Catering Services (Chef) (Submariner)

Fast track role A high priority role with an accelerated joining process.
Service:Submarine Service
Branch:Logistics
Level:Rating,Apprenticeship
Food and drink
Hospitality
Catering
Logistics
Chef
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The role at a glance

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£21,000+

Minimum amount you'll earn after training

Submarine service dolphin icon.

£5,000

Bonus for earning your ‘Dolphins'

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6 weeks

Of paid holiday every year

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£54,000

Earn over this amount as your career progresses

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£5,000

Minimum additional Submariner pay rising to over £8,700 per year

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Qualifications

Get an apprenticeship and funding for other qualifications

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Travel

All around the world

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Zero

Qualifications needed

What you’ll do

Being a Caterer (Submariner) in the Royal Navy is a job that’s literally miles from what you could do at home. Not only will you become part of the Silent Service, the highly specialised team at the forefront of our nation’s defence, you’ll also embark on a catering career like no other, where you’ll cook for the boat’s crew as well as deliver high end front of house service to visiting VIPs and royalty when the submarine is in port. But first and foremost, you’re a Submariner, which means joining the unique team that’s ready at a moments notice to take on highly classified missions, anywhere in the world.

If you have questions, talk to us

call us 0345 607 55 55

Your role

  • Our world-class training means you’ll learn all the ins and outs of running a highly efficient commercial kitchen, including responsibility for ordering, receiving, and accounting for provisions to sustain the menus you’ll write, as well as learning how to offer the highest level of premium front of house experience and the behind the scenes organisation that enables it
  • Be part of the team whose role is about a lot more than just food. Your crewmates, at all levels, look forward to mealtimes, so you’ll be responsible for maintaining their high morale and wellbeing
  • Learn additional, crucial skills: you’ll become a highly trained, efficient submariner capable of firefighting, delivering first aid and, if it calls for it, driving the boat itself

What you’ll get

Skills for life

Qualifications you'll gain

  • Study for GCSEs, A-Levels, NVQs or a degree
  • Gain specialist vocational qualifications as your career progresses including an apprenticeship 12 months after completion of training

Skills you'll develop

  • You’ll learn every aspect of cooking, running a commercial kitchen and how to deliver a hospitality event of the highest standard, regardless of the operational pressures of what is going on around you
  • As a Submariner you’ll learn how to take teamwork to a whole new level, while also developing management and leadership skills

Career progression

Phase one training

10 weeks at HMS Raleigh, learning basic military skills

Phase two training

Develop your professional skills and start your Apprenticeship

First year

Submariner training, time at sea, and earn ‘Dolphins’

First promotion - Leading Hand

Leading Rates Command Course, manage galley and junior Caterers

Second promotion – Petty Officer

Become a Caterer and take on a senior managerial role

What you'll need

Eligibility

  • You need to be aged 16 - 39
  • No qualifications are required for this role
  • British National (or hold Dual Nationality iaw UKSV policy)
  • You need to be a minimum height of 157cm
  • A Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18 and 28 (between 17 and 27 if under 18)
  • Pass the Naval Swimming Test
     

Skills and interests

  • A keen interest in high standards of food and hospitality
  • A cool head for the pressures of a busy kitchen
  • A problem-solver, with a common sense approach, who can work well as part of a team
  • A real sense of adventure, with a high level of physical and mental fitness

Check Eligibility

Starting your career

Joining process

Once you’ve confirmed your eligibility, the joining process is as follows:

  • Submit an application

    Once you’ve registered your interest and have satisfied the basic eligibility criteria, you will be sent an online application form

  • Defence Aptitude Assessment (DAA)

    You’ll be tested on: Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Work Rate, Spatial Reasoning, Electrical Comprehension and Mechanical Comprehension.
    To prepare, you can practise the DAA

  • Interview

    A formal interview to talk through your suitability for the role. This is normally conducted using your own device over the Shine video platform

  • Medical and eye tests

    These are quite comprehensive and must be completed by one of our Ministry of Defence-approved doctors

  • Pre-Joining Fitness Test (PJFT)

    This involves completing a 2.4km run on a treadmill within a certain time, at a fitness centre near you

  • Candidate Preparation Course (CPC)

    This four-day induction to life in the Royal Navy, including a Swimming Test and a fitness assessment, is a pass or fail course

  • Start training

    Once you’ve passed a Security Check, you’ll be offered a place at HMS Raleigh

more about the joining process

Find out more

Initial training

Your Royal Navy career begins with 10 weeks’ basic training at HMS Raleigh, a shore base in Torpoint, Cornwall. The discipline, teamwork, organisational, firefighting and weapon handling skills you learn here will stay with you right through your career.

Aim to get yourself as fit as possible before you arrive. You’ll be doing a lot of physical exercise, and you’ll find it much easier if you’re already in shape.

There's also a swimming test, so if you can't swim, make sure you learn by the time you join us.

more about initial training

Find out more

Professional training

Once you have essential military and maritime skills under your belt, it’s time to start your professional training. As a Catering Services rating, you’ll embark on a level 2 Production Chef Apprenticeship. You will conduct professional training which will kickstart your apprenticeship and prepare you for your professional role in the fleet. The benefit of your apprenticeship is that you will complete it whilst already working in your professional role, working towards advancement and promotion at the same time, gaining real time experience. Among many elements your professional training will include:

  • Different styles of catering to match the diverse requirements of the job
  • Food hygiene
  • Health and safety
  • Catering accountancy
  • Hospitality and front of house skills
  • Stock control

After successfully completing your professional training, you will then commence your Submarine Qualification (SMQ) at HMS Neptune, Faslane, Scotland near Glasgow; the home of the Royal Navy’s Submarine Service. You’ll learn about submarine operations, including: warfare, weapons, nuclear propulsion and escape training, and go to sea in a submarine. After this, there’ll be a test to check your knowledge. When you pass, you’ll earn your ‘Dolphins’ – the coveted badge of a qualified Submariner.

more about professional training

Find out more

Request your application
Register your interest
Call 0345 607 55 55
Find your local AFCO

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