Westminster, South West London (SW1), SW1A 0AA

House of Commons

The House of Commons is a unique and exciting place to work right at the heart of the UK's thriving democratic system.

Behind the scenes, the House of Commons Service is made up of more than 3,000 employees who support and facilitate the smooth day to day running of the House. They provide professional services to Members of Parliament, their staff, and the wider parliamentary community.

Introduction

The Customer Experience and Service Delivery team delivers integrated facilities management services to ensure a comfortable, safe, and efficient environment for MPs, their staff, and staff of the House to work in; as well as providing a welcoming and functional environment for all visitors to the House of Commons.

Catering Services sits within the Customer Experience and Service Delivery team and are responsible for the efficient operation of the House of Commons catering facilities. Catering Services at the House of Commons promotes a culture that adheres to the highest ethical standards across all areas of our business. Our commitment to excellence in all we do, combined with a desire to understand, and fulfil our guests' requirements translates into our customer experience.

The Role

This is a great opportunity for a customer focused individual to join a thriving front of house events team who are responsible for greeting, assisting, and serving guests at functions and events. We are all about embracing passion, energy, and teamwork to serve memorable moments for every one of our guests.

We are looking for an enthusiastic individual to deliver an excellent guest dining experience; to provide exceptional care and give a polished and professional service, exceeding our customers' needs and expectations.

The successful candidate must be passionate about food and drink, customer service and the delivery of an effective and efficient product. They must be focused on a personalised experience throughout the entire customer journey delivering a friendly, efficient customer experience and create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for all our customers, with the key aim of retaining and attracting new customers.

Some of the responsibilities for this role include:

• Serve within teams: canapes, sit-down dinners, drinks (bars and tray service), and food and beverage stations as assigned, following standard policies and procedures.
• Setting up and/or breaking down event spaces or other special food service tables, stations, and equipment, as needed. Assisting with the preparations for the events, polishing glasses and cutlery, folding napkins, etc. Other Skills: Boxing tables, ruching, carrying three plates when serving and clearing 5+ plates.
• Interact with customers, assess customers' needs and references. Respond promptly to requests from customers in a polite and professional fashion, making recommendations and up-selling additional products with a positive suggestive sales approach when appropriate.
• Maintain an up-to-date working knowledge of the menu item, including allergen information. Demonstrate product knowledge by advising the guest/answering queries, explaining how products ae made, ingredients within a dish.
• Respond to the dynamics of the service environment, being proactive at quiet times whilst anticipating and meeting the needs of the fast-paced hospitality environment, offering help to other team members when requested.
• Check customers' IDs to ensure they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Skills and Experience

• Essential - Experience in a hospitality venue, visitor attraction or other busy customer facing environment.
• Experience of delivering an excellent standard of hospitality service within a customer facing catering role, demonstrating flexibility and the ability to respond to the ever-changing dynamics of the service environment and the needs of different groups of people.
• Evidence of the ability to engage with a variety of people and adapt style and content to meet audience needs whilst upholding the values of equality, diversity, and inclusion, demonstrating an understanding of how personal behaviour affects others.
• Experience of delivering a high standard of service in line with the objectives of a hospitality business in a diverse environment of customers and other stakeholders, demonstrating a positive suggestive sales approach.
• Ability to work successfully within a team demonstrating a flexible approach; understanding team goals and objectives; offering help to team members when requested and being proactive at quiet times.
• Desirable - Basic or intermediate Food Safety qualification. IT skills (MS Office, Windows OS, EPOS systems).

Next Steps and Additional Information

If you would like to apply for this role, please submit your anonymous CV and covering letter with a 500 word limit.

More information on the role and the full criteria can be found in the Job Description.

Please note that most job offers will be made at the minimum of the salary range, other than in exceptional circumstances.