Operations Manager - Patient Catering

Operations Manager - Patient Catering

Location: West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustContract: Full Time 5/7 rota

The Role

We're looking for an experienced Operations Manager - Patient Catering to lead the delivery of high-quality, safe, and compliant patient catering services across multiple acute healthcare sites.

You'll take full operational ownership of patient catering, working closely with clinical teams to enhance patient experience while ensuring food safety, contractual compliance, and strong financial control. On weekends, you'll act as the senior operational lead across all services, supporting resilience and continuity.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead patient catering operations, ensuring compliance with dietary, allergen, food safety, and infection control standards.
• Manage menus, diet codes, special diets, and mealtime delivery in partnership with Dietetics and clinical teams.
• Drive operational performance against KPIs, SLAs, and contractual requirements.
• Lead, develop, and engage operational teams, ensuring effective staffing, capability, and performance management.
• Maintain strong governance through audits, incident management, and regulatory compliance.
• Manage budgets, labour, stock, and resources to deliver value for money.
• Act as the main point of contact for Trust stakeholders and contribute to performance reporting and service improvement.

About You

• NVQ Level 3 (or equivalent) and experience in a similar operational management role.
• Background in healthcare or a regulated, complex environment.
• Strong commercial awareness and experience managing contracts and KPIs.
• Proven leader with excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Results-focused, adaptable, and committed to continuous improvement.
• Enhanced DBS clearance (or ability to obtain).