Job Title: Head Barista
Location: Multiple sites/Liverpool Street
Contract: Full time, 45hrs per week. Your time will need to be reasonably flexible throughout the week.
Salary: Competitive rate; please enquire for further detail. £14 -14.5ph experience depending.
Application closing date: Ongoing. We will make our hire when we find the right candidate so please be prompt with your application if you would like to maximise your chances of success.
Why work for us?
Sourdough Sophia is truly a bakery born in the community. During lockdown we set up a micro bakery from our dining room and founded Sourdough Sophia to change the way in which us Brits consume bread one loaf at a time.
Within a couple of weeks we attracted huge queues down the road from our little flat and quickly ran out of space. So, with the help of a successful kickstarter campaign and nearly 600 backers from the local community, we opened the doors to our bakery in 2020, only 8 months after we baked our very first loaf.
Before we opened, we made the firm commitment to bake the most delicious sourdough, serve the most incredible coffee alongside our delicious bakes and level up how we treat our staff by creating a positive and supportive working environment for all. Well, now that we’ve been serving and inspiring the community for over 2 years now, we need someone to come onboard and drive our business to the next level!
Our priority is people.
Sourdough Sophia is family first. Everyone in our team in valued, supported, loved and their progress is nurtured. Our mission is to fix the way in which staff are treated in the hospitality industry. Working in hospitality is always going to be hard, but it shouldn’t be unfair. We believe that hard work done the right way can be the most rewarding experience for you.
We are set to do things differently. No night shifts, fair pay, supportive and positive working environment in which you can feel safe to take risks, make mistakes and learn.
We are set to expand over the coming years and we are looking for incredible talent to help us achieve our ambitious goals! Help us fix the way in which we perceive bread in society and fix the broken food system together, one loaf at a time!
Join our team, and you will:
Be part of an incredibly close-knit team with a detailed understanding of baking, cooking, hospitality and coffee Have excellent opportunities for career progression in a company with big goals. Be given paid training opportunities Enjoy staff perks, including staff massage, free lunch, free coffee, pastries and bread every day, access to specialist third-party staff wellbeing services and more.
Why this role?
This is the perfect role for someone experienced in speciality coffee, with a passion for leading a great team, driving our business to the next level and developing relationships with customers. You will have the opportunity to use your talent, experience and initiative to help us shape our coffee operations, customer experiences, develop new relationships with local customers, flex your coffee skills, and truly be proud of your crew! Along with the support of our leadership team and the owners, you will get the chance to make your mark on this wonderful and fast growing business.
Key responsibilities of the role
As a head barista, you have a genuine passion for and appreciation of great speciality coffee, amazing service, driving results and supporting a talented team. An instrumental part of the front of house team, the head barista also enjoys building relationships with both staff and guests, fostering a positive and friendly service environment and driving our coffee to the highest standard.
You will work closely alongside the general manager and your team of baristas to shape the direction of coffee in our store. Focusing on an incredible service execution and customer experience. Your role should be split appropriately between floor leadership and have some time admin tasks. You will have the autonomy to manage your own time effectively depending on the business needs, but the vast majority of your time should be spent on the floor supporting your team, delivering training and maintaining standards.
Your responsibilities include:
You are a coffee and drinks enthusiast. You are obsessed and are constantly innovating and coming up with new ideas. You inspire our customers and team with new drinks, techniques and flavours. You make suggestions for new seasonal drinks and keep track of what performs well. You provide feedback about improvements that can be made to our workflows and menu to drive sales and increase productivity. You implement all necessary training, logistics and paperwork to ensure that new menu items are implemented on time, effectively by everyone in the team and to a high standard. You prepare coffees and other beverages to a consistently high standard throughout the day. You are the pinnacle of quality and consistency in the team. You lead by example by always doing your best. You adjust and create drinks recipes when needed and update the iPad to make sure our drinks are always made to the same standard. You manage all stock requirements and orders for coffee and related supplies. You are the main point of contact for Curve Coffee Roasters and any other suppliers that we may have on rotation and maintain a good relationship with them. You have a good communication with your GM about when supplies needs to be ordered. You help to train and onboard all new baristas and FOH staff. You also conduct ongoing training events for existing staff members as well as providing the team with in-the-moment feedback, both positive and negative, to keep to keep standards high. You monitor and maintain hygiene and cleaning standards. You lead by example by always working clean and following the correct procedures to keep everyone safe. You also maintain the coffee machines, grinders and other equipment, clean them on a daily and are able to make simple repairs and adjustments as needed. You make sure that everyone in the team knows how to perform the daily cleanings needed and how to deep clean the coffee equipment properly. You escalate to engineers and book service appointments when necessary. You act as a shift leader when you are the most senior person in the team, making sure that the day operates smoothly. This includes making sure breaks are taken at appropriate times, make sure staff put anything they eat or drinks through the till as STAFF SNACK and you make sure the the daily checklists are completed. You coordinate closely with your leaders and your team to ensure optimal service and quality. You escalate any issues immediately and work to solve problems as independently as appropriate, however, you are never afraid to ask questions and clarify things with your team if you are unsure!
What experience and traits do you need for this role?
A passion for team development, training and support You are a great shift leader and are comfortable delivering training with your team A passion for quality coffee and warm and friendly customer service A minimum of one years working in a high-end speciality coffee environment Ideally, a minimum of one year in a supervisory or management capacity ideally Be a latte art wizard, able to pull off consistently impressive shapes under pressure. Be a workflow perfectionist, always seeking the most efficient way to achieve a goal, and always coaching your team to do the same Be confident developing recipes for our coffees, espresso and batch brew and educating your team to do the same. Be a personal fit: Engaging personality, positive attitude, attention to detail, bubbly sense of humour, relaxed and approachable vibe. Willingness to always go the extra mile for our customers and team.
Benefits:
To apply for this position please do the following:
Send your CV to hr@sourdoughsophia.co.uk
Attach a cover note explaining why a) you want this job and b) you think you’re the right person for it. Demonstrate that you have thoroughly read the Job Description. (Max 600 words)
