Kitchen Assistant

Location: Dunstable

Starting salary: £26,427 rising to £26,847 (Pro rata to 18 hours per week)

Vacancy Type: Part-time, 18 hours per week

Dunstable Town Council

Dunstable Town Council is a public sector organisation helping to make Dunstable a better place

Love cooking, fresh food and being part of a busy, friendly kitchen?

We’re looking for an enthusiastic Kitchen Assistant to join the Priory House team and help us deliver fresh, high-quality food in one of Dunstable’s most unique historic settings.

Working closely with our Catering Manager, you’ll be involved in much more than washing dishes. You’ll help prepare and cook food from our menus and specials, create savouries for our Afternoon Teas, support the development of new dishes and help produce our Priory Pantry range for customers to enjoy at home.

If you enjoy cooking, take pride in your work and love the buzz of a busy kitchen, we’d love to hear from you.

What You’ll Be Doing

You’ll work alongside the Priory House Catering Manager to help keep the kitchen running smoothly and maintain the high standards our customers expect.

Your role will include:

• Preparing and cooking fresh food for our daily menu and lunchtime service.
• Creating dishes for our specials board and Afternoon Teas.
• Helping to produce our Priory Pantry range for resale.
• Supporting the Catering Manager with menu development and bringing ideas to the kitchen.
• Helping maintain appropriate kitchen and front-of-house stock levels.
• Stepping up in the Catering Manager’s absence to undertake routine meal preparation and support the wider Priory House team.
• Maintaining excellent standards of kitchen cleanliness and organisation.
• Ensuring crockery, cutlery, glassware, cookware and kitchen equipment are cleaned, dried and ready for service.
• Completing daily cleaning schedules and relevant checks.
• Occasionally assisting with opening and closing Priory House.
• Supporting stock ordering when required.
• Handling cash accurately, reliably and responsibly.

Your Rewards

• Competitive salary
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Enhanced Staff Benefits including flexible access to your wages
• Generous annual leave entitlement

About You

You don’t need to be a head chef – but you do need to enjoy working with food and have previous experience working within a catering kitchen.

You’ll be someone who takes pride in presentation, cleanliness and attention to detail and can stay calm and organised when service gets busy.

You’ll also be:

• Reliable, flexible and comfortable working as part of a team.
• Able to work methodically and use your own initiative.
• Willing to learn our menus and confident enough to help cover food preparation when the Catering Manager is absent.
• Committed to maintaining excellent standards of personal and food hygiene.
• Able to work safely and follow kitchen procedures and guidelines.
• Willing to obtain the required Food Hygiene and COSHH qualifications if you don’t already hold them.

More Than Just a Kitchen Assistant

We want someone who would enjoy becoming an important part of the Priory House team.

There will be opportunities to develop your skills, contribute ideas and get involved in everything from our everyday food offering to Afternoon Teas, specials and the Priory Pantry range.

You’ll also have the opportunity to use some creativity – particularly when preparing soups of the day and Afternoon Tea savouries when covering for the Catering Manager.

Some Evenings & Weekends

Priory House hosts functions and events throughout the year, so the role requires regular evening and weekend working, with additional hours sometimes available depending on the needs of the service.

How to Apply:

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Dunstable Town Council, please click apply to be redirected to our website. You’ll be able to download a recruitment pack with further information and instructions on how to complete your application.

Applications received that do not include a full covering statement will not be considered

CLOSING DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS – 9 am, 16 November 2026

Please note interviews will take place week commencing 23 November 2026