Hospitality Manager for Playcentre & Cafe

Just Kids Playcentre and Cafe; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Just Kids Playcentre and Cafe in Melbourne is seeking an experienced Hospitality Manager to take the lead on day-to-day operations of our busy playcentre and café in Tullamarine. You will be on the floor, guiding the team, interacting with customers, and overseeing café and kitchen activities to keep the venue running smoothly.

We offer a daytime venue with no late nights and flexibility for full-time or school-hours-friendly part-time arrangements for an exceptional candidate.

Qualifications

• Experienced hospitality management.
• On-floor leadership with team management.
• Willingness to oversee cafe and kitchen operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations on the floor.
• Interact with customers and oversee café and kitchen activities.
• Keep venue organized and maintain high standards of service.
• Lead larger casual teams during busy periods and weekends.
• Make decisions and solve problems with initiative.
• Open and close the centre and manage weekday/weekend operations.

Job description

Hospitality Manager for Playcentre & Cafe

Just Kids Playcentre and Cafe - Tullamarine VIC

Just Kids Playcentre & Café is looking for an experienced, energetic and highly organised Hospitality Manager to take the lead on the day-to-day operations of our busy playcentre and café in Tullamarine.

We are an independently owned family business with big plans for the future. We've worked incredibly hard to build Just Kids into a playcentre families genuinely love visiting, with a strong focus on cleanliness, customer experience, great parties and creating a welcoming environment for families.

This is a hands-on management role. You'll be on the floor leading the team, interacting with customers, working in the café and kitchen, keeping the venue organised and ensuring Just Kids consistently operates to a high standard.

Our weekdays and weekends can look very different. During quieter periods, you'll need to be comfortable working independently and managing the venue with confidence. On busy weekends and school holidays, you'll lead a larger casual team, oversee multiple areas of the business and make sure everything runs smoothly and on time.

You'll have the support of the owners, but we're looking for someone who can take initiative, make decisions and solve problems without needing constant direction.

Why you'll love working with us

Hospitality management doesn't have to mean late nights and unpredictable finishes. At Just Kids, we can offer something a little different:

No late nights - Get the pace and variety of hospitality without the midnight finishes. We're a daytime venue, so your evenings are yours.

Flexibility for the right person - While full-time is our preference, we're open to discussing part-time or school-hours-friendly arrangements for an exceptional candidate.

Supportive ownership team - Work closely with owners who are genuinely invested in the business and your success, while giving you the autonomy to lead.

Established operational systems - You're not walking into a business that needs to be built from scratch. We have established systems, procedures and expectations in place, with plenty of opportunity to continue improving them.

Strong community base - We have a loyal local customer base, with families who return regularly for play, parties and events.

Genuine responsibility - You'll have the trust and autonomy to take real responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the venue.

Plenty of variety - Team leadership, café operations, parties, customer experience and venue management mean no two days are quite the same.

The role & hours

We're more interested in finding the right person than forcing the right person into a predetermined roster.

Ideally, we're looking for a full-time manager who can take responsibility for opening and closing the centre and work across our weekday and weekend operations.

However, we're also very open to discussing a part-time arrangement, including school-hours-friendly weekday hours, for an exceptional candidate.

Regular weekend availability will be important, as this is when our venue is at its busiest and you'll be leading a larger team.

You'll thrive in this role if...

You're someone who naturally sees what needs to be done and gets on with it.

You're comfortable working independently, but equally confident stepping up to lead a team when the venue gets busy. You can juggle competing priorities, keep an eye on the bigger picture and know when to jump in and help.

You're organised, proactive and calm under pressure. If the café gets busy, multiple parties are running and something unexpected happens, you can prioritise, delegate and keep things moving.

Most importantly, we're looking for someone we can trust to take pride in the venue and run it as if it were their own.