JOB DESCRIPTION
Position: Chef de Partie/Sous Chef
Reports to: Executive Chef
Salary: Dependent on Experience
Location: Dumfries House, Cumnock
The King’s Foundation
The King’s Foundation is a charity founded by King Charles III and was first formed in 1990. Inspired by the vision and values of His Majesty, the Foundation focuses on creating better communities where people, places and the planet can coexist in harmony.
The charity offers education courses for over 15,000 students annually, health and wellbeing programmes for nearly 2,000 people every year, and spearheads placemaking and regeneration projects in the UK and overseas to revitalise communities and historic buildings.
The King’s Foundation is headquartered at its flagship regeneration project, Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland, and acts as custodian of other historic Royal sites including the Castle of Mey in Caithness, Scotland, and Highgrove Gardens in Gloucestershire, which are open to visitors. The Foundation also carries out its work at educational and cultural hubs in London, based at The King’s Foundation School for Traditional Arts in Shoreditch, Trinity Buoy Wharf on the River Thames and the Garrison Chapel in Chelsea.
The work of The King’s Foundation is underpinned by our Founder His Majesty The King’s philosophy of harmony: that by understanding the balance, the order and the relationships between ourselves and the natural world we can create a more sustainable future. We have a diverse and inclusive workplace, creating a welcoming, safe space for everyone. This means that every member of our team can bring their whole self to work. We encourage qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply to and join The King’s Foundation and bring their valuable skills and experiences.
The Foundation is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees, including the provision of workplace adjustments. We do not tolerate discrimination based on protected characteristics (age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership) or other difference such as socio-economic background or social origin.
The Role:
We are looking for a hard-working, passionate and enthusiastic individual to join our kitchen team.
The successful candidate will join us working alongside our garden team who inspire us to create dishes from their produce and promote our president’s passion on sustainability as well as;
• Food delivery for Events and weddings
• Food delivery for the education department
• Food delivery on the estate and occasionally off site
• Food delivery at the lodge
• Food delivery in the Woodlands restaurant
• Education planning and delivery
Key Tasks
Specific Duties will include:
Support and lead the kitchen team to deliver exceptional standards.
• Drive food quality, presentation and consistency.
• Daily kitchen organisation.
Run service at the lodge. Breakfast and dinner only.
Maintain a safe and compliant kitchen.
• Cleanliness and maintenance of the kitchen.
• Menu planning and cost controlling purchasing.
• Ensuring staff adhere to food hygiene standards and records are correctly and daily complete.
It is in the nature of the work of the King’s Foundation that tasks and responsibilities are, in many circumstances, unpredictable and varied. All staff are therefore expected to work in a flexible way when the occasion arises that tasks which are not specifically covered in their Job Description must be undertaken.
Person Specification
The essential skills, knowledge and experience required are:
• A high level of work experience.
• Ability to work proactively and flexibly under pressure and to achieve set objectives.
• Strong organisation skills and the ability to work with minimal supervision.
Competencies necessary for the role include; strategic thinking, teamwork, performance management, working to deadlines and leadership qualities.
• The ability to communicate efficiently and clearly in spoken and written language with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
Some travel within the UK may be necessary.
Other:
• The post will be based at Dumfries House, Cumnock, KA18 2NJ with the requirement to travel on occasion.
• Your working hours will be 37.5 hours per week
• You must have the legal right to work in the UK.
This post is considered to be a regulated activity therefore any offer will be subject to a satisfactory disclosure check with the Disclosure Scotland.
Applications: Please submit a cover letter and CV (please note one A4 page maximum each for CV and letter) to Gordon Watson, email address: - hr.recruitment@kings-foundation.org and request an application form.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19th of June 2026 at 5pm.