cafe and catering assistant

We are looking for a professional, hardworking and confident Senior cafe and catering assistant to join our busy in-house Catering team at Plumpton College.

This is an important role supporting the day-to-day running of our main College dining room, which is at the heart of our campus near Lewes, East Sussex. The dining room provides a three-meal service for residential students and is the main hub for lunch service for students, staff and visitors. You will also support provision at the Graze Café in our AgriFood building, as well as helping to deliver catering for meetings, events and functions across the College.

This is an exciting time to join Plumpton College as we continue to grow our catering offer to meet the needs of our students and expand our commercial conference and events activity.

What you'll be doing

• Supporting the day-to-day running of the main dining room and other catering outlets
• Delivering a friendly, high-quality service to students, staff and visitors
• Supervising cleanliness, food safety and hygiene standards across catering areas
• Monitoring cleaning records, food temperatures, stock control and portion control
• Supporting catering for meetings, events and functions, including some evenings and weekends
• Providing cover across other College catering outlets when required
• Undertaking manual handling duties as part of the role

We are looking for someone who:

• Has a catering qualification or relevant catering experience
• Holds a current Food Hygiene Certificate
• Has at least two years' experience in a similar role
• Has a passion for good food and a high-quality customer experience
• Can demonstrate excellent customer service skills
• Is outgoing, approachable and flexible
• Works well as part of a team
• Can stay calm and effective under pressure

At Plumpton College, we live our values - Ambitious, Professional, Enterprising, Passionate, Supportive and Progressive - in everything we do.

You’ll benefit from:

We offer a competitive salary alongside a generous benefits package. Staff have access to the Local Government Pension Scheme, comprehensive CPD opportunities, and a supportive working environment. As a Disability Confident Committed employer and a signatory of the Menopause Pledge, we are proud to foster an inclusive workplace.

New colleagues benefit from a structured induction and supported probationary period, as well as a strong coaching culture with in-house Level 5 trained coaches.

Employees also enjoy a range of lifestyle and wellbeing benefits such as eligibility for a TOTUM card and Blue Light Card, free eye tests, free use of our onsite gym, cycle-to-work scheme, discounted Plumpton wine and courses, free onsite parking, access to competitively priced dining facilities, and an Employee Assistance Programme.

Our commitment to staff wellbeing and community is further demonstrated through regular networking events, active EDI and Sustainability committees, and social events at Christmas.

Basic working hours are five days over a seven-day rota, to include possible weekends (one or two per month). Hours are approximately 7.00am to 4.00pm or 10.00am to 7.00pm. Some flexibility will be required to meet the needs of the business and therefore weekend and evening working will be required. Hours and working times will be agreed with the Catering Supervisor, based on the needs of the business.

This is an all-year-round role. Some evening, weekend and holiday period working will be required to support catering functions, student activities, recruitment events and wider college activities.

We reserve the right to interview or close the vacancy early should we receive a high number of applications. Early applications are strongly encouraged.

Plumpton College is committed to the promotion of equal opportunities and is dedicated to pursuing non-discriminatory policies and practices and eliminating unfair discrimination on any basis.

Plumpton is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of learners and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Employment cannot begin until the appropriate DBS clearance has been received and considered.

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