Cafe jobs in Sunderland

16 hours - Hardwick Park

Are you passionate about customer service and enjoy working in a busy café environment? Do you take pride in delivering high-quality food and creating a welcoming experience for visitors?

We are looking for a Café Assistant to join our team at the award-winning Hardwick Park. This is an exciting opportunity to become part of a friendly and dedicated team, helping to provide excellent food, beverages and customer service to the half a million visitors who enjoy the park each year.

WHAT IS INVOLVED?
As a Café Assistant, you will support the day-to-day operation of the café, ensuring food is prepared, presented and served to a high standard while maintaining excellent levels of cleanliness, food hygiene and customer care.

You will assist with food preparation, serving customers, operating the till, replenishing stock and maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for customers and colleagues. As a key front-line representative of the Council, you will play an important role in ensuring visitors receive an outstanding experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Preparing and serving food and drinks.
• Delivering excellent customer service.
• Operating tills and handling cash and card payments.
• Maintaining food hygiene and health and safety standards.
• Cleaning food preparation, kitchen and customer areas.
• Assisting with stock checks and replenishment.
• Supporting catering services for special events and functions.
• Contributing to menu and product development where appropriate.
• Supporting volunteers and work placements.
• Promoting sustainability and recycling initiatives.

We encourage you to contact Paul Everson via email at paul.everson@durham.gov.uk to arrange an informal discussion about the role.

WHAT WILL I NEED?

Essential

• A good basic education to GCSE level (or equivalent), including English.
• Experience of preparing and serving fresh food.
• Experience of working within a catering and/or hospitality environment.
• Understanding of customer care and excellent communication skills.
• Ability to work as part of a team and use initiative.
• Ability to work under pressure and respond positively to customer needs.
• Knowledge of health and safety and food hygiene procedures.
• A flexible approach to duties and working hours.Desirable
• Level 1 Food Hygiene Certificate (or equivalent).

Experience of operating till systems and handling cash/card payments.
Awareness of current food hygiene standards.

INTERVIEWS
Interviews will be held week commencing 12th October.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran.

OUR OFFER TO YOU
We offer a competitive rewards package that includes attractive salaries, a generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days (rising to 32 after five years continuous local government service), membership of the excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme, and a range of flexible working arrangements including hybrid working (home and office) where applicable.

Explore the full range of rewards and benefits on our website

Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION
We are a proud equal opportunities employer and believe a diverse workforce brings fresh ideas and drives service improvement. We welcome applications from everyone and make employment decisions based on skills and ability. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled and neurodivergent people and offer support throughout the recruitment process.

HOW TO APPLY
Please note, we do not accept CVs. All applications must be submitted online via the Northeast Jobs portal. Use the Person Specification section of the form to clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential (and where possible, desirable) criteria. Applications that do not evidence the essential requirements will not be shortlisted.

Please visit our website to understand our position on using AI to support your application and for guidance on completing your application.

If you require assistance when applying for this role, please contact our Recruitment Helpdesk on 03000 26 27 27, (option 4) or via email RecruitmentNE@durham.gov.uk

All correspondence relating to your application will be sent from donotreply@northeastjobs.org.uk. Kindly check your spam/junk folder regularly to ensure you dont miss any updates.

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