Commercial Manager

The School of Travel, Food and Drink are recruiting a Commercial Manager to join our outstanding team. We are looking for an experienced Manager with a chef background and sound business acumen to be responsible for the commercial activities within our school. 

Communicating effectively and building strong working relationships with the curriculum tutors will be essential, enabling students to be at the forefront of all college events and adding value to their curriculum.

Current commercial activities include student restaurant evenings, a student shop, curriculum events, short courses, room hire, and commercial ventures off-site. The post holder will develop this offer further to increase the department's commercial income, utilising the college's outstanding facilities.

What You Will Do

• You will be responsible for the commercial budget, ensuring the agreed GP margin is achieved.
• Design and implement additional commercial activities.
• Provide a safe and healthy environment for all apprentices and students to learn.
• Remain audit compliant, ensuring all legal documentation is completed, maintaining our grade 5 food hygiene rating.
• You will be required to communicate effectively with the curriculum tutors and course leaders whilst participating or leading events as required. 
• Promoting the commercial offer and growing the provision will be paramount to the success of the role. 
• Design innovative, short courses with the ability to deliver some of these short courses. 
• Identify and utilise excess ingredients to create profitable opportunities, reducing wastage.

About You

• You will have experience working in a commercial catering role, with experience of working to a budget and achieving GP targets. You will have the ability to develop and deliver strategies to improve and grow the commercial aspect of the department. 
• A chef background is essential, with the ability to cook to a high standard.
• You must be an excellent communicator, with excellent interpersonal skills to liaise with tutors, course leaders, students and customers. 
• Experience working in Further Education would be beneficial.
• You will be solution focused with the ability to adjust plans to ensure targets are met or overachieved. 
• Be passionate about sharing your knowledge and skills by preparing and delivering meaningful, professional sessions in a range of short courses to fee paying candidates.
• The ability to work without close supervision and resolve own work problems using your own initiative.
• I.T. literate, including knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets and databases.
• Experience of using various social media platforms is essential.

Benefits

There are plenty of benefits available to our staff members, here are just a few:

• Generous Annual leave entitlement - If you work full time, you'll get at least 39 days holiday plus bank holidays. This includes closure days at Christmas (pro rata for part time staff).
• Support Staff 39 days
• Academic 44 days
• Senior Management 44 days
• Excellent Pension schemes
• Teachers’ Pension Scheme 
• Local Government Pension Scheme 
• Memberships and discounts - employees can sign up to various membership cards and discount schemes such as TOTUM card (formerly NUS card). 
• Travel and commuting - discounted travel available through Metro card, Northern Rail, First Bus, Arriva Bus and Cycle to work schemes.
• Learning and development opportunities -  including staff development days
• Employee wellbeing initiatives
• Flexible and hybrid working opportunities - this will vary depending on role requirements

About Us

Leeds City College is one of the largest further education institutions in the country and is one of the biggest providers of apprenticeships regionally. 

We provide a vibrant and diverse learning environment, delivering excellent and innovative education which is supportive, inspiring and life changing. Leeds City College’s values put students first and are at the heart of everything the college does.

We are committed to lifelong learning and investing in our staff. You’ll have access to a broad variety of training and professional development designed to help you continually develop and grow. We offer a wide range of job vacancies, and our large size means there are always exciting opportunities to progress.

Join us on the journey to being the best that we can collectively be for our students, apprentices, staff and our stakeholders.

SAFEGUARDING

At Luminate Education Group we are committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all our students including children, young people, and vulnerable adults. We expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow the Safer Recruitment requirements and best practice as set out within Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance. All successful applicants will be required to complete mandatory pre-employment checks which include an enhanced DBS check, online checks and must have two satisfactory references. Please be aware that it is a criminal offence to apply for this post if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity in connection to children.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in recruitment is key to our Group’s values. We are dedicated to fostering a workplace that embraces equality, diversity and inclusion in all its forms, where every candidate is treated with fairness, respect, and equity. Our recruitment processes are designed to ensure equal opportunities, remove bias, and promote a diverse talent pool. We continually assess and improve our practices to ensure that every individual, regardless of background, has an equal chance to succeed. By championing EDI, we aim to create a workforce that reflects the richness of our communities and drives innovation through diverse perspectives. To find out more about what our commitment to EDI means to us please Click here to learn more about our EDI objectives.