Written from the pass
Material is drawn from kitchens he has actually run — head chef, sous chef, chef de partie and kitchen team leader across Melbourne establishments.
Home · About
The Story
From the commercial kitchen to the resource desk.
How a head chef and hospitality trainer became an Instructional Designer and Resource Writer for the hospitality and retail sectors.
Professional Summary
Trade knowledge, written to hold up.
Gourav Sharma is an accomplished Instructional Designer and Resource Writer with over a decade of industry experience across hospitality, retail and vocational education. His hospitality career has seen him excel in roles such as head chef, sous chef, chef de partie and kitchen team leader, working in a variety of successful commercial establishments across Melbourne. He has played a key role in setting up new restaurants and developing menus, as well as managing kitchen operations, staff training, and compliance with food safety and hygiene standards.
Transitioning that expertise to education, Gourav has spent more than nine years as a Hospitality Trainer and Assessor at institutions such as Sunshine College and TMG College Australia. He has delivered and assessed training from Certificate III to Advanced Diploma levels in Commercial Cookery and Hospitality, both in classroom and virtual settings. He is experienced in program facilitation, instructional design and the validation of training resources, and is skilled at supporting learners from diverse backgrounds, including those with English as a second language — mapping assessment tasks to learning content, developing individual learning plans, and creating engaging, practical training environments.
Alongside his hospitality background, Gourav has significant experience in retail operations, having worked as a Department Manager at Woolworths Limited for over seven years, where he was responsible for customer service, team leadership, stock control and sales growth. That work broadened his expertise in business operations and staff development. He is an accredited trainer for Hospitality, Food Safety and Food Safety Supervisor programs, and his comprehensive industry knowledge, practical teaching approach and commitment to quality make him a valued contributor to the CAQA team and to the development of high-impact, compliant educational resources for the hospitality and retail sectors.
A practical teaching approach, built on trade knowledge as head chef, sous chef and kitchen team leader, and written into compliant resources for hospitality and retail.
Gourav’s working principle
The Approach
How Gourav works
Mapped before written
Assessment tasks are mapped to the learning content first, so what a resource asks of a learner and what it teaches stay in step.
Built to survive validation
Experience validating training resources shapes how new ones are drafted: complete, consistent and able to be checked.
Compliance as a habit
Food safety and hygiene standards managed daily in commercial kitchens carry straight across into the discipline of the resources.
Written for every learner
Support for learners from diverse backgrounds, including those with English as a second language, is designed in rather than added afterwards.
Practical by default
Individual learning plans and engaging, practical training environments — built around what the learner has to be able to do.
The Role at CAQA
What the desk produces
Design
Instructional Design
Learning and assessment resources shaped around how Commercial Cookery and Hospitality are actually taught.
Writing
Resource Writing
High-impact, compliant educational resources for the hospitality and retail sectors, written to be usable on the floor.
Validation
Resource Validation
Validation of training resources — mapping, evidence and consistency examined before anything reaches a learner.
Delivery
Training and Assessment
Certificate III to Advanced Diploma delivery and assessment, in classroom and virtual settings alike.
Next step
See the full record
Over a decade across commercial kitchens, retail management and vocational education — and an accredited trainer for Hospitality, Food Safety and Food Safety Supervisor programs.