mentoring activities including but not limited to:
To work in collaboration with the Kitchen Manager, in ensuring that comprehensive support is provided for all staff and volunteers in the workplace.
Where required, ensuring staff and volunteers are provided with adequate work/tasks throughout the course of their shift.
Providing support and encouragement to staff and volunteers to help them overcome their personal and occupational barriers.
On days working in the kitchen environment, to support the General Manager in producing timesheets, rotas, and to give feedback regularly to the social enterprise General Manager.
To implement ChangeKitchen CIC’s equal opportunities policy within the kitchen staff team. This requires you to treat everyone equally, regardless of sex, gender, disability, race, colour, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, age, or marital status.
To carry out any other reasonable duties deemed necessary by the social enterprise General Manager or the CEO.
ESSENTIAL CRITERIA
There are some characteristics, skills, and experience that we really can’t do without. So, to help you decide if this is the right role for you, please take a moment to look at our essential criteria below.
♥ A passionate and creative person, with a personal interest in food, confident in their ability to lead others to thrive and excel in a busy environment, as well as thriving and developing themselves.
♥ At least one-years’ experience in a corporate setting, and experience of working with clients and potential customers to develop a working business relationship
♥ Experience in having led a project from start to finish, managing a team to deliver great results, and meeting deadlines
♥ An experienced leader, able to organise and to manage your own and your team’s capacity and resources to achieve timely outcomes
♥ A confident communicator who naturally radiates positivity and enthusiasm to encourage and motivate the team.
♥ Willingness to be trained on environmental standards and guidelines such that you can confidently lead an EHO inspection and maintain a 5-star rating.
♥ Competent in using computers, word processing, and basic spreadsheets, the use of office equipment such as label and office printers.
♥ Experience in using social media for business, marketing, and research purposes to assist in managing a Project.
♥ Flexibility on working hours to meet the business needs, and evening and weekend work.
DESIRABLE CRITERIA
If we could write a wish list, we’d add in a few extras that would really be amazing to have in your skills and experience as our new Kitchen Manager!
♥ Experience of working with volunteers and other supported or additional needs clients.
♥ Experience of leading focus groups, and/or other research techniques.
♥ Experience in delivering an ambitious “ready-to-market” product in an emerging category.
♥ Previous experience of Front of House duties, and customer service skills.
♥ Ability and willingness to drive ChangeKitchen CIC vehicles, with a full clean manual driving licence.