Hospitality, Supermarket Assistant

About the roleAs a Partner on our service counters, you'll have the perfect opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and passion for food while feeling proud of how it is ethically sourced and recommend recipes for customers to try. You'll actively be bringing our ethos - passionate Partners serving food lovers - to life.

You'll use your enthusiasm and friendliness to build lasting relationships with your customers. You'll make all the difference to the impression they have about the Waitrose brand and keep them returning again and again by earning their trust and loyalty for a lifetime. All the while helping to maximise on sales and profit.

Join the Team at Chelmer Village!

We are thrilled to announce that a brand-new Waitrose Convenience shop is arriving in Chelmer Village on 2nd July 2026, and we’re looking for dedicated food loving Partners to help us build this shop from the ground up.

As a vital member of our founding team, you’ll work side-by-side with your colleagues to champion the quality, integrity, and unique shopping experience our customers love. This role will be part of the Bakery section within the shop however you will be expected to work in other areas also.

This is a brilliant opportunity to:

• Collaborate with a brand-new team to create a welcoming atmosphere.

• Contribute your expertise to ensure our very first day is a success.

• Connect with the Chelmer community and provide excellence in every interaction.

If you have a passion for working together and want to be part of a new opening, we’d love for you to join us in making our newest branch a local favourite.

We have a variety of part time length contracts ranging between 8 - 30 hours per week available on both Temporary and Permanent basis.

Key Responsibilities

- You'll take responsibility for your own food counter ensuring the highest presentation and hygiene standards at all times.

- Staying on top of stock levels, ensuring the products our customers love are there when needed.

- Taking great care while working with open food and ensure all due diligence and health & safety protocols are followed. Helping to reduce food wastage.

- Maintaining your knowledge of new products and have a good understanding of Waitrose's food values (e.g. animal welfare).

- Supporting the wider shop team when required with general shopkeeping tasks.

Essential skills/experience you'll need

- Communication skills to enable you to work effectively as part of a team and with our customers.

Desirable skills/experience you may have

- Experience of working in a customer facing role is welcomed.

- Experience of working in a catering / hospitality environment.

- Up to date knowledge and strong interest in food and drink trends.

- Flexible approach to ensure the support of the whole branch.

About The Partnership

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.  

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.   

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect. 

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective. 

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.  

Important points to note:  

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.  

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.