Cook 1 - St Mary\'s Primary School

Hours: 16 per week, 38 weeks sessional.

Salary: £25,661-£25,924 (pro‑rata for part‑time and sessional).

Purpose of Job

Our catering assistants play a vital role in delivering high quality catering services to schools and commercial buildings. Working as part of a team, to deliver a range of meals, basic food preparation and great customer care.

Major Tasks / Job Activities

• Basic preparation and cooking of food and beverages in accordance with a service specification.
• Customer service – Interaction with both pupils and school staff.
• Setting up the dining room and service area.
• Serving meals and having an awareness of portion control and special diets.
• Cleaning of kitchen, dining and service areas.
• Cash handling and the use of tills where appropriate.
• Use of catering equipment (training will be provided).
• Compliance with legal and council regulations, policies, procedures and compliance to the school food regulations 2021.
• Any other duties as required by the needs of the business.

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent customer service skills – The post will involve liaison with council/other staff and incidental contact with the public.
• A high degree of customer care and behavioural standards are required.
• Basic knowledge of food hygiene and health and safety.
• Ability to work on your own or as part of a team.
• Good communication skills and a “can do” attitude.
• Well‑presented and good appearance.
• Flexible, adaptable and the ability to work under pressure or to tight timescales.
• Demonstrate a curiosity to grow knowledge and professional development.
• Demonstrate ability to self‑motivate and manage own time.
• As part of the post, the post holder will have to undertake an allergen awareness qualification as well as obtaining a basic food hygiene certificate.

Environment (Work Demands / Physical Demands)

The role is physical in nature and will involve long periods of standing and repetitive tasks. Daily manual handling including transportation of meal containers. Handling and safe use of chemicals and equipment, following safe systems of work. Setting up of heavy dining room equipment and receipt of deliveries. Working without direct supervision and may involve lone working. Work activities and dealing with people both with respect to occupied and unoccupied buildings. Health and safety/customer care processes will be required to be followed.

Supervision and Management of People

The Catering Assistant will have no direct line management responsibilities however, on occasion may be required to support the induction of new staff in the absence of a supervisor/Cook 3. The Catering Assistant may also be asked to provide direction to agency staff or staff from other units if covering site.

Resources

The Catering Assistant will be required to control the use of stock as per service specification and to ensure activities reduce waste and environmental impact.

Health and Safety

Protecting the health and safety and welfare of our employees, our third parties including: members of the public, contractors, service users and pupils, is the starting point for a forward‑thinking Council. All employees are responsible for:

• Taking care of their own health and safety and welfare and that of others who may be affected by their actions or omissions.
• Co‑operating with management and following instructions, safe systems and procedures.
• Reporting any hazards, damage or defects immediately to their line manager.
• Reporting any personal injury and work‑related ill health, and accident or incident (including ‘near misses’) immediately to their line manager and assist with any subsequent investigation.

This may include co‑operating fully with the provision of witness statements and any other evidence that may be required. Line managers have additional responsibilities for ensuring all health and safety risks under their management are identified, assessed and controlled, with specialist input from H&S Advisers and others, including Occupational Health where required. Where the risks cannot be adequately controlled, the activity should not proceed. Additional information can be found in the Council Health and Safety Policy.

Legal and Checks

This post is regulated work with children and/or protected adults under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. The preferred candidate will be required to join the PVG Scheme or undergo a PVG Scheme update check. Where an individual has spent a continuous period of 3 months or more out with the UK in the last 5 years, an Overseas Criminal Record Check will be required. You will be required to provide this check. An unconditional offer of employment and commencement in the post will be subject to the outcome of both these pre‑employment checks being deemed satisfactory.

Equality and Diversity

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce where everyone feels valued and able to be their best. We particularly encourage applications from women for senior roles, as well as people from minority ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities or neurodivergent people, care experienced people, carers and LGBT+ people across all levels of the organisation, all of whom are currently underrepresented. All applicants will be considered fairly based on skills and experience. Disabled and care‑experienced applicants who meet the minimum job criteria will be guaranteed an interview.

Find out more about our commitment to equalities: https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/work-us/inclusive-edinburgh/4

Behaviour Assessments

As part of our goal to improve organisational culture and create a great place to work together for the people of Edinburgh, we want to make sure we’re recruiting the best people. We’re interested not only in your skills and experience but also in your approach to work. Therefore, part of our interview process will be an assessment of how you would bring Our Behaviours of Respect, Integrity and Flexibility into your ways of working. You can find out more on Our Behaviours web page: Our Behaviours – The City of Edinburgh Council.

Flexible Working

Our salary range typically reflects the initial starting salary and annually increases until it reaches the top of the range. Happy to talk flexible working.