Food & Beverage Manager

National Trust; Peacehaven; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 30,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension up to 10%

Free entry to NT places

Season ticket loan

EV car lease scheme

Discounts for shop and cinema

Holiday allowance up to 32 days

Flexible working where possible

Employee assistance programme

Free parking

Job summary

The National Trust is seeking a Food and Beverage Manager to lead a busy visitor attraction café on a full-time basis. You will manage staff, drive customer service excellence, and oversee daily operations, including administration and training.

You will work to achieve financial targets while maintaining high standards of presentation and guest experience. This is a fixed-term role (3 months) in a rural area, with consideration of how best to access the site.

Qualifications

• Experience as a leader with setting personal objectives and developing others.
• Familiar with budgets, increasing income and controlling costs (including stock and waste).
• Confident in identifying new opportunities and making strategic decisions for the department's future.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support the café team on a day-to-day basis, ensuring high service standards.
• Oversee administration and people development, maintaining presentation standards.
• Manage finances, targets and profitability in collaboration with Area Manager.
• Recruit and train staff, and review performance to drive excellence.
• Support the wider property team as needed and contribute to health and safety compliance.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting

Strategic thinking

People skills

Health and safety compliance

Job description

Summary *Internal Applicants only*??

Our colleagues work for the National Trust in many locations and sometimes?don't?have easy access to internal vacancy listings. Using the internet ensures we can reach as many of our colleagues as possible. We appreciate that this can be frustrating for external talent. Do note that some roles are released externally after?an initial?period.?

Are you looking for the next step in your career in food and beverage? The National Trust is renowned for its food and hospitality. We run 185 cafes all over England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and we'd love you to join us.

We're looking for a Food and Beverage Manager to join us. Because we are in a rural area, please think about how you'd be able to get here for work, before applying for the job.

Benefits:

We want to help you look after the things that matter to you, such as saving for your future, getting a discount on your weekly shop, or encouraging you to find a work-life balance. Please read our package, below, to see what benefits we offer you.

Hours: Full-time. 37.5 hours per week - working 5 days in 7 on shift pattern providing operational oversight with presence required on key event days, weekends and holidays.

Salary: £27,612 per annum

Contract: 3 month Fixed term contract

Duration: This is a fixed term contract due to end when the postholder returns to the role. At this point we cannot confirm exactly how long this contract will last, but it is unlikely to be more than 3 months.

Interview date: 6th October 2026

What it's like to work here

To find out more about what it's like to work in a food and beverage team for the National Trust, click here to watch our video.

What you'll be doing

As Food and Beverage Manager, you'll lead and support your team at one of the National Trust's busy visitor attractions. This involves handling things behind the scenes, from administration to developing people and everything in between. You'll be championing outstanding customer service and keeping presentation standards high, to help give all our visitors an enjoyable day.

You'll be responsible for leading and running our café on a day-to-day basis, so the team can get on with doing what they do best. It's a busy, lively place, and we want to make sure that we always give visitors the best service every time.

You'll help to build a great place to work for your team. You'll recruit and train versatile and hard-working people, and encourage high achievement by setting objectives and reviewing their performance. You might also be needed to support the wider property team from time to time.

You'll work with the Area Manager to set and achieve financial targets that will increase profitability, as well as overseeing results and acting when needed. Where you can, you'll find ways to improve things, based on feedback from the team and visitors.

We'll give you an induction that fits the job, and training in allergens and food safety, plus any mentoring needed to help you in your role. You can sign up for further professional training and development if you wish.

Please also read the full role profile, attached to this advert.

Who we're looking for

• experienced as a leader, with skills including setting personal objectives and providing development.
• familiar with budgets, increasing income and controlling costs (including managing stock and waste).
• confident with identifying new opportunities and making strategic decisions for the future of your department.
• good with people, with a can-do attitude.
• aware of health and safety compliance.

The package

The National Trust has the motto 'For everyone, for ever' at its heart. We're working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It's important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we're for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary
• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
• Rental deposit loan scheme
• Season ticket loan
• EV car lease scheme (for roles that meet the salary criteria)
• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts
• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.
• Flexible working whenever possible
• Employee assistance programme
• Free parking at most Trust places

Click here to find out more about the benefits we offer to support you.