Barista
Ajé Cafe and Studio, Ilkley
Full Time | Start date: Approximately 21st September 2026
Ajé is a new independent restaurant, café and wellness space opening in Ilkley, and we’re looking for an experienced Barista to become part of the team from the beginning.
Coffee will be a major part of what we do at Ajé, not something added onto the side of the restaurant.
We’re looking for someone who genuinely cares about making great coffee, enjoys being busy and understands that being a good barista is as much about hospitality, consistency and organisation as it is about what ends up in the cup.
You’ll be working with quality speciality coffee and professional equipment, but this will also be a very hands-on hospitality role. You’ll be expected to know the coffee bar inside out while still being part of the wider floor team, welcoming guests, running drinks, clearing tables, making cocktails, pouring drinks and helping wherever the service needs you.
Ajé is made up of several different elements, and everyone joining us needs to understand the wider business they are becoming part of.
Ajé by Day is our main daytime restaurant and café, open seven days a week. It combines a proper food offer with speciality coffee, fresh juices, smoothies and a relaxed but precise style of hospitality.
This is where the Barista role will predominantly sit.
Coffee will move from early morning regulars and people arriving before or after yoga, through breakfast and lunch service and into the afternoon. We want the same attention to detail whether you are making the first flat white of the morning or working through a full restaurant during a busy Saturday/Sunday lunch.
Ajé by Night runs on Friday and Saturday evenings and changes the pace of the space. It becomes a more intimate, reservations-led restaurant with a chef-led menu, carefully selected wines and a technically ambitious cocktail programme.
While the Barista role is primarily daytime based, you are joining one hospitality team rather than a completely separate café operation. There may be opportunities to work across evening service, and we want people who are interested in learning more about food, wine, cocktails and the wider restaurant, understand how hospitality needs to be fluid and dynamic, and are amenable to working evenings if required.
Ajé Cellar is our more informal wine and drinks offer, centred around interesting bottles, sherry, cocktails, charcuterie, cheese and small plates.
You won’t be expected to arrive as a wine or cocktail expert, but curiosity matters. We want the people working here to understand what Ajé does as a whole and to become increasingly knowledgeable about what we serve.
Alongside the hospitality business sits the Ajé yoga and wellness studio, with regular yoga classes, memberships, private sessions and workshops.
The studio and café share the same building and many of the same guests. At different points in the day you might be making coffee for someone heading into a class, welcoming someone staying for breakfast or serving a regular who simply comes in because they know they’ll get a very good coffee.
We want that entire experience to feel connected.
The role
Your main responsibility will be producing consistently excellent coffee and helping us build a coffee programme that becomes known in its own right.
You’ll work closely with the management team to maintain recipes, extraction, milk texture, presentation and speed throughout service.
You’ll help with opening and closing the coffee station, daily dial-in, cleaning and maintenance, stock rotation and making sure the bar is organised and properly prepared before service begins.
When the coffee bar is quieter, you’ll be part of the restaurant floor rather than standing behind it waiting for the next order.
We want someone who naturally sees what needs doing and gets involved.
We’re looking for someone who alongside exceptional customer service skills:
- Has previous barista experience, ideally within speciality coffee or a quality independent café.
- Understands espresso extraction and knows how to dial in a grinder.
- Has strong milk steaming and texturing skills.
- Can produce consistently good coffee during a busy service.
- Is interested in coffee and wants to continue developing their knowledge.
- Understands that speed matters, but never at the expense of quality.
- Is clean, organised and takes pride in maintaining their workstation and equipment.
- Is warm, confident and enjoys talking to guests.
- Is comfortable working as part of a wider restaurant floor team.
- Is reliable, punctual and calm when things get busy.
- Notices what needs doing rather than waiting to be asked.
- Has high standards without unnecessary ego.
- Wants to learn, teach and improve as part of a small independent team.
Latte art is useful, but we care much more about properly extracted espresso, good milk texture, consistency and how you look after the person drinking it.
You do not need to arrive knowing everything.
We will provide continual training and development in speciality coffee, alongside opportunities to learn more about food, wine, cocktails and service.
We’re interested in people who already have good foundations but still want to get better.
What we offer
- A key Barista position in a new independent business.
- The opportunity to help establish Ajé’s coffee standards from opening.
- Continual professional training and development.
- Meal while on shift.
- Shared tips throughout the team, distributed according to hours worked.
- Staff discount across Ajé.
- Free yoga classes or discounted studio membership.
- Workplace pension.
- Statutory holiday entitlement.
We’re building a small, ambitious team of people who care about hospitality, enjoy what they do and take pride in the details.
If you take coffee seriously but don’t take yourself too seriously, enjoy looking after people and want to be part of building something new from the beginning, we’d like to hear from you.
Please apply with your CV and a short introduction/cover letter telling us a little about yourself, your coffee experience and why Ajé interests you.
Pay: £27,000.00-£30,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
