Job Description:
About the Role
We're looking for a Specialty Coffee Shop Manager to lead our Northgate Street café - and we mean lead. This is the person who runs the site, holds the standard, and makes Northgate feel like the best café in Chester to walk into, shift after shift.
This role is for someone with I-want-to-run-my-own-coffee-shop energy. Someone who's quietly always wanted their own place - and would relish being handed a strong independent brand to run as if it were theirs, with the backing, the training, and the team to do it properly.
Northgate is yours to run. You'll take full ownership of the site, with our current café lead alongside you at the start to hand over, mentor, and get you up to speed before moving into a wider role - so you step in with real support, and then it's yours.
If you love coffee, love people, and light up at the idea of building and leading a brilliant team - we'd love to hear from you.
The Shape of the Role
You are the heartbeat of Northgate. You set the tone on the floor, you drive the standard on the bar, and you bring the team with you.
This is a hands-on, lead-from-the-floor role - a working manager of a tight, close-knit team, not a desk-and-clipboard one. Monday to Friday, Northgate runs as a front-of-house lead doing it all - barista, till, floor - alongside a chef, with an extra front-of-house pair of hands at weekends. You'll be in the thick of it: doing every job on the floor brilliantly and running the site around it.
We see hospitality as a craft, not a checklist - and leadership the same way.
What You'll Be Doing
Leading the Floor
- Running shifts with calm, presence, and pace - hands-on across bar, till, and floor
- Opening and closing the café, keyholding, and taking full ownership of the site day to day
- Leading and motivating the team - setting the standard and lifting everyone to it
- Training, coaching, and developing the team (we'll train you to train them)
- Looking after compliance, cleanliness, and health & safety as second nature
Running the Site
- Owning the rota and managing labour so the site runs efficiently and within its hours
- Taking charge of stock, ordering, and waste - keeping things tight, organised, and well-controlled
- Driving the site's standards and results, and taking pride in how Northgate performs
- Thinking ahead - planning the days and weeks so the team is always set up to win
Coffee & Craft
- Delivering and protecting our coffee standard - espresso, filter, consistency, the lot
- Dialling in and keeping quality high across every shift
- Caring for the equipment and the bar like it's your own
- Sharing your passion for specialty coffee with the team and with guests
What We're Looking For
At the core, we're looking for three things: a real passion for coffee, a real love of people, and a genuine feel for hospitality. Get those right and we can build everything else with you.
Essential
- A genuine, deep passion for coffee and café culture
- Natural leadership - you bring people with you, and you want to run your own room
- Warm, emotionally intelligent, and brilliant with guests and team alike
- Calm and assured under pressure when the café is full and flying
- Happy to do every job on the floor - barista, till, service - and lead by example
- Organised, detail-driven, and proud of doing things properly
- Reliable, honest, and trustworthy - the team and the standard depend on you
- Able to be on your feet and leading from the front across long shifts (up to 9 hours)
- Forward-thinking - you plan ahead and set the team up for the days to come
Evidence of Passion (what we love to see)
You don't need to be an influencer - but we love people who actively live and breathe coffee and hospitality. That could look like:
- Visiting specialty cafés and roasters; brewing and experimenting at home
- Following producers, roasters, and the wider coffee world
- A track record of getting the best out of people you've worked with
- The ability to explain why a café feels great - and how you'd recreate it
Desirable (but not essential)
- Previous supervisory, key-holder, or team-lead experience
- Specialty barista experience and confidence dialling in
- Food Safety Level 2 (or willingness to obtain)
- Experience training or developing others
If you've got the passion and the leadership instinct but you're still building the coffee side - apply anyway. We train heavily, and we'd rather find the right person and teach the craft.
Who This Role Suits
- A café professional ready to step up and run their own site
- A strong supervisor or senior barista hungry for real ownership
- Someone who's always wanted their own coffee shop - and wants the platform to prove it
- A people-person who loves building teams and raising standards
Training & Development
Coffee education, leadership development, floor-management skills, sensory and quality training - we invest in our people, and this role gets the full support of it. The ceiling here is high, and there's real room to grow across the business.
Professional Standards
We care about how we show up:
- Reliability and punctuality matter - the team takes its lead from you
- Cleanliness and organisation are non-negotiable
- Quality is never compromised - full stop
- Calm communication, respect, and teamwork make the difference
Location
Chester City Centre – Northgate Street, Chester. Part of Chester's original and leading specialty coffee brand, with a focus on quality, sustainability, and people - and a predominantly plant-based menu we're proud of.
Pay & Hours
- Full-time: 45 hours per week
- £13.50 per hour (approx. £31,590 per year)
- Café shifts spanning open to close (typically 08:00am - 17:00pm)
- Weekend availability required - our busiest, best days
- A physically active, hands-on, front-of-house leadership role
Benefits
- Free staff food and coffee whilst in service
- Lots of training and development
- Real ownership of your site and your team
- A supportive, quality-driven, values-led team environment
How to Apply
We'd genuinely love to hear from people who are excited to lead, and who care deeply about coffee, people, and hospitality.
To apply, please email us directly at [email protected] with the subject line:
Subject: Specialty Coffee Shop Manager Application – [Your Name]
and include:
- Your CV
- A short note telling us why you're applying - and what draws you to coffee, hospitality, and leading a team
- Answers to the following two questions:
- Tell us about a time you experienced genuine hospitality - somewhere you were truly looked after. What happened, and what made it stick?
- What's the best coffee experience you've ever had? Take us there - the place, the cup, the feeling, why it mattered.
Bonus (optional, but encouraged):
- Pop in and introduce yourself if you're nearby
- Follow us on Instagram and tell us what you enjoy about our work
We've found that the people who take a little initiative - sending a thoughtful email or saying hello - often make the strongest teammates. It helps us understand who you are beyond a CV.
We're proud of our coffee, our standards, and our culture. If you're ready to lead, learn, and build something brilliant with a supportive team, we'd love to meet you.
Pay: From £13.50 per hour
Benefits:
- Company events
- Discounted or free food
- Employee discount
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Chester CH1 2HT: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Experience:
- Hospitality: 1 year (required)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
