Cafe Manager

The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust; Ivinghoe; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 24,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave

Birthday leave

Wellbeing days

Pension

Cycle scheme

Electric Vehicle scheme

Staff networks

Job summary

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust is seeking a proactive Cafe Manager to lead the café and catering operations at College Lake Visitor Centre, Tring. The role focuses on profitability, staff development, customer satisfaction and regulatory compliance, working 28 hours per week with weekend and bank holiday coverage.

The successful candidate will have a hands-on culinary background, strong leadership and budgeting skills, and be comfortable delivering high-quality food and service in a busy

Qualifications

• Experience leading busy café or food service operations.
• Hands-on culinary background or kitchen experience.
• Commercial awareness of profit margins and VAT.
• Flexible to work evenings, weekends and holidays.

Responsibilities

• Manage overall performance of the café and catering services.
• Lead food preparation and presentation for the café.
• Plan catering logistics: menus, staffing, equipment.
• Line manage and train catering staff; ensure food safety and customer service.
• Manage budgets, stock, and margins.

Skills

Leadership

Café management

Food safety

Budgeting

Staff training

Job description

Cafe Manager

Closing date: Monday 7 September 2026 Salary: £22,800 - £23,807 (pro rata) per annum (£15.65 - £16.35 per hour / FTE £28,500 - £29,759) Contract type: Permanent / Working hours: Part time Location:

College Lake Nature Reserve ,

Upper Icknield Way, Bulbourne, Tring, Buckinghamshire, HP23 5QG

We are seeking a proactive Cafe Manager to lead and participate in the café and catering operations, ensuring profitability, staff development, customer satisfaction, and compliance with all regulations

Contract: Permanent

Hours: 28 hours per week. Weekend working and bank holidays included as per rota.

Based: College Lake Visitor Centre, Tring, Bucks, UK

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust has a vision for “more nature everywhere, for everyone”. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. This includes you being comfortable bringing your whole self to work, and us co-working with the diverse communities we serve to ensure we are meeting everyone’s needs.

We are seeking a proactive Cafe Manager to lead and participate in the café and catering operations, ensuring profitability, staff development, customer satisfaction, and compliance with all regulations. The ideal candidate is a leader who thrives in fast-paced environments and is passionate about delivering exceptional food and service experiences as part of the wider College Lake management team.

What you’ll be doing

• Managing the overall performance of the café and catering services
• Leading and participating in the preparation, cooking, and presentation of food for the café
• Planning and coordinating catering logistics, including menu planning, staffing, and equipment
• Line managing, training and recruiting catering staff, ensuring high standards of food safety, hygiene, and customer service
• Financial management, including budget planning, stock and inventory control, staff costs and maintaining margin

What we’re looking for

• Someone who is used to being involved in the workings of a busy café, or similar food service, in a leadership role
• A culinary or hands-on kitchen background
• Commercial awareness of profit margins and VAT
• Flexibility to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as required.

This post will be DBS checked at basic level. A criminal conviction will not necessarily be a bar to

obtaining the position. BBOWT will not unfairly discriminate on the basis of criminal convictions. BBOWT’s policy regarding this matter and the Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice are available on request.

For all your hard work you can expect a great rewards package in return. In addition to being part of a friendly, skilled and knowledgeable team, passionate about making a difference, when you work for us, you’ll also receive:

• Generous annual leave entitlement with paid birthday leave, wellbeing days, urgent personal business leave and generous occupational sick pay
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and family-friendly policies
• Flexible working to achieve work-life balance
• Salary exchange pension with generous employer contribution
• Wellbeing initiatives including qualified Mental Health First Aiders, YuLife benefit package - access to our EAP, providing you with immediate and confidential help for any work, health, or life matters; 3x life assurance, online GP access prescription service, a variety of discounts
• Salary sacrifice Cycle scheme & Electric Vehicle scheme
• Membership to BBOWT’s, and The Wildlife Trusts’, Staff Network Groups for social interaction, peer support, mentoring and personal development

BBOWT values diversity and inclusion and the benefits this brings. We want every candidate to have the best chance of success as part of this process. In order to do this, we know that some candidates will need reasonable adjustments. Contact us on [e-mail] if there are any reasonable adjustments we can provide during the recruitment process, including completing your application.

We want our people to be as diverse as nature, so we particularly encourage applications from people who are underserved within the communities in which we operate. This includes people from visible ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities (including those who are neurodivergent), the LGBTQ+ community, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and younger people. We are committed to creating an organisation that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities.