Assistant Cafe Manager | Washington DC New Washington DC

Blank Street, Inc.; Friendly (MD); On-site; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the coffee industry is seeking a Cafe Lead to enhance customer service and product quality. This role involves training staff, ensuring operational excellence, and maintaining high standards of service. Join a dynamic team committed to creating memorable coffee experiences.

Qualifications

• 2+ years’ experience in a customer service leadership position.
• Must be available to work Full Time hours.
• Strong knowledge of specialty coffee and equipment.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer service and promote high quality food and beverage production.
• Train new hires and develop Shift Leads.
• Ensure compliance with health standards and operational excellence.

Skills

Customer Service

Organizational Skills

Task Management

Emotional Intelligence

Conflict Resolution

Decision Making

Multi-tasking

Training

Education

Regional Food Protection Certificate

Job description

At Blank Street, we believe that rituals matter, and that great rituals make your life better.

With coffee shops across the US and UK, we are working to transform the high street grab-and-go coffee transaction into an experience that is higher in quality, hospitality, and joy.

What’s brewing…

As a Cafe Lead at Blank Street, you will lead customer service and promote high quality food and beverage production in your cafe. You will set the bar for food & cafe safety. Cafe Leads confidently train new hires through their onboarding journey and work to develop Shift Leads as service and operations partners.

Note: Cafe Leads are integral members of the cafe leadership team however they do not have direct report management responsibilities.

Responsibilities:

People - Deeply care for and coach your teammates

• Show up on time to scheduled shifts with a positive attitude ready to serve your team and customers
• Create a motivating and engaging culture in your cafe
• Provide timely and consistent coaching to your team to inspire improvement in workflow and hospitality
• Celebrate positive performance with your team and provide constructive coaching and feedback
• Promote and participate in feedback channels with your team designed to help Blank Street continue to improve
• Ensure the quality of training for new hires sets your cafe up for success
• Act as a mentor and in cafe leader for the team, hold bi-weekly hospitality and operationally focused 1:1’s with each team member

Product - Execute our products flawlessly

• Spend 80% of your week behind bar
• Craft beautiful, well executed coffee products according to company standards
• Serve all Blank Street customers with energy, warmth, and empathy
• Provide positive and solution focused handling of any minor customer issue
• Communicate what makes Blank Street’s products unique and differentiated to customers and teammates
• Maintain coffee quality standards across your store
• Coach store teams on daily checklist execution and compliance
• Oversee ordering, waste, and inventory levels
• Complete weekly & monthly inventory counts
• Support any marketing efforts, product promotions or otherwise
• Host service on the cafe’s busiest days and hours, support the team by controlling the line, expediting orders, organizing the app and delivery pick up area, checking in on guests and tidying the seating area, be the team and customer’s main point of contact or escalation while on shift
• Coach in the moment and train on beverage production and recipe accuracy
• Complete weekly Order Receiving & Inventory Count Compliance reports

Physical Space - Ensure true operational and brand excellence

• Ensure that your store maintains Regional Department of Health (DOH) standards at all times
• Complete or delegate with oversight all duties required for an A Grade level inspection on every shift
• Maintain operational excellence in the store environment, cleanliness and brand expectations, using the company’s audit platform
• Open and close the location safely and responsibly according to standard procedures
• Ensure that cleaning duties for the store are followed at the beginning, during and end of the shift
• Ensure your back of house and all areas of your store are well organized and a safe environment
• Quickly escalate any facilities issues that negatively impact your team or customers
• Promptly raise any safety concerns or inventory issues to your manager
• Proactively set your cafe up for success by ensuring that you have the products and equipment needed to create a positive and productive shift

Performance - Be the best at what you do

• Consistently arrive to work on time
• Adhere to dress code, discount and safety policies modeling best practices to your team
• Uphold the company standard NPS scores and google reviews rating of 4.5 or better
• Be a champion of your store’s financial performance, finding ways to grow your store AOV, meet sales goals through creative initiatives and gain team buy in to share the same vision
• Stay current on company updates, products and SOPs, help your team to do the same
• Act as operational support for the neighborhood during management days off - be flexible to assist across multiple locations throughout the course of a shift if needed

Qualifications:

• 2+ years’ experience in a customer service leadership position
• 18+ years of age
• Able to lift 50+ lbs, and to stand for long periods of time
• Must be available to work Full Time hours in alignment with availability and scheduling needs of the cafe including both opening and closing availability in the same week
• Regional food protection certificate (DOH card)
• Strong knowledge of specialty coffee, latte art and equipment
• Experience leading training in an in-store environment

Skills:

• Passion for excellent customer service and hospitality
• Strong organizational skills
• Proven strong task management skills with an ability to prioritize
• Ability to create positive working relationships
• Can use emotional intelligence and conflict resolution skills to create a welcoming workplace
• Strong decision making and multi-tasking skills
• Ability to train employees and host coaching or mentoring conversations for their development

Attributes:

• Love for coffee and customer service
• Friendly and enthusiastic
• Reliable and punctual
• Passionate about creating products according to company quality standards
• Curious, adaptable and willing to learn
• Comfortable leading peers
• Incredibly self-managed
• Exceptional judgment
• Willing to travel between locations if needed
• $22.00 /hour starting + tips
• As a growing company we have opportunities for advancement for those interested

Application & Interview Process:

• Application Review
• People Team Phone Interview
• Onsite Interview with Hiring Manager & team
• Operations Leadership Interview
• Offer

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Do you have a valid DOH or ServSafe Food Handler's license? (This is a requirement for this job.) * Select...

When does your DOH Food Handler's license or ServSafe Food Handler's license expire? *

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