Kitchen Porter

We’re on the lookout for enthusiastic, hands-on people to join our kitchen team and help deliver meals that fuel a busy community of staff, students, and guests. From preparing fresh dishes to carefully packing meals, you’ll be at the heart of an operation that prides itself on quality, consistency, and a friendly, can-do attitude.

Working alongside colleagues, you’ll help keep our catering service running. One day you might be supporting the Chef Manager and chefs with food preparation, the next you’ll be helping fulfil hospitality requests or making sure service is ready to go on time. Whatever the task, you’ll play a vital part in delivering professional, reliable catering to the highest standard.

This is a varied role where no two days are the same. You’ll get involved in everything from receiving and storing deliveries, rotating stock, and keeping manufacturing and packing areas spotless, to ensuring meals are prepared in line with strict quality, hygiene, and food safety requirements. Health and safety are at the core of what we do, so you’ll follow COSHH, HACCP, and safe systems of work while helping to create a clean, organised, and welcoming environment.

If you are a team player, and happy to turn your hand to whatever is needed whether that’s moving equipment, preparing food, or keeping the workspace in top condition, this could be the perfect opportunity.

Govinda’s is dedicated to promoting healthy minds and bodies through nutritious and delicious vegetarian meals. With 10 years of experience, our philosophy is to inspire people to feel good in every aspect of their lives through enjoyable and nourishing food. We understand the importance of meeting individual needs, by promoting a better understanding of nutrition and the importance of a balanced and varied diet.

What will you do?

• To prepare all types of food in line with kitchen requirements or to pack meals as needed
• To operate within a team of permanent, part time and flexible staff in the unit, ensuring that the manufacturing service is successfully delivered consistently to the required standard on a daily basis
• To liaise and co-operate with the Chef manager or other unit chefs, to follow and respect their request and orders
• To ensure full compliance with all areas of Health and Safety during the preparation and storage of food, including observing and maintaining COSHH, Safe Systems of Work, Risk Assessments, HACCP records & temperature controls, as requested

Why should you apply?

Avanti exists to help each person become a well-rounded human being through intellectual, moral and spiritual growth, and so make the world a better place.

You Will Be Working In a Fantastic Environment, With:

• Great opportunities for professional development
• NEST pension scheme (subject to eligibility)
• O2 discounts, Specsavers corporate eye test vouchers
• Eligible for NUS Card and CSSC membership
• Well-being programs (retreats, yoga, wellness apps)
• Cycle-to-work Scheme

What are we looking for?

• Kitchen experience
• Understanding of food hygiene and kitchen health and safety
• The ability to work unsupervised in a busy environment
• Commitment to the safeguarding and welfare of all students

Please view the full Job Description for more information on the responsibilities and essential criteria required for this role.

Further information

Avanti Schools Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and requires all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All successful candidates are required to have an Enhanced DBS check unless internally appointed and still within the cycle of DBS re-checks. Any appointment subsequently made will be subject to the receipt of satisfactory references and other pre-employment checks.

Diversity and Inclusion

We want to make sure we are attracting the widest possible range of people and ensure that they are accepted, understood and treated equally when they work here. This means we will work hard to understand that each employee is unique and ensuring that individuals or groups are not treated differently or less favourably on the basis of specific characteristics. Such characteristics include (but are not limited to) age, disability, gender including transgender, race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, and how the school supports pregnant women and new parents.