Catering Assistant (Kitchen)
Job overview
Do you want to work as part of an innovative Catering Team within one of Europe’s leading and the UK’s best Cancer Care Centres?
We have a rare opportunity for you to join our inspirational catering team here at “the Christie” as a Catering Assistant within our Kitchen Team. Encouraging healthier lifestyles, our Chefs are skilled in the art of transforming fresh, seasonal ingredients into nutritious home-cooked meals that place our patients, families, and colleagues “At the heart of what we do” and you will help them deliver this great food, to our patients.Do you have what it takes to provide excellent customer service, with a smile in a fast-paced environment?
Main duties of the job
What will you be doing:
- Serving meals to patients at ward level.
- Ensuring all Food Hygiene and Health & Safety policies and allergen control procedures are followed.
- Maintaining a clean and hygienic kitchen and dining area during and after services.
- Ensuring all catering equipment is cleaned and ready for use.
- Providing excellent customer service to patients, families, and colleagues.
- Ensuring NHS Food Standards are adhered to.
- Replenishing stocks and supplies in the kitchen and dining area as directed.
Qualifications and Skills:
- Should ideally hold Food Hygiene Certificate L2 but not essential as training will be provided
- Experience in catering, kitchen, or a food service industry
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to work effectively within a team environment
- Attention to detail and ability to multitask
- Availability to work flexible hours including evenings, weekends, and public holidays
Working for our organisation
The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire.
You will be joining a fast-paced catering environment, working with people who have a real passion for food within a caring environment. We are looking for a good all arounder, who is punctual, friendly, and approachable and who wants to work as part of an inspirational, award-winning kitchen team.
We would love to hear from you if you are a reliable team player, who has an eye for detail, with a high customer awareness, someone who can communicate with confidence and who takes pride in their role, whilst able to uphold the Christie values.
What is in it for you?- Band 2: £23,615 - (£12.08ph) – pro rata
- Full Time: 37.5 Hours per week - (5 days out of 7) to include Bank Holidays, evenings and weekends
- Shift Patterns within the hours of: 07:00 – 19:00.
- Workplace pension
- 27 days annual leave per year – pro rata, rising to 29 days after 5 years’ service – pro rata
- Fun, friendly, and caring working environment
- Unrivalled individual training and development with apprenticeship opportunities
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Blue Light Card - Discounts at major retailers, restaurants, gyms etc
- Cycle to work scheme
Sound like the ideal role for you? Apply today!
All applicants must be able to demonstrate that they have the Right to Work in the UK to be considered for this role.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To provide a customer focused service to all patients, staff, and visitors
Provide information on menu items to patients, staff and visitors so ensure that the allergen content of the meals is clearly communicated to the customers.
Participate, as appropriate, with staff involvement groups for all aspects of quality.
Report any feedback from patients, staff and visitors regards meals or service to the supervisor or management
Must have thorough knowledge of customer service and experience of large-scale catering.
To undertake all Trust mandatory training courses and any other departmental training e.g., COSSH, HACCP, Allergen Training and Food Hygiene Level 2 training
Carry out all work procedures in accordance with the Food Safety Act and work within our Departmental HACCP procedure.
Ensure that you maintain due diligence records for evidence when carrying out checks for food temperatures and cleaning records that need to be recorded via the Monika system in line with HACCP Policy.
Cater for any hospitality or events in accordance with supervisory instruction.
Have the ability to cope with increased workload at short notice and requests for out of hour’s service as required.
Any change in shift patterns to suit the needs of the service may be required.
To carry out general and specialised cleaning tasks in main kitchen or front of house areas.
Basic preparation of food and beverages as required.
Take up the patient food trolley up to the ward and serve patients meals on occasion.
Manual work covering, Catering stores as required.
Setting up of all pieces of equipment at the start of the working day e.g., coffee machines, toasting machine, grills and any other equipment located in the Front of House services.
Ensure good customer relations.
Provide an excellent food and customer service to patients/staff/visitors in the Front Of House areas or on ward level
Ensure that all standards of hygiene and cleanliness are adhered to at all times
Ensure good practice is carried out to minimise waste
Ensure faulty equipment is reported to supervisor or management.
Maintain good housekeeping and stock rotation of all provisions within designated area.
To ensure that all equipment is used efficiently and to report any defects in equipment or machinery to a supervisor as soon as they occur.
Undertake cash handling duties on the tills in accordance with the cash handling procedures, and PCI requirements for use of Chip n Pin equipment.
Ensure compliance with all Trust policies.
Ensure compliance to all Trust Risk Management, Research Governance and Infection Control Policies and Procedures.
Enter data as required for evidence via the Monika Task Minder system.
Follow strict cleaning schedules and record hot & cold food temperatures as required.
Ensure that Risk Assessments are adhered to for any new tasks, to prevent unnecessary risks.
Liaise with management to continuously improve the service.
Undertake annual Personal Development Reviews to enhance skill sets
Responsible for putting away deliveries as required and ensure stock control/rotation procedures are followed.
To transport food provisions and hardware throughout the Trust on different trolleys
Concentration is required when setting up and using machinery/cooking equipment, and to ensure that adequate safety precautions are taken when carrying out any tasks.
Knife handling may be required for food preparation tasks.
Person specification
Qualifications
Desirable criteria- Basic Food Hygiene L2 or equivalent standard
Experience
Essential criteria- Large Scale Catering experience in a kitchen environment.
Skills
Desirable criteria- Customer relation and service skills
- Effective Interpersonal and communication skills
Knowledge
Desirable criteria- H.A.C.C.P principles and their application within Catering
- Understanding of Food Safety Legislation
Values
Essential criteria- Ability to demonstrate the Organisational values & Behaviors
Other
Desirable criteria- Flexibility with regards to working hours
- Commitment to delivery of high standard service at all times
- Highly Motivated individual. Working as part of a team
The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants.
We want to ensure that everyone who works at the Christie or uses our services is welcomed, valued and treated with dignity and respect. The Christie values diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all and fair representation across the organisation at all levels.In support of these commitments, we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.
We are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.
As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy
All positions within the Christie are subject to the receipt of satisfactory written references, medical clearance and evidence of your Right to Work in the UK. Some roles will require a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. Please note if you are successfully appointed to a post with this Trust, you will be required to pay for your own DBS Disclosure.
By applying for this post you are agreeing to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.
If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.
The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.
Overseas candidates wishing to apply for this position and who would require immigration sponsorship, may wish to self-assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the post on the UKVI website.
You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.