Thrive in a career in the Forest in our vibrant, bustling café where exciting progression opportunities, social working hours and an inspiring working environment with beautiful surroundings awaits!
What really makes us special? Our people. They’re the heart and soul of what we do - passionate, friendly, and totally committed to making every visit one to remember. Whether that’s through flavourful food, commendable coffee, or a warm welcome that brightens someone’s day.
We’re seeking a Kitchen Supervisor/Manager to join the Alice Holt Cafè team on a Full Time or Part Time basis (working flexibility of hours can be discussed at interview), who shares our passion for excellent food, served from a happy, efficient and high-quality kitchen.
The Role: Kitchen Supervisor/Manager
Reporting to the General Manager, you will play a key role in supporting the day-to-day operation of the kitchen, ensuring high standards of food quality, safety, cleanliness, and team performance are consistently maintained.
- Work collaboratively with the General Manager, Assistant Manager, Lead and Café Supervisors to ensure the smooth, efficient, and consistent day-to-day operation of the kitchen.
- Support the Manager in the delivery of kitchen objectives, maintaining operational standards and ensuring effective communication across the team.
- Supervise and support a small team of Kitchen Assistants and Cooks through effective deployment of labour, delegation of tasks, coaching, and hands-on involvement within the kitchen operation.
- Work proactively with the Café Management team to plan and coordinate food preparation ahead of busy service periods, ensuring the kitchen is fully prepared and operating efficiently.
- Support the monitoring and maintenance of food safety and compliance standards, ensuring a safe, clean, and legally compliant working environment at all times.
- Coordinate kitchen service during peak trading periods, ensuring effective communication between the kitchen and front-of-house teams to deliver excellent service and minimise food wait times.
- Work closely with the wider Café Management team to support stock control, stock rotation, waste management, and the ordering of ingredients and supplies.
- Contribute ideas and feedback towards the development of the café’s food offering, working alongside the Kitchen Lead, site management, and senior management to continuously improve menus, products, and customer experience.
- Demonstrate a genuine passion for food and hospitality, consistently delivering freshly prepared, high-quality dishes that meet company standards and customer expectations.
- Assist with catering requirements, events, and special functions when required, supporting preparation, service delivery, and post-event breakdown.
- Act as a positive role model within the kitchen, supporting the training, development, and onboarding of team members to help build a skilled and engaged team.
- Deputise for the Kitchen Lead in their absence, ensuring continuity of standards, communication, and kitchen operations.
About You:
- Posses an excellent attention to detail, enabling you to follow food and drink SOPs and health & safety/hygiene regulations.
- You will be positive, energetic and professional and willing to go above and beyond to ensure customers receive consistently outstanding food, drink and service.
- You will be inspired and motivated by our company values and ambitions for the café, while being a supportive team member to help to create an enjoyable place to work and visit.
What can we offer?
- Real progression opportunities - We have a focus on promoting within. You bring the passion; we bring the promotion! There are plenty of opportunities to progress and work within our other cafés across the country.
- Sociable hours - A kitchen role with a difference! We serve daytime visitors to popular destinations, so most of our cafés close in the early evening.
- Development and mentoring programme - Receive 1-2-1 support from established team members within the company. We will also provide practical and theoretical training, such as Level 2/3 Hygiene, Allergen Awareness, First Aid and more.
- Food and drink - Enjoy complementary Life Café Coffee and freshly made food while on shift. Can’t get enough of work and want to visit us on your day off? Enjoy discounted food and drink then too!
- You’re amongst friends - We always aim to foster a positive and supportive team environment, where everyone feels welcome, accepted and appreciated.
About Life Cafés:
At Life Cafés we’re on a journey to bring ‘life’ to iconic community-rich environments across the UK. With our planet-friendly approach we serve freshly-made food and drink with a unique concept that embraces the individuality and excellence of the much-loved parks and green spaces our cafés operate in.
We’re passionate about championing and celebrating the intricacies of each and every of our cafés, through tailored decor, thoughtfully engineered menus and meaningful engagement and collaboration with communities and stakeholders. All of our operations are underpinned by our core values:
- We Think About Food & Drink - Our offerings have been consciously curated to limit waste and maximise taste. Our made-to-order menus feature something to savour with no compromise on flavour.
- We Care About Community - Community is important to us, we’re deeply embedded in several communities across the UK. Our cafés are more than just places to eat; they’re spaces where families and friends connect, where memories are made and stories are shared.
- We Operate Ethically and Sustainably - Sustainability is at the heart of what, how and why we do everything we do. Our focus on making meaningful strides in our mission of practicing sustainable hospitality has solidified some key environmental-conscious commitments in our operation model.
Find out more at www.lifecafes.com
Life Cafés are an equal opportunities employer. Applications from all backgrounds are welcome and encouraged.
Pay: From £13.50 per hour
Benefits:
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
- On-site parking
- Store discount
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Farnham GU10 4LQ: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work Location: In person
