Independent Coffee Store Manager

Company Description

We are Coffee Lab, a specialty coffee company based in Hertfordshire. Founded in 2016, serving our very own locally roasted coffee across our five specialty coffee shops, we have grown and become a popular daily destination for many people within our local communities.

We are passionate about producing top-notch coffee, whilst keeping it simple and easy for our customers to enjoy and maybe take a bag or two away with them. We are fortunate enough to have grown at the pace we have, starting with a mini roaster within our Hitchin store, to setting up a bigger roaster in our Herford store in 2018, before moving into our very own roastery in 2021 within Hertford town.

As a small company, we hear all of our employees voices and we want to grow together. Our aim is to be the best and get our names out there as the place to go for anything from a quick coffee, to lunch, to working out of the office.

Job Description

We are on the search for a highly motivated and confident leader to become the new Ware Store Manager. The role would suit someone who is detail-orientated as well as having excellent communication and relationship skills, which will cover all aspects of the role. This can be anything from people skills, customer service and working closely with suppliers.

You will oversee, with a hands-on approach, all aspects of the daily operations of our Ware store. This will include managing our talented Barista’s/Front of House team as well as driving for improvements across all areas such as customer service, your own management systems and of course, top-notch coffee.

Job Purpose:

Responsible for leading the performance of Ware Coffee Lab. The role shares operational leadership of the store alongside the Senior Management team, ensuring consistent delivery of customer experience, brand standards, sales, profitability, people capability and operational discipline. You will work closely with the Senior Management team and support each action to translate business priorities into clear action, build high-performing store teams and deliver sustainable commercial results. The role also supports operational activity remains aligned to brand standards, commercial priorities and future growth requirements.

Position responsibilities/accountabilities:

• Lead the operational delivery of Ware Coffee Lab, ensuring the store consistently meets agreed standards for customer experience, brand execution, food safety, health and safety, cleanliness and operational compliance.
• Operational leadership to improve retention, capability and performance across the store team.
• Work in partnership with Senior Management to manage the business, ensuring clear ownership and consistency.
• Show strong leadership to hire, train develop staff to a high standard with hands-on coaching and structured development.
• Setting high standards for hospitality and customer service, making sure that every visit is nothing short of exceptional.
• Set clear expectations for the team, maintain disciplined follow-up to ensure smooth execution across the assigned tasks.
• Take responsibility for P&L margins, ensuring stores hit sales, labour, and profitability targets.
• Use data-driven strategies to maximise revenue, improve efficiency, and reduce waste.
• Implement sales-driving initiatives that increase customer spend, repeat visits, and brand loyalty.
• Drive sales, transaction growth, margin improvement and profit delivery through strong commercial control, labour planning, waste management, stock discipline and store action planning following month audits.
• Maintain a strong presence, spending most of the working time on the floor and peak trading hours and days where required, to understand operational realities and support performance improvements.
• Role model the company values and Coffee Lab brand behaviours, creating a culture of accountability, pace, simplicity, hospitality and pride in store execution.
• Use operational data, customer feedback, audit results and financial performance to identify risks, prioritise interventions and track progress against agreed targets. Monitor local market conditions, competitor activity and store-level trends to identify opportunities for sales growth, service improvement and cost control.
• Manage stock control weekly as well as forecasting staff rotas, covering peak periods throughout the year (e.g. bank holidays, Christmas, Easter).

Behavioural Competencies:

These are competencies that you will be assessed on:

• Operational Leadership
• Commercial Judgement
• Customer Focus
• Leading and developing others
• Planning and organisation
• Analytical thinking
• Influencing the store team and supporting other store managers
• Integrity and accountability

Bonus Scheme

A monthly bonus incentive based on hitting your set targets. This will be on top of your salary earnings giving you the opportunity to earn more each month.

If this sounds like you and interests you, get in touch and let us know why you think you would fit in well with our team!

This full-time leadership role requires flexibility in order to work 40 hours a week across 5 days. You will need to manage/schedule your time alongside your team ensuring strong store performance, especially over busy trading days (being Friday-Sunday) making sure you are available to help and support your team when it matters most.

We’re looking for someone with a genuine passion for specialty coffee, a strong understanding of coffee quality, espresso preparation and the leadership skills to inspire and develop your team. You’ll need to be confident in overseeing day-to-day operations, maintain consistently high standards and nothing short of exceptional customer service/experience. The ideal candidate will combine hands on barista expertise with strong organisational, communication and people-management skills, helping to foster a positive team culture while driving the continued success of the business.

Pay: £30,000.00-£32,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company events
• Company pension
• Discounted or free food
• Employee discount
• Store discount

Work Location: In person