REfUSE
REfUSE is an award-winning social enterprise based in Chester le Street, working towards a healthier, more sustainable food system. We intercept around 8 tonnes of food per month that would otherwise go to waste and turn it into healthy, accessible meals, served on a “Pay as You Feel” basis at our volunteer-run community cafe. With a community of over 150 volunteers, we run regular restaurant nights, sell Waste Not Box food hampers, run a weekly “Kitchen Confidence” programme and deliver internal and external education and engagement projects. Our vision is to reveal the true value of things, places and people that are unjustly wasted or overlooked. We are raising awareness, inspiring, and empowering people towards community-led transformation of our food system in the North-East.
Role Description: Part-time CAFE CO-ORDINATOR (21 HOURS)
We are recruiting a part time Cafe Coordinator (21 hours) who will take on managing the cafe for three full days. (The cafe is open to the public from 9.30 am to 3.00 pm Tuesday to Saturday serving breakfast, lunch, cakes and drinks, and standard working hours will be from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm plus a half hour for lunch. The successful candidate will divide up the shifts with the existing part time Cafe Coordinator who works 14 hours per week. Both staff will be required to work some Saturdays).
You will open up the cafe, oversee the day’s preparation and service, and then oversee the clean-down and debrief at the end of each day. You will oversee service of food and drink within the cafe to customers and have overall responsibility for food safety and hygiene that day, including correctly logging all allergen and managing stock.
Your responsibilities will include leading and supervising a group of volunteers with varied experience levels and delegating tasks in the busy cafe. The cafe is run by volunteers from all backgrounds, and serves a very diverse audience so this role requires a high level of patience, empathy and the ability to communicate well. Together with the Volunteer Champion you’ll have responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of our volunteers and the cafe space, and will receive training in safeguarding. You will contribute to the personal development of volunteers and support skills-learning during the busy cafe day. You will be the first port of call should any problems arise with either customers or volunteers, so you will need to be able to think quickly and solve problems under pressure.
You will be part of the Operations Team comprising another Cafe Co-ordinator, our Volunteer Champion, Chef and Food Champion, Food and Logistics Coordinator, and Volunteer Inclusion Lead. The team oversees the smooth functioning of the building and its operations including ensuring the relevant staff and volunteers have received the appropriate training and have the skills to carry out their tasks and meet any hygiene or safety regulations.
As part of the wider REfUSE team you will need to attend team meetings, work in partnership with other staff members where necessary, and support the wider REfUSE community and act in line with the vision, the values, policies and procedures of REfUSE CIC.
Main duties
You would:
- Be a Key Holder for the building, supervise volunteer safety and fire safety
- Manage the running of the day’s activities from preparation of the cafe and volunteer briefing, to clean-down and safe cooling and storage of food.
- Delegate tasks to Front of House and supporting Kitchen volunteers when needed, taking into account their experience, communication skills and any physical or mental health conditions.
- Support your cafe team to ensure that volunteering at REfUSE is a positive experience.
- Oversee service of food and drink within the cafe to customers, working with volunteers in the kitchen and front of house.
- Oversee the ordering, payment and cash handling processes in the cafe.
- Ensure that our safeguarding, health and wellbeing policies are being adhered to.
- Take responsibility for food safety and hygiene compliance of the cafe on the days you’re managing, including ensuring extensive record keeping on heating, cooling, labelling and food storage.
- Ensure that the cafe is clean, clear and feels like a safe space, this includes holding joint responsibility for our environmental health inspections.
- Make hot drinks including speciality coffees to an exceptional standard (training can be given).
- Maintain stock to ensure smooth running of cafe, toilets and kitchen.
- Report any concerns to the Operations Team.
- Explore and implement ways to increase customer footfall in the cafe and make sure we have a positive customer experience.
- Work with Communications and Engagement (Susie) to create effective communications to customers and amongst cafe volunteers
- Manage staff rota and assign Bank Managers
- Line manage the cafe cleaner
- Marketing the cafe through regular social media postings
- Work towards shared targets with other team members around footfall and quality of service.
Person Specification
Essential: You must…
- have experience in cafes, catering and/or food service
- be a positive person, adaptive and resilient in a fast-paced cafe environment
- be non-judgmental, inclusive and comfortable working with staff and volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds
- have good communication skills in both written and verbal formats
- have some IT skills including spreadsheets and use of social media
- care about grass-roots environmental and social change, have a good understanding of sustainability and ethical choices around food
Desirable: It would be great if you…
- have experience of managing budgets and financial planning
- enjoy cooking and being creative with food
- have barista experience
- have food and hygiene training
- have first aid qualifications
Key Information
- Part-time role: 21 hours per week
- Annual Leave entitlement: 28 days pro rata (including bank holidays, with additional days based on service)
- Employment term: Permanent (with an initial probationary period of three months)
- Salary: £27, 246 pro rata plus 3% employer’s pension contribution
- Key Dates:
- Deadline for all applications - Wednesday 22rd July, 10am.
- Interviews - Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th July
- Start date: to be discussed at interview. Position available from 4th August.
Application Process
If you are interested in applying, please send an email to with an email subject of ‘Your Name - Cafe Coordinator’ with the attached documents.
- Covering Letter (1 A4 page maximum) covering:
- your experience of the main duties and how you meet the person specification above
- contact details for 2 referees
- any adjustment you may need so we can support you in coming to interview
- whether you are available on 28th or 29th July.
- An up-to-date CV (2 A4 pages maximum)
- Any applications received after this time or without the required two documents will not be considered.
- We will endeavour to contact all applicants promptly to inform them of the status of their application.
- For the successful candidate, we will contact their two referees before making a provisional job offer.
- We will then carry out pre-employment checks (including a Medical Health Questionnaire and a Disclosure Barring Service Standard Certificate/DBS Check). We will review this information on a case by case basis to ensure that, with any reasonable adjustments, you can meet the requirements of the role.
- If you require any further information, please contact [email protected].
Pay: Up to £27,246.00 per year
Work Location: In person
