Restaurant Team Leader

Dobbies Garden Centres Plc; Ballymena; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading garden centre retailer is seeking a Restaurant Team Leader in Ballymena to enhance customer experience, mentor staff, and ensure food hygiene. The role requires supervisory experience and a passion for hospitality. Competitive benefits include substantial discounts and development opportunities.

Benefits

Generous annual leave

50% discount in restaurants

Access to financial wellbeing support

Qualifications

• Passion for food and hospitality.
• Experience in a customer-facing role.
• Supervisory experience.
• Ability to work in a team and maintain a cheerful attitude.

Responsibilities

• Support and coach staff members.
• Deliver great customer service.
• Drive sales and promote membership benefits.
• Ensure compliance with operational procedures.
• Maintain cleanliness of the restaurant.

Skills

Customer service

Teamwork

Food safety knowledge

Job description

Restaurant Team Leader – Dobbies Antrim

Dobbies Antrim, 111 Ballymena Road, Antrim, County Antrim, BT41 4LL

The Restaurant Team Leader plays an essential role in delivering an exceptional customer experience across our Restaurants – delivering tasty food, ensuring food hygiene and mentoring our Restaurant Customer Advisors while supporting the management team.

Responsibilities

• Support and coach other staff members and deputise for management in their absence.
• Deliver great customer service by handling various transactions across the restaurant.
• Work alongside the team to ensure staff efficiency, cover all stations effectively and maintain a high level of service offered by all staff.
• Drive sales through customer interactions, whilst promoting the benefits of the Dobbies Club membership.
• Ensure compliance and adherence to the Restaurant Operational procedures, monitor standards and enforce team compliance with company guidelines.
• Offer a helping hand with customer queries through high‑quality product knowledge as well as allergies and dietary requirements.
• Work with your team to maintain the cleanliness and upkeep of the restaurant.
• Where required, hold keyholder responsibilities may be required.

Who we are looking for

• You have a passion for food and hospitality and for delivering a great customer experience, serving everyone with a smile.
• You have experience within a customer facing role and supervisory experience.
• Relevant food safety qualifications are an advantage but not essential.
• You work well within a team, build relationships and have fun whilst celebrating success.
• You show up for work on time, well presented and bring a can‑do and hardworking attitude along with you.
• You are eager to learn new skills and gain new experiences.
• You flourish in a busy, fast‑paced environment.
• You demonstrate our values at all times – we are one team, getting better everyday. We bring a smile. We live and breathe gardens. We make it work for our customers.

What we offer

• Generous annual leave entitlement. Use your holidays when you want with limited statutory days off required.
• Treat yourself with generous uncapped discount across our stores – 50% off in our Restaurants, 25% off in the Garden Centre and 10% off in our food halls.
• Access to Stream – support your financial wellbeing, with ability to access earnings ahead of payday, save for the future and receive financial advice.
• Access to Retail Trust – confidential support, access to a virtual GP, free counselling service and discounted retail rewards through our employee wellbeing platform.
• Access to Dobbies Academy – continue your development with our eLearning platform and development programmes.
• Thriving culture – the Dobbies team are passionate, diverse and committed to making it work for our customers.

About us

At Dobbies, we’re proud to have a history dating back to 1865. We were founded by James Dobbie and are the only garden centre retailer to have stores in every nation across the UK. Our passion and joy for gardens and plants is what makes us special. In our stores, we showcase this through own brand and branded products, concession partners and services. We champion garden living all‑year‑round. Many of our stores feature a restaurant or coffee shop, where customers can enjoy refreshments or meals in a relaxed and welcoming environment. We offer a calendar of events and experiences that bring people and communities together, and we have a national charity partner that both our colleagues and customers raise money for. We’re committed to being a great place to work. We’re one team and we encourage our colleagues to be the best version of themselves, every day; to share their wins and celebrate success. Together, we make it work for our customers.