Team Leader, Food Service

About the role

As a Catering Assistant Team Leader, you'll help oversee the running of the multiple location catering operation across Bracknell Campus and support a team of Catering Assistants. You'll work alongside the catering management team to deliver an exceptional dining experience for all those using the facility and help create a culture of development and inclusion for the rest of the catering team.

Salary: £28,400 - £38,600

Contract type: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time, Mon-Fri, 07:00-15:00. Includes an on-call Duty Manager rota approximately every 6 weeks (Fri evening-Mon morning), covering Bank Holidays and festive periods. On-call duties begin after a successful three-month probation.

Location: Bracknell - Head Office Campus

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Leadership: Leading and supervising a busy catering brigade to deliver market-leading customer service. You will act as a "Critical Friend," challenging poor performance and mentoring your team to achieve their best.
• Service Excellence: Ensuring the seamless delivery of the Partner Dining Room and function services, maintaining impeccable standards of product presentation and cleanliness.
• Commercial Management: Driving sales and managing food and sundry costs. You will identify opportunities for continuous improvement and greater efficiency within the catering operation.
• Administrative Oversight: Taking ownership of catering admin, including stock control, wastage recording, and staffing requirements to ensure a profitable and efficient section.
• Compliance & Risk: Supervising and delivering all due diligence checks. You will ensure 100% compliance with Waitrose Food Hygiene and Health & Safety policies at all times.
• Duty Management: Taking accountability for the wider site during your rota'd on-call periods, responding to operational needs outside of standard catering hours.

Benefits of the Role

• Full Chef Whites and Safety shoes included for the role.
• Free meals whilst on duty.

Essential Skills/Experience You'll Need

• Supervisory Experience: A minimum of one year's experience in supervising catering teams or kitchen brigades.
• Food Expertise: Experience working with all food types and a genuine passion for hospitality.
• Commercial Awareness: A strong understanding of how to manage sales, stock, and wastage to protect the bottom line.
• Leadership Qualities: The ability to lead by example, foster trust within a team, and remain flexible to support other departments when required.
• IT Literacy: Proficient computer skills to manage administrative tasks and ordering systems.

Desirable Skills/Experience You May Have

• A Food Safety Level 3 (Intermediate) qualification. (Note: Full training will be provided within the first 3 months if not already held).
• Experience working in a high-pressure, customer-facing selling or service environment.
• Previous experience in a dedicated administration or logistics function.

Additional Information

It's important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you'll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.