Kitchen Assistant

Akari-Care; Wallsend; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 21,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension 5%

Uniform provided

DBS costs paid

28 days annual leave

Training and development

Personal development plans

Community environment

Job summary

Akari Care is seeking a Kitchen / Catering Assistant to support our Cook and catering team in delivering warm, personalised meals for residents with dignity.

You will assist with food preparation, plating, trolley service, and ensuring mealtimes are enjoyable and inclusive for all residents, respecting diverse dietary needs and cultural backgrounds.

Qualifications

• Experience of working within similar environment.
• Kitchen and food preparation experience required.
• Basic Food Hygiene Certificate.
• A caring nature to give everyone a personal approach.
• Flexible and adaptable to changes at short notice.
• Work well under pressure without negative impact to those around you.
• Warm, approachable, and engaging persona.
• Respect everyone, treating others as you would expect to be treated.
• Resilient and adaptable to differing needs of colleagues and residents.

Responsibilities

• Assist Cook and catering team to ensure smooth kitchen operations.
• Create menus, plating up, arranging trollies, and serving residents.
• Ensure mealtimes are enjoyable and meals meet residents' individual needs.
• Be mindful of religious and cultural backgrounds when planning meals.

Skills

Kitchen experience

Food preparation

Customer care

Flexibility

Resilience under pressure

Interpersonal skills

Education

Basic Food Hygiene Certificate

Job description

If you are passionate about caring for the elderly and want to build a long-term career in one of our award-winning homes, then look no further than Akari Care. Our aim is to create an environment where our residents are valued, respected, and are offered the personalised care they deserve.

Akari Care is committed to upholding values that we created and share. It is, therefore, vitally important that any new colleague embraces and actively promotes our values across the organisation.

We now seek an additional Kitchen / Catering Assistant who is passionate about, and thrives on, making a real and positive difference to the lives of older people.

Working in collaboration and unison with the Cook and the wider catering team you will be responsible for ensuring the smooth, efficient running of all kitchen processes. These will include creating menus, plating up, arranging trollies, and ensuring each of our residents feel directly supported and looked after with the highest quality of support and care.

Whilst you will be involved in all the practical duties you would expect in a busy care home kitchen it is vitally important to continuously ensure that you are mindful and conscious to individual religious and cultural backgrounds and how this might impact on meal choices, alongside making sure that all our residents feel they have a personalised service.

As the critical link between the kitchen and the serving areas you will be conjointly responsible for caring for our residents. The key focus for us is ensuring mealtimes run smoothly and are an enjoyable experience at Akari Care, where all our resident’s individual needs are catered for.

By showing us you can match our values with the right desire for personal excellence, community spirit and a kind, caring and compassionate nature, we, in return, can offer you a career developing your knowledge, skills and abilities to support vulnerable adults with the care their individual needs require.

What is in it for you:

• Pension contribution of 5%
• Recognition schemes and rewarding referral schemes.
• Uniform provided and DBS check costs paid.
• 28 days annual leave (based on full-time hours, including Bank Holidays)
• Fully funded training and development
• Support with personal development plans.
• The opportunity to gain experience and develop both personally and professionally.
• An engaging community environment where everyone is respected and included

What we require from you:

• Experience of working within similar environment
• Kitchen and food preparation experience required.
• Basic Food Hygiene Certificate
• A caring nature to give everyone a personal approach.
• Flexible and adaptable to changes at short notice.
• Work well under pressure without negative impact to those around you.
• Warm, approachable, and engaging persona
• Respect everyone, treating others as you would expect to be treated.
• Resilient and adaptable to differing needs of colleagues and residents.

Akari Care is proudly working towards achieving Veteran Friendly Framework status across all of our homes, demonstrating our commitment to supporting those who have served. We warmly welcome applications from members of the Armed Forces community and value the skills, experience, and dedication that they bring to our teams.