The Queen wants a footman, sous chef and decorator!

The Queen employs more than 400 members of Household staff to run Buckingham Palace and is looking to add a few more to the payroll. Her Majesty is advertising to hire a trainee butler (footman), a sous chef and a painter and decorator to work at Buckingham Palace.

© Chloe Howard 2013

The new additions to the Palace’s staff will be paid £15,781 per year as a footman, £28,000 for a sous chef, and £25,000 p/a for the painter and decorator.  Both the footman and chef roles have a staff bedroom in one of the Palace’s 148 staff rooms, and meals are also provided.

Duties for a trainee butler include polishing of the silverware, coordinating the arrival of luggage from guests and members of The Royal Family, as well as welcoming guests, of which Buckingham Palace has many. Training will be provided, and the successful applicant will get to travel and spend time at other Royal residences like Balmoral and Holyrood.

The Palace website describes the job:

‘This exciting role, encompassing the best of the hospitality industry, will see you and your team travelling around the UK to public and private residencies.

‘You will be responsible for the front-of-house service received by guests for a number of different occasions. From valeting to carriage duties, you will be the welcoming face to these unique environments.

Though the wage of this position is fairly low, the successful applicant does get free accommodation, and those trained within the Royal Household are in demand in the private sector. They can earn up to £100,000 a year.

A sous chef is part of the large kitchen team which caters for staff, guests and of course the Royal Family. The successful candidate will have ideally worked in fine dining and volume catering in the past, due to the regularity of large banquets at the Palace. There will also be chance to work in a supervisory role and run the kitchen.

The job description for is as follows:

‘You will be part of a team responsible for delivering daily catering for up to 500 staff, as well as canapé receptions for hundreds of guests, State banquets and the preparation of small private lunches.’

‘Working alongside a team of professional chefs, you will be confident overseeing the kitchen on a daily basis. From ordering stock and menu design to serving a finished plate, you will be involved in all aspects of the catering operations.’

The description also notes that the chef will spend 3 months of the year away from London, at other Royal residences; The Queen spends summer at Balmoral, Scotland, and the Christmas period until early February at Sandringham, Norfolk. They also get to use fresh ingredients from Her Majesty’s estates.

The painter and decorator at Buckingham Palace will need to deliver ‘an efficient redecoration service’ and will need a passion for historic buildings, and be able to work in a team. Knowledge of MS Word, Excel and Outlook are also necessary.

The website explains the role:

‘Covering many buildings across the London Royal Estates, your daily workload will vary from minor repair work, to carrying out complete room redecorations.’

‘In a truly unique environment you will have the opportunity to expand upon your existing skills as a Painter and Decorator, regularly handling specialist wall coverings, sign-writing and using specialist paint finishes, such as marbling and gilding.’

At 40 hours a week, a successful candidate will be kept busy, but will get to spend time in some of the most famous buildings in the country, and see aspects of them not open to the public. Lunch is also provided on a daily basis.

Deadlines are the 4th May for trainee butler, 7th May for the painter and decorator role, and 17th May to apply to be a sous chef. More details about applying can be found here.

Featured image: © Chloe Howard 2013

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1 comment

luke bluck Thu 30 April, 2015 - 12:05 am

I would love this job as a footman I can stand as long as I can without moving and I can stay up for hours and hours without sleep.

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