Senior Sous Chef- Travel- Aston Villa Men's 1st Team

Job Details

Senior Sous Chef - Travel - Aston Villa FC Men’s First Team
Reports to: Executive Performance Chef - Aston Villa & Head Chef - Levy
Location: Aston Villa FC Training Ground - Bodymoor Heath

Aston Villa Key Relationships: Head of Nutrition, Performance Nutritionists, Executive Performance Chef, Catering Manager.

ROLE PURPOSE

The Senior Sous Chef for Aston Villa Men’s First Team plays a key travel and leadership role in delivering a comprehensive travel strategy, while ensuring performance nutrition and athlete requirements are optimised at every level.

The role will include significant travel within the UK and internationally, as well as supporting club reconnaissance tasks.

Working closely with the Executive Performance Chef and club nutritionists, the Senior Sous Chef is responsible for leading all travel operations, ensuring exceptional food quality, consistency, and innovation that directly supports player performance, recovery, and first-team preferences.

This role will be integral to performance nutrition “fresh, food-first” philosophy, which fuels European performances and Premier League excellence. This is not just any culinary role—it is an opportunity to impact elite athletic performance through world-class nutrition.

The position combines hands-on culinary expertise with leadership responsibility, overseeing service delivery, mentoring junior chefs, and delivering consistent standards across all men’s first-team travel operations.

The Senior Sous Chef will also play a key role in matchday catering at Villa Park and during away fixtures, ensuring seamless execution for the first team.

This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the continued growth and success of Aston Villa Men’s First Team, aligned with the club’s philosophy: “Proud History, Bright Future.”

ABOUT BODYMOOR HEATH TRAINING GROUND

Aston Villa’s Bodymoor Heath Training Ground is one of the most advanced football training facilities in the country. It is home to the men’s and women’s first teams as well as the academy, serving as a central hub for player development, sports science, and elite performance. The kitchens and dining areas form a vital part of this environment, providing tailored, performance-focused nutrition that powers Aston Villa athletes every day.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Kitchen Leadership: Support the Executive Performance Chef in leading day-to-day travel operations of the men’s first team, ensuring high & consistent standards across all strategic preparation, planning & delivery.
• Food Preparation and Service: Lead and actively participate in the preparation, cooking, and presentation of meals to elite standards.
• Performance Nutrition Delivery: Execute menus & strategy in collaboration with Aston Villas nutritionists and executive performance chef, ensuring meals are aligned with the specific needs of the Men’s First Team.
• Matchday Operations Home & Away: Lead or support Men’s first-team catering at Villa Park and for away fixtures on matchdays, ensuring seamless, high-quality delivery. This includes travelling to away games.

• Team Management & Development: Supervise, mentor, and develop junior chefs, fostering a culture of excellence, learning, and accountability.
• Menu & Strategy Development: Contribute & lead menu planning and innovation, incorporating modern food trends and performance nutrition principles. Support the creation of a fresh food-first performance nutrition strategy aligned with the men’s first team philosophy.
• Food Safety & Compliance: Ensure full adherence to food safety, allergen management, and health & safety standards.
• Stock Control & Cost Management: Assist in managing stock, ordering, and waste reduction to maintain efficiency and cost control.
• Collaboration: Work closely with chefs, nutritionists, sports science, operations and performance teams to deliver the men’s first team requirements.
• Standards & Continuous Improvement: Drive consistency, quality, and continuous improvement across all kitchen operations both at the training ground and when representing Aston Villa at any capacity.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

• Culinary Qualifications: Professional Culinary Training. Leadership & Management Training, Performance Nutrition Qualifications.
• Experience: Proven experience as a Sous Chef or Senior Sous Chef, ideally within elite sport, high-performance environments.
• Leadership Skills: Strong ability to lead, motivate, and develop a team in a fast-paced sport environment.
• Technical Expertise: High-level cooking skills with a strong focus on quality, consistency, and presentation.
• Nutrition Awareness: Good understanding and strong interest in sports nutrition and performance-led cooking.
• Organisation & Efficiency: Excellent time management and the ability to deliver under pressure.
• Food Safety Knowledge: Thorough understanding of HACCP, allergens, and health & safety compliance.
• Communication Skills: Confident communicator with the ability to collaborate across departments.
• Flexibility: Willingness to work flexible hours aligned with the football calendar, including evenings, weekends, and matchdays. This also includes, if required, to work across all kitchens of Bodymoor Health to support Aston Villa’s requirements.

• Passion & Drive: A genuine passion for food, performance, and contributing to the success of Aston Villa.