Cafe jobs in Coventry CV2

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced and passionate Head Barista / Barista Supervisor to lead our coffee operation and manage our barista team.

This role is ideal for someone who genuinely understands coffee, takes pride in producing consistently excellent drinks, and has the confidence and leadership skills to train, motivate and manage a team.

You will be responsible for maintaining high standards across the coffee operation, ensuring excellent customer service and making sure the team works efficiently during both busy and quieter periods.

Key Responsibilities

• Prepare consistently high-quality coffees, including espresso-based drinks, speciality coffees and other hot beverages.
• Have an excellent understanding of coffee beans, blends, roasting, grinding and extraction.
• Ensure espresso machines and grinders are correctly calibrated throughout the day.
• Maintain excellent milk texturing, latte art and drink presentation standards.
• Lead, supervise and motivate the barista team.
• Train new and existing team members in coffee preparation and customer service.
• Set clear standards and ensure they are maintained across every shift.
• Organise staff duties and support shift planning and rotas where required.
• Ensure the coffee area is clean, organised and fully stocked.
• Manage stock levels including coffee beans, milk, syrups, takeaway cups and other consumables.
• Monitor wastage and help control costs.
• Maintain coffee equipment and ensure cleaning and maintenance procedures are followed.
• Identify equipment issues quickly and report or arrange repairs where appropriate.
• Deliver excellent customer service and build relationships with regular customers.
• Deal professionally with customer feedback or complaints.
• Support management with improving the coffee offer, menu development and seasonal drinks.
• Help increase coffee sales through great presentation, product knowledge and customer engagement.
• Ensure all food hygiene, health & safety and company procedures are followed.

Coffee Knowledge & Experience

The successful candidate should have strong practical knowledge of:

• Espresso extraction
• Grinder calibration
• Coffee dose, yield and extraction times
• Different coffee beans and roast profiles
• Milk steaming and texturing
• Latte art
• Cappuccino, flat white, latte, americano, espresso and speciality coffee preparation
• Coffee machine cleaning and maintenance
• Identifying and correcting poor coffee extraction
• Maintaining consistency during busy service periods

Knowledge of alternative brewing methods and speciality coffee would be an advantage.

Team Management

You will be expected to take ownership of the barista team and:

• Lead by example.
• Train staff to a consistently high standard.
• Monitor individual performance.
• Give constructive feedback and coaching.
• Maintain strong levels of customer service.
• Ensure staff are productive and professional.
• Help create a positive and enjoyable working environment.
• Communicate effectively with senior management.

What We're Looking For

The ideal candidate will have:

• Previous experience as a senior barista, head barista or barista supervisor.
• Excellent coffee knowledge.
• Strong espresso machine and grinder knowledge.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Previous experience supervising or managing a team.
• Confidence training and developing staff.
• Strong organisational skills.
• The ability to remain calm and organised during busy periods.
• High standards of cleanliness and presentation.
• A commercial mindset and understanding of stock, wastage and costs.
• Flexibility to work weekends and busy trading periods.

Personal Qualities

We are looking for someone who is:

• Passionate about coffee.
• Friendly and approachable.
• Confident leading people.
• Reliable and punctual.
• Proactive rather than waiting to be told what to do.
• Detail-focused.
• Proud of the drinks they produce.
• Comfortable taking responsibility for their department.

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity for someone to take real ownership of our coffee operation.

We want somebody who doesn't simply make coffee, but understands the product, can develop a strong team around them and can help us create a coffee offer that customers come back for.

Pay: £30,000.00 per year

Work Location: In person