Find your place in the field of good food

Our goal is to connect good people with good food. We advertise sustainable food jobs and training opportunities to help jobseekers and employers find each other.

Roots to Work is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.

Job description

Join us in the fight against food waste and hunger

As a motivated team player at our Guildford-based food charity, you’ll play a crucial role in ensuring the success of our buzzing new warehouse. Your passion for environmental sustainability and commitment to the community will be instrumental in helping us distribute good food to great projects across Surrey.

Key Responsibilities:

• Oversee Warehouse Operations: Oversee the busy daily warehouse, from managing stock levels and coordinating deliveries to keeping information up to date and organised.
• Lead and Support Volunteers: Inspire and guide a team of volunteers in a positive and inclusive workplace.
• Ensure Safety and Compliance: Maintain a safe and secure working environment, adhering to all relevant health and safety standards.
• Provide Excellent Customer Service: Build strong relationships with our food members and deliver high-quality customer care.

What you’ll get:

• Purpose-driven work: Contribute to a meaningful cause that benefits your community.
• Professional development: Opportunities to learn and grow in a supportive environment.
• Team-oriented culture: Be part of a vibrant, fun-loving, and committed team.

If you’re keen to make a difference and join our growing team, we’d love to hear from you.

• Job title: Warehouse Assistant
• Reporting to: Warehouse Manager 
• Location: Guildford
• Type of contract: Permanent 
• Hours: Full-time (37.5 hours per week)
• Salary: £23,394 Band 21

About FareShare Sussex & Surrey 

We rescue surplus food from businesses, supermarkets and farms. This food is nutritious, in-date, and safe and includes a high proportion of fresh vegetables and fruit. If we did not rescue this food, it would be at risk of going to waste. Instead, we deliver it to charities, community kitchens, community pantries and fridges, food banks, schools and other organisations serving vulnerable people. Our food is a vital lifeline for children and families, people on low incomes, people who have lost their jobs, the homeless, refugees, domestic abuse survivors, the elderly and key workers.

We operate out of two sites; Guildford (Surrey) and Brighton (Sussex) as part of 35 Regional Centres, working as a network across the country with FareShare, a national charity. The Guildford warehouse is new and will enable us to receive, store and deliver more fresh, frozen, chilled and ambient food across the region.

Last year we delivered enough food for 2.4 million meals to help vulnerable people in our community. We receive and deliver around 80 tonnes of food every month, currently to 150 organisations including homeless shelters, community pantries, food banks, clubs, children’s centres and lunch clubs across the 3 counties. FareShare Sussex & Surrey (FSSS) also works to improve the lives of vulnerable volunteers through our successful employability scheme.

City Gate Community Projects (registered charity 1093245) is the employer, delivery partner and franchise holder for FSSS.

Main purpose of this role 

This is a fantastic opportunity to help set up the new Guildford warehouse and play a vital role as a member of the warehouse team. The role will include assisting with deliveries in and out of the warehouse as well as supervising and supporting a team of volunteers from a range of backgrounds. 

Ensuring the highest levels of customer service and satisfaction is vital to our success. This role offers you a great opportunity to help support our expansion and help us increase our impact. Your work will make sure that quality surplus food is helping feed people in need.

We need someone who is willing to work flexible hours between 8am and 7pm Monday to Friday. Some weekend work may be required on occasion. 

Duties and responsibilities  

• Assist with the smooth running of the day-to-day Guildford warehouse operation, with due regard to health and safety and food hygiene.
• Assist with stock control, managing deliveries in and out, and effective record keeping. This may include driving the delivery van to our community partners.
• Supervising volunteers working in the warehouse to support the delivery of the FareShare Sussex & Surrey service.  
• Carry out a range of administrative tasks using our online warehousing system. This may include inputting stock and creating food orders.
• Ensure compliance with relevant Food Hygiene, Health & Safety and other standards applicable to FareShare premises, vehicles, refrigeration equipment, our staff and volunteers.
• Ensure the security of the Guildford-based Regional Centre and all assets located within it, including food, is maintained at all times.
• Develop and uphold high-quality customer care and standards of conduct when dealing with all stakeholders and the general public. This includes taking phone calls from the charities and community groups we deliver to.

Person specification

As an employer committed to Equal Opportunities, we will assess applications in line with these criteria that we consider either as being essential or desirable for this post. 

Please provide a cover letter to explain how your experience relates to the points in the Person Specification - if this is not covered in your CV.

Essential criteria 

• IT literacy including word processing 
• Database use for stock management
• Full clean driving licence
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with people with diverse needs
• To be in good physical health with the ability to carry out regular manual handling tasks subject to training and health and safety restrictions
• Good numerical skills and attention to detail
• Able to use own initiative and work proactively and independently
• Good administrative and organisational ability
• Able to demonstrate a commitment to equal opportunities, inclusivity and diversity
• Willingness to work flexibly including evenings
• To subscribe to the ethos, vision and mission of the organisation 
• Able to embrace a good team working culture
• Willing and available to work outside normal working hours occasionally if required
• Proof of the Right to work in the UK

Desirable criteria 

• Working in logistics or a warehouse environment
• Working with people with diverse needs
• Counterbalance forklift licence
• An understanding of Food Safety and Health & Safety legislation

Benefits

• Ethical pension scheme
• Access to learning and development opportunities
• Access to TelUs One staff support scheme
• 33 days Annual Leave including all public bank holidays (Pro-rata for part-time employees)
• Staff-led well-being programme/team 
• Bike to work scheme

Safeguarding statement 

FareShare Sussex & Surrey is committed to safeguarding and protecting the adults that we work with. As such, all posts are subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We ensure that we have policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and a safe working environment.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We want to be open to everyone. A diverse voice is a more powerful voice. Diversity in our people brings new viewpoints and this drives debate and creativity, which is key to success and an ability to engage new audiences. As such, we encourage applications from people who belong to groups which are often marginalised in society. We strive to engage an ability-based workforce which reflects the diverse nature of our local communities. We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and it's important to us that this is reflected in the diversity of the people who work for us. We particularly welcome applications from black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities because we would like to increase the representation of these groups in the team. Please call or email if you’d like to chat about the FareShare Sussex & Surrey community in more detail.

Application information

Please send a CV and Cover Letter to explain how your experience relates to the points in the Person Specification - if this is not covered in your CV. Please also submit the equal opportunities forms to: recruitment@faresharesussexandsurrey.org.uk. The deadline for application is 9am Thursday 26th September.

Interviews will be held online or in person in Guildford on a rolling basis as we receive applications. The role may therefore be filled ahead of the deadline. For an informal chat about the role, please contact Anand Darshan on 01273056869.

The application pack can be accessed via https://faresharesussexandsurrey.org.uk/news

Further information about FareShare Sussex & Surrey can be found online at www.faresharesussexandsurrey.org.uk

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs