Cafe Manager

Cafe Manager Salary: 28,000 to 30,000 per annum Contract: Permanent Hours: Full-time, Tuesday-Saturday 9am-5pm (negotiable) Location: Pembroke Street, Oxford OX1 1BP About Us Modern Art Oxford is one of the UKs leading contemporary art spaces with an international reputation for innovation and ambition. The gallery presents a programme of changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art each year, coupled with an extensive programme of education, events and performance projects involving several thousand people of all ages and backgrounds. About You and The Role Our caf is an important part of the gallery, and our Caf Manager is responsible for providing a welcoming, friendly environment, serving a high quality menu with excellent customer service. This is an operational and hands-on role where the large majority of time is spent planning and preparing the caf food and drinks and interacting with the general public. The Caf Manager is also responsible for the supervision and the rota management of our caf staff, and will collaborate closely with our Head of Commercial to maximise profits and further develop the Caf in line with the Gallerys aims and objectives. Main Duties Customer Service Provide and promote excellent customer service to a wide variety of customers. Resolve and record complaints in a calm professional manner. Train new staff, recommending and arranging staff training as required. Ensure that all Caf staff are briefed weekly about events. Food & Drink Plan and update menus. Create high quality seasonal dishes in design and taste Ensure that food and drink is prepared and presented in accordance with the standards, recipes and procedures agreed upon with the Head of Commercial. Ensure that Caf displays are attractive, and communicate any menu changes to the Communications Department . Take pride in maintaining our hygiene rating. Work with the Head of Commercial on menu development. Ensure that all alcohol is sold according to the Licensing Act 2003. Develop good relationships with existing suppliers and explore new options with the Head of Commercial. Maintain stock levels, place orders and regularly evaluate pricing and procurement options. Enthusiasm to develop and engage with wider management to grow the business. Event management Assist in the organisation of in-house events, including hire events and supervising staffing and attending the event. Ensure best practice during event delivery and co-ordination of staff so that they are fully briefed and professional when representing the gallery. Health & Safety and Daily Operations Carry out daily opening and closing checks, ensuring our Safer Food Better Business Diary is completed daily. Adhere to Hygiene Policies and ensure the kitchen meets all regulations Allergens, Manual Handling, CoSHH, HACCP, Fire, Knife handling Ensure high levels of hygiene are maintained in the kitchen and caf areas according to procedures set out in the Safer Food Better Business Manual. Regularly review food hygiene procedures. Ensure that all health and safety requirements are met in the kitchen and caf area and carry out risk assessments for all activities. Manage maintenance of all equipment in the kitchen and oversee and carry out cleaning schedules. Act as main contact for scheduled and unscheduled visits by Local Authority officers concerning food hygiene and standards. Complete all other training assigned by the Gallery. Work with the Head of Commercial to ensure all waste and procurement activities of the cafe comply with the Environmental objectives in accordance with the Gallerys Environmental and Sustainability Strategy and Targets. Staff Carry out induction training for all new caf staff. Work with the Head of Commercial to create Sequence of Service documents and schedules for all areas of the cafe operations and carry out the training of staff to follow these procedures. Ensure all Caf Staff are regularly trained on coffee making, food hygiene and that training is recorded in Safer Food Better Business Diary. Assist the Head of Commercial with the recruitment of new caf staff. Manage all caf staff, including drawing up rotas, arrange cover for staff who are ill/absent. Monitor and manage any issues with Cafe Staff and escalate them to the Head of Commercial when necessary, always following the Gallery Policies. Attend regular gallery staff meetings. Commercial Activities To meet income targets set by the Head of Commercial and discuss ideas to increase revenue. Ensure strict control on stock to minimise wastage and maintain budgeted margins. Process all orders and authorise invoices for approval. This includes signing off deliveries, matching all incoming invoices and credit notes to orders, authorising invoices and passing invoices to the finance department for payment. It also includes resolving errors and queries with suppliers. Assist the Head of Commercial with planning and implementing change in the Caf regularly. Other duties as required. Person Specification Essential Skills & Experience Team Leadership in a caf or restaurant environment. A passion for preparing good quality fresh food with the drive to create new recipes and experiment with new ideas that respond to the Gallerys programme. Menu development experience, with the ability to change and adapt depending on visitors feedback. Excellent eye for detail and food presentation, a passion for artful food creation. A flexible, innovative and proactive approach to sales strategies and solutions. Experience of working in a similar caf environment including exposure to the duties outlined above (specifically food preparation, cooking, stock ordering and management, cash handling and till usage). Level 2 or over NVQ Qualification or equivalent. Qualifications in Level 2 Hygiene, Food Allergens Awareness and Working in Licensed Premises. Willingness to train to Level 3. Barista experience, making a range of coffees and hot drinks. Understanding of Allergens and dietary requirements. Experience of negotiating prices with new suppliers. A high regard for customer service and satisfaction. Self-motivated and able to work on own initiative and without supervision. Staff management experience. You need to be enthusiastic, approachable and above all an absolute team player. Desirable Skills &Experience Rota management experience. Flexibility to work some weekends & evenings. An interest in contemporary art. Benefits An auto-enrolment pension scheme is in place with Legal & General. Under pension auto enrolment legislation, the employee will pay 5% (before tax relief) and the employer will pay 3% of qualifying earnings to the Legal and General plan. A salary sacrifice scheme is available after 3 months employment. Employees are entitled to a staff discount in the Modern Art Oxford Shop and Caf. There is an Employee Assistance Programme through Gemelli, and a series of discounts and salary sacrifice schemes through BHN Extras. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with interviews planned accordingly Interested? If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position. Modern Art Oxford is committed to creating equality of opportunity for all and we value diversity in our team. As part of our Anti-racism Action Plan, we welcome applications from people from the Global Majority who are under-represented in the workforce in our sector. No agencies please. 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Created: 2026-02-19