Mk Team Leader

Chartwells Independent; Greater London; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension scheme

Career development

Healthcare benefits

Travel discounts

Food discounts

Cinema tickets

Cash rewards

Wellness programs

Job summary

Restaurant Associates is seeking a Food Service Team Leader to join our team and support the Site Café Manager in delivering exceptional food service. You will lead a team, plan rotas, ensure brand standards, and cultivate a culture of service excellence across counters, displays and dining spaces.

You’ll drive high-quality customer experiences, manage daily operations, and collaborate with colleagues to maintain cleanliness, safety and compliance with food safety guidelines.

Qualifications

• 3+ years experience in customer service or similar environment.
• Experience guiding or motivating a team in a fast-paced setting.
• Excellent communication skills with colleagues, clients and management.
• Ability to build effective cross-team relationships and deliver exceptional service.
• Positive, professional and calm under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Lead and motivate the team to deliver outstanding food service.
• Plan and manage rotas and duties to support daily operations.
• Maintain high standards of customer service and hospitality.
• Ensure compliance with food hygiene, health and safety standards.
• Support food production and presentation per menu requirements.
• Monitor feedback and address issues professionally.
• Maintain stock, rotate inventory and minimise waste.
• Lead daily team briefings and encourage open communication.

Skills

Customer service

Team leadership

Communication

Relationship building

Job description

Food Service Team Leader

We’re looking for an enthusiastic and customer-focused Food Service Team Leader to join our team. Working closely with the Site Café Manager, you’ll help lead the day-to-day food service operation, ensuring customers and clients receive an exceptional, efficient and consistent experience.

You’ll play an important role in bringing our food programme to life through great service, high standards and a strong team culture. We’re passionate about culinary excellence, people, teamwork, sustainability and innovation, and we’re looking for someone who shares those values and is excited to make a positive difference every day.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Support the Site Café Manager in leading and motivating the team to deliver an outstanding food service.
• Help plan and manage rotas, allocate duties and ensure the team is appropriately supported throughout the day.
• Deliver consistently high standards of customer service, responding positively to requests and exceeding expectations wherever possible.
• Build strong, positive relationships with customers, clients and colleagues.
• Promote the food programme through engaging food choices, displays, hospitality and excellent service.
• Lead and contribute to daily team briefings, encouraging communication, ideas and feedback.
• Ensure food is prepared, presented and served to the required brand and company standards.
• Maintain excellent standards across counters, displays, seating areas and other customer-facing spaces.
• Support food production and basic food preparation in line with menu requirements.
• Assist with hospitality and other food service activities as required.
• Monitor customer feedback, respond to complaints professionally and elevate issues where appropriate.
• Ensure stock is received, checked, stored correctly and rotated, maintaining quality and quantity standards.
• Help minimise food waste through effective monitoring, recording and opportunities for reuse.
• Maintain high standards of cleanliness, food hygiene, health and safety across the operation.
• Ensure relevant health and safety procedures, training and reporting requirements are followed.
• Promote positive safety habits and report hazards, accidents, incidents and near misses appropriately.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• At least 3 years’ experience as a Customer Service Assistant or in a similar customer-facing food service environment.
• Experience of supporting, guiding or motivating a team in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication skills, with the confidence to communicate effectively with colleagues, clients and management.
• The ability to build effective relationships and collaborate across different teams and levels of the business.
• A strong customer-first mindset and a genuine desire to deliver an exceptional service.
• A positive, professional and approachable attitude, with the ability to remain calm under pressure.

We ensure you’re rewarded for all your hard work, which is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package which includes but is not limited to:

• Contributory pension scheme
• Grow your career with our Career Pathways and MyLearning programmes
• Quick access for you and your immediate family to a Digital GP, and wider healthcare benefits
• Exclusive travel discounts with TUI, Expedia, Booking.com and many more
• Save money on your food shop with discounts on Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and many more
• Up to 44% off cinema tickets to enjoy your favourite blockbuster
• Receive cash rewards every time you spend and use them on a wide range of brands
• Un-wind with us with free wellness, mindfulness and exercise classes
• You can share all discounts and offers with your friends and families

About Us

Restaurant Associates provides brilliant hospitality through our food, drink and services. We work with our partners and collaborate with our clients to achieve great things together. Every day, our teams of passionate hospitality professionals strive for excellence in delivering employee dining and hospitality to some of the UK's leading workplace as well as inspiring exceptional experiences in iconic cultural and heritage destinations.

Compass Group UK&I is committed to fostering an environment where every individual can truly be themselves at work and has equal opportunities to advance in their careers. We strive to build a culture that respects and celebrates the unique talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and abilities of all our team members. We want our colleagues to feel valued, empowered to reach their full potential, and to thrive - because diversity is our strength!