Cafe Assistant

Cafe Assistant

Permanent, Full Time

£25,081 per annum

Location: Thurrock

Working Style: Operational field-based worker

Essex County Council has a vacancy for a Café Assistant at Belhus Woods Country Park. The park is located within more than 300 acres of beautiful Essex countryside with the visitor centre acting as a hub for visitors to enjoy refreshments and glean information about the park.

About the role

As a Café Assistant, you will ensure a clean, safe, tidy, and welcoming environment for customers to buy and consume food within the Café at Belhus Woods Country Park. 

You will be serving customers with food and drink, and undertaking basic food preparation, in accordance with food safety regulations. You will also be washing up, clearing tables, general day to day cleaning, along with structured deep cleaning according to health and safety standards and on occasions there will be the need for you to place orders with our suppliers.

You will be responsible for identifying tasks and ensuring these are completed to a high standard. These tasks will include operating tills, handling cash and cashing up at the end of the day. Supporting with stocktaking and stock movement to ensure consumables are used and maintained correctly.

You will be responsible for complying with all health and safety rules ensuring the proper use and care of protective clothing and equipment.

As a café assistant you will provide an excellent customer experience by offering help and support to visitors.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

Educated to GCSE level or equivalent, you will have experience of working within a Catering environment, delivering excellent customer service. You will have good communication skills, with the ability to prioritise workload, and work well within a team.

Above all, you will have the ability to develop skills and knowledge within your role.

To read more about us please visit: Climate, Environment and Customer Services

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you. 

In February 2025, Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, which will see local authorities in Essex work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. You can read more about devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR)) on our careers site

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email Sandra.middleton@essex.gov.uk

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