Chef De Partie

John Lewis Partnership; Cookham; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

John Lewis Partnership is seeking a Chef De Partie to join our hotel kitchen brigade, ensuring smooth day-to-day operations and delivering a high quality guest experience for Partners and their guests.

Hours are 45 per week, with early starts and late finishes; you will train junior chefs, manage stock and assist in achieving sales through kitchen efficiency while upholding strict standards.

Qualifications

• Qualified chef with professional cookery credentials.
• Ability to train and guide kitchen staff and porters.
• Adherence to hygiene, safety and allergen policies.
• Capable of quick, clear feedback to front-of-house.

Responsibilities

• Assist Head/Sous Chef to plan and deliver up-to-date food offers.
• Train junior chefs and kitchen porters in skills like fishmongery.
• Maintain hygiene, allergen controls and safety standards.
• Run daily checks on fridges, cleaning, PPE; cover when needed.
• Support upselling by equipping front-of-house with knowledge.
• Manage food orders precisely to reduce waste and costs.
• Represent the Partnership with consistent guest experience.

Skills

Team leadership

Allergen management

Food safety

Decision making

Training juniors

Fast-paced environment

Education

City & Guilds diplomas in professional cookery

BTEC HNC in professional cookery

Job description

About The Role

As a Chef De Partie, you'll be working as part of our friendly hotel kitchen brigade to ensure the efficient day to day running of the kitchen and to assist in providing a consistently high quality guest experience for Partners and their guests.

Hours of work

45 hrs per week, Earliest start time 06:00 and latest finish time 21:30. Working 5 out of 7 days including weekends 11:00 - 21:00.

Key Responsibilities

• Assisting the Head and Sous Chef to plan and deliver a food offer that aligns with current trends and customer demand, maintaining exceptional presentation standards.
• Using your expertise to train and develop junior chefs and kitchen porters, including specialised skills like fishmongery and butchery.
• Ensuring all legislative requirements are met, including allergen management, food safety policies, and health & safety standards.
• Conducting daily compliance checks (fridge temperatures, cleaning schedules, and PPE) and taking charge of the kitchen operation in the absence of senior chefs.
• Helping to achieve sales targets by managing food availability and equipping the front-of-house team with the knowledge to upsell effectively.
• Managing food orders with accuracy to minimise wastage and maximise profit margins.
• Acting as a representative of the Partnership, providing a consistently outstanding experience for our guests and fellow Partners.

Essential Skills/experience You'll Need

• Relevant professional chef qualifications, such as City & Guilds diplomas in professional cookery, BTEC HNC in professional cookery, or equivalent.
• Excellent skills to instruct the kitchen team and deliver clear feedback to front-of-house staff.
• The ability to deliver high-quality results in a fast-paced environment while upholding strict hygiene and safety standards.
• Ability to foster mutual trust and respect within a team, ensuring every Partner feels valued.
• Quick and confident decision-making skills to resolve kitchen issues efficiently.

Desirable Skills/experience You May Have

• Level 3 Food Safety qualification.
• Experience in coaching or developing junior kitchen Partners.
• Experience working in a hotel or high-volume quality dining environment

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 points to note

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 and 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 of our roles.

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications.

If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application, we encourage you to let us know.

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.