Catering Assistant – Christmas

John Lewis Partnership; High Wycombe; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading retail partnership in High Wycombe is seeking a Catering Assistant to provide excellent service in customer restaurants and dining rooms. The role involves teamwork to ensure smooth operations, following health and safety standards, and maintaining high food preparation standards. The ideal candidate will be flexible, have a passion for food, and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment. This role offers varied hours with competitive pay of £12.40 hourly.

Benefits

Free food on working days

Night Premium for late hours

Qualifications

• Ability to be flexible to work across the whole Catering team.
• Keen eye for detail and high standards in food preparation.
• Experience in a kitchen or catering environment is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Work as a team to ensure a smooth catering service.
• Provide positive customer and Partner interactions.
• Follow health and safety procedures.
• Ensure stock is replenished for customers.
• Reduce food wastage.
• Resolve any operational issues.

Skills

Flexibility

Passion for food

Attention to detail

Customer service

Job description

Overview

Our Catering Assistants in our John Lewis shops work in either our customer restaurants or behind-the-scenes in our Partner (employee) dining rooms. You\'ll offer the great customer service we\'re known for. It can be fast-paced, but by taking pride in your food preparation and presentation standards, you\'ll ensure the best possible catering experience. You\'ll also support with other catering-related tasks, including stock replenishment and storage of deliveries. Our Catering Partners enjoy free food in our dining rooms on their working days, and based in our shops there are no split shifts or late evening work. If you join us from 5 October, in addition to your contractual pay, any time worked between 22:00 - 06:00 will attract a Night Premium at £3.50 per hour. This also applies to existing Partners enrolled onto Enhanced Hours Premium arrangements.

Key responsibilities

• Work as a team to ensure a smooth catering service.
• Provide positive customer and Partner interactions with a friendly and welcoming attitude. Be an ambassador for the John Lewis brand at all times.
• Follow procedures and instructions using the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Food Safety Act when completing all relevant tasks.
• Ensure stock is replenished and available for customers.
• Reduce food wastage by ensuring care and due diligence when rotating food stock.
• Act promptly and use initiative to resolve any issues that arise in the operation.
• Maintain personal hygiene standards.

Essential skills/experience

• Ability to be flexible to work across the whole Catering team and use initiative to ensure the smooth running of the operation.
• Passion for food.
• Keen eye for detail and high standards in food preparation, hygiene and cleanliness.

Desirable skills/experience

• Ability to work in a fast-paced, physically demanding environment.
• Team work.
• Great customer service.
• Experience of working in a kitchen or a catering environment.

To learn more about this role, please copy and paste this link into a new browser window: http://embed.wirewax.com/8080994

Closing Date: September 20, 2025

Pay: £12.40 Hourly

Contract Type: Temporary

Hours of Work: Varied hours of full or part time work across seven days to include early starts, late finishes, evenings and weekends.

Job Level: Partnership Level 10

Where You\'ll Be Working: High Wycombe (John Lewis & Partners), Holmers Farm Way, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP12 4NW

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. As we look to our future, there\’s never been a more exciting time to join us.

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 all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours 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 ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important notes

It’s important to note that some of our 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. We encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some roles.

We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants.

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