Cafe Manager

Freedogbristol; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free climbing across the Flashpoint Gp

Free Freedog / Crazy Climb sessions

Climbing events & wider community

Outdoor & climbing discounts

Food & drink perks

Development & Wellbeing

Job summary

Freedogbristol is seeking a Café Manager to own how the café operates, including processes, standards and training. You will drive continuous improvement, work with suppliers, and engage with customers to deliver an outstanding community café experience.

The role emphasizes hospitality, operations excellence and cross‑centre collaboration within the Flashpoint Group, with opportunities to lead events and support community activities.

Qualifications

• Hospitality or cafe operations experience required.
• Strong understanding of food hygiene and allergen controls.
• Experience in training, coaching or developing others.

Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve café processes, standards, SOPs and resources.
• Maintain food hygiene, allergen, health & safety, SFBB, alcohol and age‑restricted sales processes.
• Coordinate café training, competency and moderations to build knowledge and confidence.
• Monitor KPIs and report performance to Centre Manager; drive improvements.
• Oversee stock, suppliers, ordering, menu development, pricing and wastage.
• Support events and community initiatives in the café space.
• Be visible and approachable; engage customers and seek feedback.

Skills

Hospitality & operations

Organisation & process management

Training & development

Financial & stock management

Customer experience & communication

Administration & IT

Tools

Google Workspace

Job description

Salary: £29,500 p/a (increasing to £30,000 following successful completion of the 6-month probationary period)

Holiday: 33 days per annum

Probation: 6-month probationary period

Reporting to: Centre Manager

Join Our Team!

Here, we want our team to feel like a community – a place where people support each other, share ideas and take pride in creating great experiences together.

Our Café is an important part of that community. It brings together customers from across the centre – whether they’re here to climb, bounce, spend time with family and friends, join a community group or simply grab a coffee and something to eat.

We’re looking for a Café Manager who sees the potential in the space and is excited to make it even better. This isn’t a traditional Café Manager role focused on line management. Instead, you’ll be the person who owns how the Café works – its processes, standards, training, products, performance and continuous improvement.

We want someone who’s curious and creative – someone who notices opportunities, enjoys developing new ideas and can turn them into practical improvements.

Our mission is Growth through Community and Challenge, and you’ll play an important part in bringing that to life – not only through the Café, but by understanding the activities, customers and community around it.

What Will You Be Doing?

No two weeks are likely to look exactly the same. One day you might be looking at sales and wastage to understand why a product isn’t performing; the next, you could be coaching someone on their Café competency, developing the menu, talking to customers, working with a supplier or getting ready for an upcoming quiz night.

At the heart of the role, you’ll make sure the Café has the processes, resources and standards it needs to succeed.

You’ll:

• Own and continuously improve Café processes, standards, SOPs and operational resources.
• Maintain strong food hygiene, allergen, health & safety, SFBB, alcohol and age-restricted sales processes.
• Coordinate Café training, competency and regular moderations, helping the team build their knowledge and confidence.
• Monitor financial and operational KPIs, report performance to the Centre Manager, and work together on improvements and successes.
• Oversee stock, suppliers, ordering, menu development, pricing, margins, wastage and, additionally, relevant consumables sold through Reception.
• Support events, activities and community initiatives happening within the Café space.
• Be visible and approachable – talk to customers, start conversations, seek feedback and use what you learn to help shape what we do next.

While the Deputy Centre Manager remains the Line Manager for team members working within the Café, you’ll be the go‑to person for Café knowledge, processes and competency.

You’ll take ownership of Café‑specific training and moderations, provide practical coaching and maintain accurate records. You’ll also support the Deputy Centre Manager with recruitment, onboarding, performance reviews and relevant people processes where your Café expertise is needed.

You’ll work collaboratively with managers across the centre, Head Office and other Café Managers across the Flashpoint Group – sharing ideas, learning from each other and looking for opportunities to improve what we do.

You’ll also be trained to undertake Duty Manager responsibilities and may occasionally step into that role, helping you understand how our different departments and activities connect to create the wider customer experience.

What Are We Looking For?

You don’t need to arrive knowing absolutely everything. We’re looking for someone with a good grounding in hospitality who cares about customers and standards, enjoys developing ideas and gets satisfaction from making things work well.

• Hospitality & Operations – Relevant Café, hospitality, food and beverage or similar customer‑facing experience, with a good understanding of operational standards, food hygiene and allergens.
• Organisation & Process Management – Confident managing processes, resources, records and competing priorities, with a practical approach to continuous improvement.
• Training & Development – Experience training, coaching or supporting others to develop their knowledge, confidence and competency.
• Financial & Stock Management Awareness – Comfortable with stock, ordering and wastage, alongside basic financial or performance information such as sales, costs, margins or KPIs.
• Customer Experience & Communication – A strong communicator who is comfortable starting conversations, seeking feedback and working collaboratively.
• Administration & IT – Comfortable balancing hands‑on operational work with administration and planning, including common workplace IT systems (Google Workspace).

We don’t expect you to tick every box, but experience or knowledge in some of these areas would be a bonus:

• Commercial, Product & POS Systems – Experience with Cost of Sales, margins, suppliers, KPIs, menu or product development, and working with the back end of Point of Sale (POS) systems, including product setup, pricing or reporting.
• Food & Beverage Compliance – Qualifications or experience in food hygiene, SFBB, allergens, alcohol licensing or age‑restricted sales.
• People & Community – Experience supporting recruitment, competency assessments, or other people processes, alongside an interest in climbing, active leisure, events or community activities.

Previous formal line‑management or Duty Manager experience isn’t essential – support and training will be provided.

Why Join Us?

We’d love our Café Manager to get involved in the activities and community that make our centres what they are. If climbing, active leisure and the outdoors interest you, there are plenty of opportunities to make the most of being part of the team.

• Free climbing across the Flashpoint Group – plus free climbing for a nominated family member or partner, and staff guest passes.
• Free Freedog / Crazy Climb sessions – for you and up to three others, plus discounts on parties, kids clubs and courses.
• Climbing events & wider climbing community – Free entry to our larger events and free or discounted climbing at a range of other walls.
• Outdoor & climbing discounts – access to a range of staff, trade and pro deals with climbing and outdoor brands and retailers.
• Food & drink perks – including free hot drinks while working and generous staff Café discounts.
• Development & Wellbeing – role‑related training, discounts on some additional climbing qualifications, Cycle to Work and discounted physiotherapy, osteopathy and sports massage.

We’re looking for someone who wants to do more than maintain what’s already here. We want someone who will understand what’s working, question what isn’t and bring their own creativity and ideas to the Café.

Most importantly, we want someone who will become part of the community here and help make the Café somewhere our customers and team genuinely enjoy being.

If that sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you!