Food & Beverage Team Leader

National Trust; Reading; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 29,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension scheme

Free entry to NT places

Season ticket loan

EV car lease

Work discounts

Holiday allowance

Flexible working

Employee assistance

Free parking

Job summary

The National Trust is seeking a Food and Beverage Team Leader for Basildon Park, Reading. You’ll lead front-of-house teams in a busy cafe, ensuring consistent, high-quality service and accurate displays of food and drink.

You'll supervise induction and training, support colleagues, and work with the kitchen when needed. The role offers full-time hours, a generous benefits package and opportunities for professional development.

Qualifications

• Focused on giving great service to everyone you meet.
• A team player, but also happy to work on your own initiative.
• Well-organised and adaptable.
• Ability to lead, support and develop a team.
• Confident dealing with a variety of situations including complaints.
• Willing to learn new skills.

Responsibilities

• Front of house: serve food and drink and provide great service to customers.
• Supervise induction and training of colleagues to build a strong team.
• Ensure displays and signs are accurate and present food well; assist kitchen when needed.
• Lead day-to-day activities, supporting the team to deliver a memorable visit.

Skills

Team leadership

Customer service

Adaptability

Organisation

Conflict handling

Job description

Summary

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 Team Leader 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

Salary:

£25,837.50 per annum/ £13.25 hour

Duration:

Permanent

Interview date:

Tuesday 3rd November 2026

Potential start date:

Monday 9th November 2026

For this role, you’ll need to complete our online assessment instead of using a C.V. or online application form. This will help us understand more about your strengths and give you more information on the role.

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 a Team Leader, you’ll be giving day-to-day support to your team, to make sure they’re consistently giving great service to everyone who comes to the café. This is a busy, lively place to work, so you’ll need to be adaptable.

Your focus will be front of house, dealing directly with people and serving them food and drink. Crucial to this role will be your love of working with people, your positive ‘can-do’ attitude and your desire to provide an outstanding service.

Using your excellent eye for detail, you’ll make sure all displays and signs are accurate, and that the food is looking good. At times, you may need to help the kitchen team with preparing food.

You’ll also be supervising the induction and training of colleagues, to help build a team that’s dedicated to great service and to giving people a day to remember.

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.

You can view the full role profile for this role in the document attached. You don't need to have all of the knowledge, skills and experience listed in the role profile; this is just to provide a full picture of what’s possible in this role.

Who We're Looking For

• focused on giving great service to everyone you meet
• a team player, but also happy to work on your own initiative
• well-organised and adaptable
• ability to lead, support and develop a team
• confident dealing with a variety of situations including complaints
• willing to learn new skills.

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.

National Trust place

Basildon Park, Lower Basildon, Reading, RG8 9NR

Documents

Food & Beverage Team Leader - A2.pdf

Requirements

Compliance.Eligibility to Work in the UK

Closing Date: 25th October 2026

Equal Opportunities Statement

The National Trust celebrates diversity and is committed to creating a fair and equal society, free from discrimination. You can read more about our commitment to inclusion and diversity here.

Safeguarding Statement

The National Trust is committed to a safe recruitment processes to help the organisation attract and appoint the right staff/volunteer for the role and responsibilities as set out in the vacancy advert. We will not accept applicants who are not suitable to work with children, young people or adults at risk. If you have any questions around your suitability for this vacancy, contact the people service centre.