Residential Care Home Cook

Job Introduction

Job Title: Residential Care Home Cook
Shift Pattern: Part-Time, 18 hours per week to include mornings, evenings and weekends
Salary: £25,989-£27,254 Pro-Rata (Pay Award Pending)
Location: The Beacon Children's Centre, Grantham
Closing Date: 02nd July 2026

Are you passionate about making a meaningful difference in the lives of children with disabilities? At The Beacon, we’re seeking a caring, energetic, and child‑focused individual to join our dedicated team as a Cook. In this role, you’ll help create a warm, nurturing environment by preparing nutritious meals that support each child’s well-being and daily routine.

Due to recent changes in immigration law in the UK, we are unable to offer skilled worker visa sponsorship for this role as it does not meet the requirements.

About the Role

As our Cook, you will play an essential part in creating a safe, nurturing, and homely environment for the children and staff at The Beacon. Your role centres on preparing safe, nutritious, healthy, and balanced meals that support each child’s health, well-being, and daily routine. You will take responsibility for planning and preparing weekly menus for both staff and our children, ensuring meals are varied, freshly made, and tailored to a range of dietary requirements.

You will also oversee food ordering and stock management, ensuring the kitchen is well‑supplied, cost‑effective, and aligned with individual needs. Alongside this, you will keep accurate records and consistently follow food hygiene standards to maintain a safe and well‑organised kitchen environment.

You will uphold high standards of food hygiene, allergen management, and kitchen safety, while helping to foster a warm, welcoming dining experience that feels like home.

Our Home

The Beacon is a purpose‑built home for eleven children, all of whom have a disability and/or complex health or medical needs. Our environment is designed to provide safety, stability, and a genuine sense of belonging for every child who lives here.

We ensure our employees receive high‑quality training in trauma‑informed and therapeutic approaches, enabling them to create a space where children feel safe, understood, and able to thrive. In addition to this core training, all staff receive role‑specific training tailored to their responsibilities — from specialist medical or clinical procedures to behaviour support, communication approaches, and safe food preparation. This ensures every team member is confident, capable, and equipped to meet the unique needs of the children they support.

We are deeply passionate about creating a nurturing home where each child is supported to reach their full potential, celebrated for who they are, and encouraged to grow in a safe and caring environment.

Our Team

We are an experienced, child‑focused, and established team of care workers who take great pride in the service we deliver. Our practice is rooted in compassion, consistency, and a shared commitment to providing the highest standard of care.

Our staff are encouraged and supported to develop their skills and interests, helping to further enhance our home and the experiences we offer to our children and families. We are passionate about celebrating each child as an individual and ensuring we provide bespoke experiences that help them learn, grow, and feel safe and secure.

Empowering children to have their voice heard and valued is central to how we work. We advocate for our children as part of a multi‑agency service, ensuring their needs, wishes, and rights are always at the heart of decision‑making.

About You

As a Residential Care Home Cook, you will be an integral part of our team. You will build positive relationships with all our children, taking time to understand their individual needs and ensuring you bring compassion and empathy to every interaction.

All Cooks work within our core values of kindness, nurture, care, respect, empathy, and compassion. You will receive all the training needed to fulfil your role, along with a full induction programme to support your development and confidence.

To apply, you will need to be:

• Enthusiastic— bringing energy and positivity to daily routines.
• Resilient— able to adapt and remain steady in a dynamic environment.
• Innovative— open to new ideas and creative approaches to supporting children.
• Flexible— responsive to changing needs and able to adjust to the pace of the home.
• A good team player— working collaboratively to ensure the best outcomes for our children.

About Our Offer

Along with a competitive salary we are offering:

• Access to an excellent local government pension scheme
• A comprehensive benefits package including discount schemes and cycle to work
• A generous annual leave entitlement plus the option to buy more
• Free parking on site
• Robust induction and training programme
• Access to employee Counselling and Wellbeing Service

Further details about what we can offer you can be found here: rewards and benefits

Although the closing date is 02nd July 2026, please do not delay in your application, as we will be shortlisting applications and interviewing regularly and reserve the right to bring forward the closing date.

CONTACT US:

If you would like an open and informal discussion regarding this vacancy, please email Maggie Nowland, Interim Homes Manager at: maggie.nowland@lincolnshire.gov.uk or Sal Cooke, Assistant Manager at sal.cooke@lincolnshire.gov.uk or Cheryl Davidson, Assistant Manager at cheryl.davidson@lincolnshire.gov.uk or call 01476 564283.

We wish you the best of luck with your application.

PLEASE NOTE: It is imperative that your personal statement clearly states why you have applied, how you meet the essential and desirable criteria for the role as set out in the Job Description (attached on LCC jobs Site) and what you feel you can bring to this role, the team and the wider County Council.

Please refer to our Job Information Pack here to support you in your application.

Please be advised that this position is subject to a criminal record check.

On occasion we receive significantly more applications than expected for some vacancies and under such circumstances we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date of the advertisement. We therefore strongly advise you to apply for the role promptly to avoid disappointment should the closing date be brought forward. Please also note: once an application is submitted it is final and cannot be amended. If you withdraw your application, it cannot be reinstated and you will not be able to submit another application for that vacancy. If you have an issue with your submitted application, please contact recruitment@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

We operate a talent pool scheme whereby candidates who are not successful on this occasion may be considered for a period of up to 3 months for equal positions.

Lincolnshire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Fluency Duty

In accordance with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016(Fluency Duty), the ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.

Our values – collaborative, adaptable, eco-conscious, supportive, and responsible – guide everything we do. We’re looking for candidates who share these values and bring them to life in their work, helping us build strong teams and make a real difference in the communities we serve.