Venue Manager

Rustica Sourdough Bakery Cafe; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

A performance bonus for beating wage/…

Your own roster with weekends off

Real authority over the store

Meals on shift and staff discounts

Job summary

Rustica Sourdough Bakery Cafe in Melbourne is seeking an experienced operator to run our flagship Chapel Street venue. You will oversee front‑of‑house and own the venue’s results—labour, margin, sales and standards—working with our Executive Chef and pastry team.

You will report to the Operations Manager and the owner, with authority to run the venue your way within our systems. Expect performance bonus potential, local hours, and real influence over the store.

Qualifications

• 4+ years managing high-volume cafés, restaurants or hospitality venues.
• Proven record of hitting wage, COGS and sales targets.
• Experience leading large front-of-house teams in high-volume venues.
• Confidence with rostering, POS reporting and stock control systems.
• Strong specialty coffee knowledge.
• Availability for weekend trade within the roster.

Responsibilities

• Labour: roster to trade and hit wage targets.
• Margin: ordering, waste control and stocktakes to hit COGS targets.
• Sales growth: lift average spend, grow takeaway bread and pastry sales, and convert catering enquiries.
• Team: hire, set clear standards, hold people to them, and develop your people.
• Standards: deliver the Rustica product and service on every shift using SOPs and systems.
• Suppliers: manage day-to-day supplier relationships, quality and issues.
• Reporting: weekly numbers to the Operations Manager and owner, with a clear plan for the future.

Skills

Front-of-house management

Wage/COGS targets

High-volume venue leadership

Rostering

POS reporting

Stock control

Specialty coffee knowledge

Weekend availability

Tools

Restoke

POS system

Job description

Rustica Sourdough has been baking in Melbourne for 15 years. We run our own production bakery in Footscray and supply cafés, restaurants and retailers across the city. Our Chapel Street store is the flagship: a high-volume venue with its own on-site pastry kitchen and a café team of around 25 across front of house and kitchen, open 7am–4pm weekdays and 8am–4pm weekends.

We want an experienced operator who runs a venue like a business. You will run front of house and own the venue’s results: labour, margin, sales and standards, working alongside our Executive Chef and pastry team. You will have the authority to run it your way within our systems, and you will report to our Operations Manager and the owner.

What you’ll own

• Labour: roster to trade and hit wage targets
• Margin: ordering, waste control and stocktakes, working with our Executive Chef to hit COGS targets, tracked live in Restoke, our cost management system
• Sales growth: lift average spend, grow takeaway bread and pastry sales, and convert catering enquiries
• Team: hire, set clear standards, hold people to them, and develop your people. Front-of-house hiring decisions are yours
• Standards: deliver the Rustica product and service on every shift using our SOPs and systems
• Suppliers: manage day-to-day supplier relationships, quality and issues
• Reporting: weekly numbers to the Operations Manager and owner, with a clear plan for the

What you’ll bring

• 4+ years managing high-volume cafés, restaurants or hospitality venues
• A record of hitting wage, COGS and sales targets, and the numbers to show it
• Experience leading large front-of-house teams in high-volume venues
• Confidence with rostering, POS reporting and stock control systems
• Strong specialty coffee knowledge
• Availability for weekend trade within the roster below

What you’ll get

• A performance bonus for beating the wage and COGS targets
• You write your own roster, with one weekend day off every week and no night trade (we close at 4pm)
• Real authority over the store, including front-of-house hiring, with direct access to the owner
• Meals on shift and staff discounts on bread, pastries and coffee

lines about a venue you improved and what happened to the numbers. We’re reviewing applications