Café Manager

Job Title: Café Manager

Reports To: General Manager / Owner

Position Type: Full-Time

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced and hospitality-driven Café Manager to lead our daily front-of-house (FOH) and back-of-house (BOH) operations. You will be responsible for creating a seamless guest experience, optimizing café profitability, ensuring top-tier food safety, and cultivating a high-performing team. The ideal candidate has strong retail food service experience, is a proactive problem solver, and thrives in balancing culinary standards with excellent customer service.

Key Responsibilities

• Full-Spectrum Operations: Oversee both the beverage program and the kitchen/food preparation area. Ensure consistency in food presentation, portion control, and drink quality.
• Staff Leadership & Scheduling: Hire, onboard, train, and manage a diverse team including baristas, cashiers, kitchen staff, and dishwashers. Build fair, optimized weekly labor schedules.
• Financial Management & Growth: Manage the store's budget, analyze sales trends, and monitor prime costs (Labor % + Cost of Goods Sold). Implement local marketing initiatives to drive foot traffic.
• Inventory Control & Ordering: Manage inventory for all fresh ingredients, dry goods, coffee supplies, and retail items. Maintain relationships with food distributors and local vendors to secure best pricing.
• Health, Safety & Compliance: Ensure strict adherence to federal, state, and local food handling, sanitation, and safety regulations. Maintain an organized, audit-ready kitchen and dining room.
• Event & Catering Coordination: (If applicable) Oversee planning, staffing, and execution for private events or large-scale catering orders.

Skills & Qualifications

• Experience: 3+ years of management experience in a restaurant, café, or fast-casual food service concept.
• Culinary & Beverage Knowledge: Solid understanding of food safety, kitchen line flow, inventory rotation (FIFO - First In, First Out), and specialty beverage programs.
• Financial Literacy: Comfort reading profit and loss statements, calculating food cost percentages, and adjusting labor on the fly to meet targets.
• Interpersonal Skills: Exceptional communication skills with the ability to defuse customer complaints smoothly and keep team morale high under pressure.
• Systems Familiarity: Experience using restaurant-specific technology including advanced POS systems, kitchen display systems (KDS), and inventory management software.
• Certification: Active ServSafe Manager Certification (or equivalent) required.