Branch Cook, Supermarket Assistant

John Lewis Partnership; City Of London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail partnership in the UK is seeking a Supermarket Assistant Branch Cook to work in the Partner Dining Room. Responsibilities include managing kitchen operations, maintaining food hygiene, and serving customers on the shop floor. The ideal candidate will possess experience in catering, a passion for food, and excellent customer service skills. This position supports flexible working arrangements.

Responsibilities

• Ensure the smooth running of the overall kitchen.
• Maintain a clean, tidy, and safe kitchen environment.
• Ensure portion control and food hygiene standards.
• Provide service to customers on the shop floor.
• Support various shop-keeping tasks and stock management.

Skills

Experience of working as a cook in a catering or hospitality environment

Passionate about food

Customer focused

Demonstrate commercial awareness

Flexible and adaptable

Education

City & Guilds 706 1 and 2 or NVQ equivalent

Food Hygiene Certificate Level 2

Job description

Overview

About the role: As a Supermarket Assistant Branch Cook, you'll work in the back-of-house of one of our shops in the Partner Dining Room, providing hot and cold food for Partners to enjoy during their break times. When not working in the kitchen, you'll support the wider shop floor team as a Supermarket Assistant, delivering the distinct service and passion for food that our competitors can't match.

Responsibilities

• Branch Cook: ensure the smooth running of the overall kitchen with support and direction from the management team.
• Maintain a clean, tidy, and safe kitchen environment.
• Ensure portion control, preparation, storage methods and due diligence to minimise food wastage and protect profits.
• Adhere to high food hygiene standards.
• Shop-floor responsibilities when not in the kitchen: provide great service to customers and support a variety of shop-keeping tasks including stock replenishment, fulfilling online customer orders, managing stock to reduce wastage through due diligence and markdowns, supporting checkout, Click & Collect orders, on-demand orders, and more.
• Maintain a safe and tidy working environment with general shopkeeping tasks.

Essential skills/experience

• Experience of working as a cook in a catering or hospitality environment.
• Passionate about food and serving a varied and nutritious menu.
• Customer focused with the ability to engage Partners with the food on offer.
• Demonstrate commercial awareness, driving sales within the Partner Dining Room while controlling costs and wastage.
• Flexible and adaptable to work between kitchen and shop floor as required.

Desirable skills/experience

• City & Guilds 706 1 and 2 or NVQ equivalent.
• Food Hygiene Certificate Level 2.

About The Partnership

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees; we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. There’s never been a more exciting time to join us as we look to our future.

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never knowingly undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose. As Partners we share ownership and rewards, contributing to our success by working together through good and challenging times, and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong, embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can thrive, growing individually and collectively. As Partners, we make all the difference. And we all own it.

Important points to note

Some roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process, and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. DBS checks will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some roles.

We occasionally close vacancies early if we receive a high volume of applications, so apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability to complete your application, please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all Partners to have a good work-life balance and support flexible working, including flexible or compressed hours, job sharing, or shorter hour contracts where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.