Café Assistant

Café Assistant

Location: Rotherham

Salary: £10,603.94 per annum (£24,853 FTE)

Vacancy Type: Permanent

Hours of Work: 16 Hours per week - 3 pm to 7 pm working any 4 days out of 7, includes weekends.

Closing date:

Rotherham Hospice is a charity dedicated to the people of Rotherham, offering specialist palliative and end of life care to our community since 1996.

About the Role

To assist in the preparation, cooking, and service of homemade meals and baked goods for patients, visitors, volunteers, and staff. The postholder will work as part of a skilled and supportive team in both the hospice kitchen and the busy public café, ensuring excellent standards of food quality, customer service, and hygiene at all times.

At Rotherham Hospice, our café spaces are more than just places to grab a coffee, they are community hubs where staff, patients, families, and supporters come together.

As a Café Assistant, you play a key role in creating a warm, welcoming, and supportive environment, ensuring every visitor experiences kindness and excellent service. In line with our Living Life s Wishes strategy, this role is about more than food and drink, it s about making every moment meaningful for those who need us.

Key Responsibilities

• Prepare, cook, and present meals to a high standard for both patients and café customers
• Confidently bake and produce a range of homemade cakes, pastries, and confectionery in-house
• Work efficiently in a fast-paced catering environment, adapting quickly to operational demands
• Support the production of texture-modified meals, including Level 4 pureed diets (training provided if required)
• Serve customers professionally and maintain a welcoming atmosphere in the café
• Maintain high levels of kitchen cleanliness and adhere to food hygiene and infection control standards
• Support stock rotation, deliveries, food storage, and general kitchen organisation
• Operate café and kitchen equipment safely, including tills and coffee machines
• Work collaboratively as part of a flexible team, supporting events and peak service times

Personal Specification

• Previous experience in a café, hospitality, or customer service environment.
• Confident baking skills with the ability to prepare a variety of fresh homemade products
• Strong understanding of food hygiene, safety, and cleanliness requirements
• Ability to prioritise tasks and remain calm under pressure in a fast-moving environment
• Strong communication skills and a positive, team focused attitude
• Excellent customer service skills, with the ability to interact professionally and compassionately with patients, visitors, staff, and volunteers
• Compassionate and respectful approach to patients, families, customers, and colleagues
• Reliable, enthusiastic, and eager to contribute to a supportive team culture
• Committed to maintaining high standards of quality and care in all activities

Desirable:

• Experience with Level 4 pureed meals or texture modified diets
• Food Safety qualifications (e.g., Level 2 Food Hygiene)
• Customer service experience in a café or similar environment
• Ability to drive and access to a vehicle
• Fluency in community languages such as Urdu, Punjabi, Polish, Slovak, Romanian, and Arabic is highly desirable. It enables compassionate, effective communication with patients and families from diverse backgrounds, helping to build trust and deliver culturally sensitive care. This directly supports our Living Life s Wishes Strategy and our commitment to inclusive, high-quality care at Rotherham Hospice

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Rotherham Hospice, please do not hesitate to apply.