Food & Beverage Assistant

English Heritage; East Cowes; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking charity as a Food & Beverage Assistant, where your passion for customer service and teamwork will shine. In this role, you'll support both kitchen and front-of-house operations at a historic site, ensuring visitors enjoy a fantastic experience. With opportunities for career progression in the heritage sector, you’ll be part of a diverse team dedicated to preserving England's rich history. Enjoy benefits like free access to heritage sites, generous holiday, and a supportive work environment that values wellbeing and inclusivity.

Benefits

Free access to English Heritage sites

25% discount in shops and cafes

Enhanced parental leave

25 days' holiday plus Bank Holidays

Matched pension contributions up to 10%

Qualifications

• Passion for excellent customer service and a warm demeanor.
• Ability to engage positively with diverse visitors.

Responsibilities

• Maintain cleanliness in kitchen and serving areas.
• Prepare and deliver quality food and refreshments.

Skills

Customer Service

Teamwork

Food Safety Awareness

Job description

Title Food & Beverage Assistant Location Osborne House, York Avenue, East Cowes, Isle of Wight, PO32 6JY Salary £12.21 per hour / Full-time and part-time hours available (minimum of 10 hours) / Fixed-term contract ending October 2025 Job type Fixed Term Contract Ref 15987

Would you like to work for the charity that cares for hundreds of historic sites in every corner of England? We are looking for a Food and Beverage Assistant to join us at Osborne.

No history background? No problem. What is important to us is a passion for people and excellent customer service. You will enjoy working with others as part of a team and understand what makes excellent customer service to deliver great quality through our food and unique settings.

Heritage is for everybody, and we are here for heritage.

Heritage lives in places and people, memories and stories, artefacts and traditions. It can connect us all to the past, and to each other. It can make us happier, strengthen every community, and help shape society for the better. Everybody should be able to enjoy the benefits it brings. That's why, as a charity, we care for over a million objects and hundreds of historic sites in every part of England, from international icons to local treasures. And it's why we open them up, share their stories and find new ways for everybody to enjoy, learn, play and create.

This is a fixed-term role working a minimum of 10 hours per week from April to October. We have positions within our back of house areas (Kitchen, KP, Bakery, Stores (delivering food by vehicle across site and being responsible for deliveries), as well as front of house roles in one of our five food outlets as well as our ice cream van.

As a Food and Beverage Assistant (kitchen & back of house) at Osborne, you'll play a crucial role in supporting the kitchen team. Your responsibilities will include maintaining cleanliness throughout the kitchen and BOH areas, assisting with food preparation, and ensuring serving spaces are tidy and well stocked. A passion for excellent customer service and a warm, welcoming demeanor are essential. No history background is required. What matters most is your dedication to people and service. English Heritage is the leading charity in the heritage sector, responsible for preserving England's historic buildings and monuments.

As a Food and Beverage Assistant (front of house) at Osborne you will help to prepare and deliver a range of quality food and refreshments, whilst ensuring all our visitors have a fantastic and positive experience. Working as part of our team to support the day-to-day operations of our food and beverage outlets. You will create a warm and welcoming environment for our visitors, ensure great quality in everything we serve and help to provide a safe and clean food environment.

We have both front and back of house roles available with varying contracts, depending on availability and requirements.

To be a Food and Beverage Assistant, you will:

- understand what makes excellent customer service and enjoy delivering this to our visitors.

- be able to engage in a positive way with people from all backgrounds

- enjoy working as a team

Experience of working in a food and beverage role and an awareness of food safety and allergens would help but it isn't essential as full training will be provided. For us, it's more important that you have bags of enthusiasm and a willingness to get involved.

The Benefits

- Salary of £12.21 per hour

- The opportunity to progress your career within the heritage sector, in retail, food and beverage or general management

- Opportunities to go to some of our great live music or history events

- Free access to all English Heritage sites for you and up to six friends/family members

- 25% discount in our shops and cafes

- Enhanced maternity/paternity/shared parental leave

- 25 days' holiday plus Bank Holidays pro rata rising to 28 days after 3 years

- Options to buy additional leave

- Matched pension contributions up to 10%

If you would like to talk to us before you apply, e.g. about workplace adjustments or working patterns, please contact Willow Cameron, Interim Food and Beverage Manager, on [e-mail]. No agencies please.

We will interview and offer as applications come in with a start date in May/June.

Everybody's welcome at English Heritage

Forget the stereotypes. It takes thousands of people from every background to care for England's heritage and open it up for everybody to enjoy. We're looking for every type of person with every kind of skill and experience, and we're committed to making sure that English Heritage is an equitable, diverse and inclusive place to work. You can connect with others through our EDI networks as a member or ally. These include Ethnic Diversity, Faith & Belief, Social Equity, LGBTQ+, Neurodivergence, Age, Disability and Gender Health and Wellbeing.

We take wellbeing seriously. We are committed to ensuring everyone feels safe at work and can carry out their role. To support this, we have a network of Mental Health First aiders, regular information and awareness events, unlimited access to an Employee Assistance Programme and work with our people to implement reasonable adjustments.

Find out more about us and what we do: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/ You can also meet some of our people and hear about why they enjoy working with us: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/our-people/careers-with-us/

You will need to refer to the following documents when completing your application.