Kitchen Assistant

John Lewis Partnership; Cookham Rise; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading employee-owned retailer in the UK is seeking a Kitchen Assistant to work in various kitchen areas, including food preparation and maintaining cleanliness standards. This role offers ongoing training and development opportunities in the kitchen and hospitality sector. The ideal candidate should possess good communication skills and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team. Flexible hours are available, with a workweek of 37.5 hours, including evenings and weekends.

Benefits

Ongoing training

Flexible working options

Employee ownership benefits

Qualifications

• Ability to work in a team or independently.
• Ability to interpret and adhere to food safety policy and health and safety regulations.

Responsibilities

• Maintain kitchen cleanliness according to food safety regulations.
• Assist with basic food preparation and manage deliveries.
• Support efficient and profitable kitchen operation.

Skills

Good communication skills

Teamwork

Food safety adherence

Job description

About the role

As a Kitchen Assistant you'll work in all areas of the kitchen, including kitchen porter duties, basic food preparation, and helping to maintain the high standards of hospitality for all hotel guests to enjoy. You'll be involved with the preparation of food for our hotel guests, managing stock and minimising wastage. This role offers ongoing training and plenty of opportunity to progress throughout the kitchen and hospitality sector.

Key Responsibilities

• Work as part of the kitchen brigade to maintain kitchen standards of cleanliness in compliance with food safety regulations and guidelines.
• Assist in basic food preparation and take responsibility for deliveries, the completion of cleaning schedules and temperature checks for kitchen equipment.
• Add value to the efficient and profitable running of your department to achieve the business and personal objectives of the hotel and your team.

Essential skills / experience

• Good communication skills.
• The ability to work in a team or on your own.
• Ability to interpret and adhere to food safety policy and health and safety regulations.

Desirable skills / experience

• Experience in a kitchen or hospitality environment is welcomed but not essential.
• We will provide all the training you need to perform at your best, everyday. This includes training in Food Safety Level 2 which is normally completed in the first 3 months.

Work hours

37.5 hours per week – varied hours of full‑time work to include early starts, late finishes, evenings and weekends between the hours of 08:00 – 21:00. Non‑working days will be Tuesday and Wednesday.

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 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 – some place 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.

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, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

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.