About the Candidate

This is a dynamic and exciting role supporting the delivery of our work across multiple projects. Working as part of a talented staff team, the Youth Development Food Worker will both lead on and support in programmes that provide empowering and meaningful experience for young people and their communities.

Our approach is all about creating environments in which young people feel supported enough to take agency and responsibility to find their own positive way forward. We are looking for someone who instinctively chimes with this approach and can lead a professional kitchen environment which inspires young people to engage with food and cooking on their own terms. The successful candidate will know their way around a kitchen, and will likely have extensive professional catering experience – perhaps in a community setting – as well as experience working alongside young people or people with complex needs.

They will be deeply passionate about maximising the potential of all young people, and be ready to create a kitchen that supports and welcomes young people with diverse backgrounds and unmet needs. Our Youth Development Food Worker will therefore be unconditionally compassionate, patient and non-judgemental.

Role Purpose

The core purpose of Scran Academy’s Youth Development Food Worker is that of supporting young people to gain confidence, experience and skills using food and cooking.

The successful candidate will help change the lives of young people facing exclusion by supporting them using food and cooking as a vehicle to build skills and confidence. The post holder will support young people from 11+ to gain positive experiences through a blend of group work, vocational training, accreditation, 1-2-1 delivery and outcomes-driven youth work.

This means that the successful candidate will be expected to inspire and be inspired by young people. Using food, cooking and the professional rigour expected in a kitchen, the post holder will design and deliver engaging sessions that give groups and individuals a strong sense of power and purpose.

As part of our wider catering team, line managed by our Head of Youth Enterprise, the post holder will work alongside young people supporting the preparation, delivery and due diligence of our café and catering social enterprise.

The post holder will support delivery across youth programmes with particular focus on the delivery of our outreach work delivered on our Scran Van.

A typical week would run Mon-Fri, with occasional evenings and weekends on agreement. The role will flexibly support our catering and outreach programmes, either at our café sites in Comely Bank and the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, or at various locations from our famous food truck, the Scran Van.

A full driving license for manual vehicles is essential for this role.