Catering Assistant bei Heriot-Watt University

Role: General Assistant (Catering) 

Contract Type: Part Time, Open Ended (including weekends) – weekly rosters subject to change.   

Hours: 0.5FTE (17.5 hours per week) x1.  0.3FTE (8 hours per week) x2

Salary: Grade 2 (£12.64 per hour)

Physical Demands: Bending, standing, walking, lifting, carrying pushing, pulling, cleaning & moving equipment. 

Rewards and Benefits: 28 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days per year after 5 years service, plus 9 buildings closed days for all full time staff (Part time workers should pro rata this by their FTE). Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.

Detailed Description

We are hiring a Catering Assistant (x3) to join our team and help deliver a professional, welcoming, and flexible catering service to students, colleagues, and visitors across the University. The role involves preparing outlets and events for service, assisting with food preparation, producing hot and cold items, and ensuring high standards of customer service. Duties include operating tills and handling payments, maintaining vending machines, receiving and storing deliveries, monitoring stock, and safely operating catering equipment. You will also support front-of-house activities such as table service, bar work (with training), and buffet service, while maintaining excellent standards of cleanliness, food safety, and hygiene in line with health and safety regulations. This is a varied role in a busy environment, requiring flexibility, teamwork, and a commitment to delivering a high-quality catering experience.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide and assist with the provision of professional, welcoming, high quality, flexible catering service to students, colleagues and visitors to the University across all areas. 
• Preparation and pre-service activities prior to the opening of an outlet or the start of an event. 
• Operate the outlet tills – including include taking payments whether cash, credit, contactless or cashless. 
• Fill clean and service vending machines as trained and per procedures. 
• Assist with receiving and putting away food deliveries and stock counting. 
• Assist as directed with basic food preparation readying outlets for service, producing prepare to order items – both hot and cold, creation and production of salads, sandwiches, coffees and other items as instructed. 
• Preparation, safe operation and cleaning of small items of equipment – to include soup kettles, coffee machines, ice machines, blenders, dishwashers, countertop ovens, toasters etc used daily within the outlets. 
• Function Waiting/ service to table, Bar Service, (with relevant training), and assistance with buffet service when required. 
• Follow all laid down processes and procedures relating to food preparation, health, hygiene and welfare, temperature checking and waste management. To work within and to be aware of EH, COSHH and Health and Safety Guidelines. 
• Maintain a high standard of personal hygiene, and work in a clean and tidy manner. 
• Front and back of house cleaning activities as necessary. 
• Any other relevant duties which may be required from time to time or as the service develops and adapts which may be reasonably expected of the post holder. 

Essential Criteria

• Demonstrable ability to speak and understand English to follow verbal and written instructions and deal with customer/student queries 
• Well-developed interpersonal skills 
• Delivers excellent customer service, with a professional and courteous approach 
• Ability to work quickly, flexibly and accurately 
• Good attention to detail 
• Effective physical ability to carry out the post activities 

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of working within a similar environment 
• Experience of operating relevant catering and or cleaning equipment 

 Where the post holder is in possession of a valid UK Driving License, they will be required to register it with the University Insurance services and drive University Vehicles when required to facilitate the provision of services.

How to Apply