The Café Manager leads day-to-day operations in a café-style venue within a larger restaurant, club, or lounge environment, ensuring a smooth guest experience, strong team performance, and consistent commercial results. This role is responsible for balancing warm, high-touch hospitality with disciplined operational control, making sure the café delivers the venue’s standards for service, quality, speed, and atmosphere every day.
- Purpose of the role
- To oversee all café operations and create a welcoming, efficient, and profitable environment.
- To maintain high standards across service, product presentation, cleanliness, and guest satisfaction.
- To support the wider venue strategy by driving revenue, controlling costs, and building repeat business.
- Where the role sits / reporting line
- The Café Manager sits within the Lounge, Café & Specialty Venues division and typically manages the café as a distinct operational outlet within the property.
- This role usually reports to the Assistant General Manager, Venue Manager, Operations Manager, or General Manager, depending on the venue structure.
- It often works closely with chefs, bar teams, host teams, and support departments such as finance, HR, and marketing.
- Key areas of responsibility
- Lead and supervise café service, including opening/closing, daily floor control, and guest recovery.
- Recruit, train, schedule, and coach team members to deliver consistent service standards.
- Manage inventory, ordering, stock rotation, and waste control to protect margins.
- Monitor sales, labour, and product costs, and take action to improve performance.
- Ensure compliance with food safety, health and safety, licensing, and venue policies.
- Handle guest feedback, resolve complaints professionally, and protect the venue’s reputation.
- Support promotions, seasonal menu changes, events, and local trade-building activity.
- Who succeeds in this role
- A strong café leader with a hands-on, calm, and customer-focused approach.
- Someone highly organised, commercially aware, and confident managing pace and detail.
- A natural coach who builds team morale, sets clear standards, and leads by example.
- A proactive problem-solver who can adapt quickly in a dynamic hospitality environment.