Café Manager

Café Manager

Location: Brightside Park, Aust, BS35 4BL
Hours: 37.5 Hours Per Week
Salary: £37,000
Working pattern: Over 5 Days, including weekends on rotation

Help us create something extraordinary

Gympanzees is creating the UK's first fully inclusive leisure, exercise and play centre for disabled children and young people aged 0–25 and their families.

Our new 14-acre centre in South Gloucestershire will bring together accessible activity spaces, outdoor play, a café, shop and much more - all designed around the needs of the families we support.

We're looking for an experienced, hands-on Café Manager to help us bring our café to life.

This isn't simply about running a successful café. It's about creating a welcoming, accessible space where families feel understood, included and comfortable being themselves.

What you'll be doing

You'll lead the development and day-to-day operation of our café, helping establish everything from the team and operating procedures to menus, stock management and customer experience. This is a genuinely hands-on role. Alongside leading the café, you'll regularly prepare and cook food, support the team during busy service periods and help ensure everything leaving the kitchen meets our standards.

You'll be responsible for:

• Leading, developing and supporting an inclusive café team.
• Preparing, cooking and presenting a range of café meals, snacks and refreshments, working directly alongside the café team.
• Delivering excellent food safety, hygiene and allergen management.
• Managing rotas, stock, suppliers, costs and commercial performance.
• Helping develop menus, pricing and products that meet visitor needs.
• Creating a café experience that responds to disability, sensory needs and communication differences.
• Working closely with the Centre Manager to build a collaborative, joined-up team, ensuring the café operates as an integral part of the wider Gympanzees Centre.
• Undertaking scheduled Duty Manager shifts, taking responsibility for overseeing the safe and effective operation of the wider Centre, beyond the café.

You'll be a visible, hands-on leader who is just as comfortable supporting the team during a busy service as you are reviewing performance or developing new processes.

Who we're looking for

We're looking for someone who brings:

• Experience managing or supervising a café, catering or hospitality operation.
• Practical experience of preparing and cooking food in a café, catering or similar food-service environment, with the confidence to undertake these duties as part of the daily operation.
• Strong food safety and allergen management knowledge.
• Experience leading, coaching and supporting a team.
• The confidence and leadership skills to take responsibility for wider Centre operations during Duty Manager shifts, while building positive working relationships across different teams.
• Good commercial awareness, including budgets, stock control and costs.
• A practical, organised approach and excellent customer service skills.
• A genuine commitment to accessibility, inclusion and the Gympanzees mission.

A Level 3 Food Safety in Catering qualification, or willingness to obtain one within an agreed period, would be advantageous.

Experience working in an inclusive environment or helping launch a new hospitality operation would also be welcome but isn't essential.

What you'll get

• Generous annual leave and wellbeing allowance: 33 days' paid leave (full-time equivalent), comprising 22 days' annual leave, 8 bank holidays and 3 flexible wellbeing and caring days. These flexible days can be used for emergency caring responsibilities, essential health and wellbeing needs, or simply added to your annual leave
• Your birthday off: An additional paid day off to celebrate your birthday, because that day is all about you!
• Healthcare cash plan: Helping you with the cost of everyday healthcare
• Employee Assistance Programme: Confidential support for your mental health, wellbeing and everyday challenges
• Training and development: Opportunities to build your skills, develop professionally and grow with Gympanzees
• Sick pay and company pension: Supporting your financial wellbeing and security
• Gympanzees family benefit: Access to a preferential staff rate for your family at our permanent Centre

We want Gympanzees to be for everyone

We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly Disabled people, people from ethnic minority backgrounds and LGBTQ+ people.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee an interview to applicants who meet the essential criteria in line with our scheme commitments.

If you need a reasonable adjustment or another way to access or complete the application process, please contact Helen Burclaff (HR Manager) [email protected]

The successful applicant will be required to complete the appropriate safer recruitment and pre-employment checks for the role.

Pay: £37,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Employee assistance programme
• Employee discount
• On-site parking
• Sick pay

Application question(s):

• This role is based at Gympanzees, Brightside Park, Aust, South Gloucestershire, BS35 4BL. Are you able to reliably travel to this location for work?

Work authorisation:

• United Kingdom (required)

Work Location: In person