Kitchen Assistant

North Island - Bay of Plenty; Whakatāne; On-site; NZD 28,000 - 34,000; Part time

Job summary

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora in Whakatāne is seeking a casual Kitchen Department team member to join a supportive hospital setting. The role involves fortnightly rosters, weekend shifts, and tasks from delivering meals to patients to dishwashing, all while maintaining a clean and efficient kitchen environment.

You will work unsupervised at times, show initiative, follow instructions, and communicate effectively in a fast-paced setting.

Qualifications

• Ability to clean kitchen equipment, utensils, and work areas to ensure a sanitised environment.
• Knowledge of food handling, chopping, peeling, and portioning meals according to dietary requirements.
• Well-developed organisational skills with a high level of attention to detail and accuracy and the ability to work well under pressure
• Highly effective communicator and complex problem solver

Responsibilities

• Delivering newspapers and water jugs to patients
• Handing out menus to patients
• Collecting trays on food trollies
• Serving cups of tea and coffee to patients
• Unloading and dishwashing duties

Skills

Clean kitchen equipment

Food handling

Organisational skills

Attention to detail

Effective communicator

Problem solving

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

North Island - Bay of Plenty – Whakatane, North Island

• Bring your initiative and great work ethic to this fast-paced role

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is dedicated to building a health system that serves all New Zealanders.

About the Role

Working with an experienced and diverse team we are looking for an individual who must be able to work over a fortnightly roster including weekends in our Kitchen Department. These positions are casual positions, as and when required.

This role involves many tasks and opportunity to grow your skills on the job.

Some tasks involved are;

• Delivering newspapers and water jugs to patients
• Handing out menus to patients
• Collecting trays on food trollies
• Serving cups of tea and coffee to patients
• Unloading and dishwashing duties

In this role we work as a team, everyone has the responsibility to maintain the Kitchen to a clean standard. Our ideal candidate must be able to work unsupervised, show initiative, follows instructions easily, good work ethic and can work in a fast-paced environment.

Click here to view the position description.

About the Location

Boasting some of the most sunlight hours in New Zealand, Whakatāne offers award winning beaches for both surf and fun. Be still and listen to the native bird chorus in our bush clad walkways, plus swim at one of our fantastic beaches, 15 minutes away from the hospital. Come join our team who are already enjoying a uniquely rewarding lifestyle outside of the main cities. Whakatāne is small but mighty, featuring all the things you need whilst remaining within easy travel to Tauranga and Rotorua for that little bit extra.

Click here to learn more about the Bay of Plenty

About you

To be successful in this role you will have:

• Ability to clean kitchen equipment, utensils, and work areas to ensure a sanitised environment.
• Knowledge of food handling, chopping, peeling, and portioning meals according to dietary requirements.
• Well-developed organisational skills with a high level of attention to detail and accuracy and the ability to work well under pressure
• Highly effective communicator and complex problem solver

Working for Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.