Area Manager

Lead, Inspire & Make an Impact – Take Charge of School Catering Across Manchester!

Location: Manchester – covering Bright Futures Educational Trust and Oasis Community Learning
Days/Shift Pattern: Monday to Friday
Working Hours: 40 hours per week
Working Weeks: 42 weeks term time, with additional non-term-time working as required to meet business needs
Salary: £35,400 per annum
Additional Benefits: Company car, termly bonus and an excellent benefits package.

At Sodexo, we believe in delivering outstanding service, creating meaningful experiences and empowering our teams to thrive.

We're looking for an experienced, passionate and commercially minded Area Manager to oversee our school catering operations across Bright Futures Educational Trust and Oasis Community Learning in the Manchester area.

This is an exciting opportunity for a strong catering professional who can inspire teams, build excellent client relationships and drive operational and financial performance across multiple sites.

If you have a genuine passion for food, understand the demands of school catering and have the leadership skills to bring out the best in others, this could be the perfect next step in your career.

About the Role

As Area Manager, you will play a key role in the successful delivery and development of catering services across multiple educational sites.

Working closely with Catering Managers, site teams, school representatives and the wider Sodexo management team, you will ensure consistent standards, excellent food quality, outstanding customer service and strong financial performance.

You will be a visible and proactive leader, regularly visiting sites, supporting teams and building positive relationships with clients. Every visit should add value, whether through coaching, operational support, service improvements or identifying new opportunities.

Operational Leadership & Service Excellence

• Oversee the day-to-day operational performance of multiple school catering sites.
• Ensure a consistent, high-quality food and service offer is delivered across all locations.
• Conduct regular site service evaluations, develop action plans and implement improvements to achieve and maintain required standards.
• Promote a strong focus on employee safety and positive client relationships, ensuring clients understand your presence on site and the value you bring.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues and clients at all levels.
• Support the Regional Operations Manager in client meetings, service reviews and operational planning.

People Management, Training & Development

• Provide effective leadership, coaching and mentoring to Catering Managers and their teams.
• Ensure every site visit includes proactive training, coaching and development.
• Support the creation and delivery of craft and business training modules to meet operational and contractual requirements.
• Deliver practical catering, food production and gross margin training to minimise waste and maximise profitability.
• Support recruitment, interviewing, staffing control and disciplinary processes in line with company procedures.
• Encourage a positive, inclusive and safety-focused working environment.

Financial & Commercial Performance

• Support and guide the financial performance of individual sites.
• Understand unit-level financial performance, budgets, food costs, labour costs and gross margins.
• Support the preparation and presentation of new budgets, meal price adjustments and other commercial proposals.
• Identify opportunities to improve profitability, control costs and reduce food waste.
• Actively support the Business Development team through food presentations, showcasing best practice and sharing successful case studies.

Food Development & Innovation

• Maintain awareness of current food trends through social media, industry events and trade exhibitions.
• Support the development of exciting, relevant and commercially sustainable food offers.
• Bring fresh ideas and inspiration to school catering, ensuring menus remain appealing and meet customer expectations.
• Demonstrate strong practical catering knowledge and support teams in maintaining excellent food quality and presentation.

Mobilisation, Compliance & Client Retention

• Provide practical and administrative support during new contract mobilisations and contract retention activity.
• Support the preparation of compliance documentation, site files and operational records.
• Coordinate initial food and equipment orders where required.
• Ensure statutory requirements and Sodexo policies are consistently implemented and maintained, including food hygiene, personal hygiene, health and safety.
• Promote a positive safety culture and take appropriate action to address any areas of non-compliance.
• Respond appropriately to accidents, fires, theft, loss, damage, lost property, unfit food and other incidents, ensuring all necessary actions, notifications and reports are completed.

What We're Looking For

We're looking for someone who combines excellent practical catering skills with strong commercial awareness and the ability to lead across multiple sites.

Essential requirements:

• NVQ Level 3 in Catering or an equivalent relevant qualification.
• Proven experience within catering management, ideally in a multi-site environment.
• Strong practical catering skills, with the ability to demonstrate, coach and train teams to the required standard.
• A good understanding of food production, menu development and current food trends.
• Experience managing and developing teams, including recruitment and performance management.
• Strong commercial awareness, including budgets, gross margins, cost control and financial performance.
• Excellent knowledge of food safety, allergen management, food hygiene and health and safety legislation.
• Strong communication, organisational and relationship-building skills.
• The ability to manage competing priorities, work independently and deliver results.
• Flexibility to work Monday to Friday, with additional non-term-time working as required to meet business needs.
• A full UK driving licence and willingness to travel regularly between sites across Manchester.

Pre-Employment Checks

As part of our commitment to safeguarding and safer recruitment, the successful candidate will be required to complete all relevant pre-employment checks. This will include an appropriate DBS check, right-to-work verification and any other checks required in line with Sodexo's safer recruitment procedures and the requirements of our education clients.

This makes it clear that safeguarding is an important part of the role, particularly as the Area Manager will be working across school environments.

Previous experience within education or school catering would be highly advantageous.

Your Key Accountabilities

As Area Manager, you will be accountable for:

• Supporting and improving the financial performance of all units.
• Maintaining consistent food quality and service standards across every site.
• Ensuring proactive training, coaching and mentoring takes place during site visits.
• Organising and supporting effective contract mobilisation and retention activity.