Job Title: Café Coordinator & Cook
Salary: £24,433
Employment Status: 30 Hours Per Week
Responsible To: Operations Manager for Community Services
Location: Weoley Castle Community Centre (B29 5TE)
Who We Look For
Are you a warm individual who can work well with the public, including people with disabilities? Do you have excellent cooking and hospitality skills? Can you manage a kitchen to a high standard?
Midland Mencap is looking to recruit a Community Cook to support our recently launched Community Café The Happy Bean Café. The café is constantly innovating in our pursuit of delivering the best experience for everyone who visits us. To achieve these goals, we need an individual who is prepared to innovate and interact confidently with members of the local community, community centre users and colleagues.
We seek applications from candidates who thrive in a fast-paced environment and who can bring their leadership, cooking skills, high-standards, and experience to a role where no two days are the same.
What Does A Café Coordinator & Cook Do?
Our Community Café, The Happy Bean, launched in June 2024 and aims to provide a welcoming meeting place for the local community, with affordable, high-quality food and beverages. The café is at the heart of our community centre and links to activities taking place in the centre, such as cooking classes and hosts information drop-ins. Our goal is to continue to build our customer base and bridge the gap between our current centre users and the wider community.
You will be responsible for maintaining high kitchen standards and adhering to health and safety regulations and cooking and serving of high-quality food and drinks, including the design and preparation of menus and buffets for events.
Duties and Responsibilities
Specific Responsibilities
1. Continuously review and improve the menu and café performance.
2. Prepare, cook, and serve meals efficiently, ensuring quality and minimizing waste.
3. Safely store food, rotate stock, monitor ‘use by’ dates, and manage supplier orders within budget.
4. Build and maintain good rapport with customers, citizens, and their families; always be polite and courteous.
5. Immediately report incidents involving citizens, staff, or visitors to the Operations Manager.
6. Ensure kitchen operations comply with Environmental Health and Health and Safety regulations and maintain accurate records.
7. Set up and clean the kitchen before and after service/activities.
8. Welcome and support volunteers in the kitchen and café area; leading by example, you will guide and delegate tasks as appropriate.
9. Gather and provide information to support performance monitoring.
General Responsibilities
1. Uphold the values of Midland Mencap in the community and adhere to the organisation’s policies and procedures.
2. Attend and contribute to team meetings and training courses.
3. Undertake other duties as required, consistent with the job purpose.
Person Specification:
Experience
Essential
* Highly motivated with the ability to prepare a wide range of foods and proficient in various cooking techniques and methods.
* Proven experience using resources and equipment effectively.
* Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
* Ability to work well in a busy environment.
* Ability to delegate effectively.
* Ability to keep on task and meet deadlines.
* A full understanding of all regulations, record keeping and best practice in line with the Food Standards Agency.
Desirable
* Background in community and voluntary sector work, especially with volunteers.
* Awareness of the community and voluntary sector.
* Understanding of the benefits of sustainable food practices and waste reduction.
Skills, Abilities & Attributes
Essential
* Provide a warm welcome for everyone who comes to the cafe and community centre.
* Provide an inclusive, supportive setting for all who join the café team, always leading by example.
* Overseeing a breakfast and lunch time service.
* Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
* Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage a diverse workload and meet deadlines.
* IT skills, including Microsoft Word and Excel.
* An understanding of budgets.
* Ability to travel locally.
Desirable
* Experience leading food-related activities.
* A full UK Driving License.
Training & Qualifications
Essential
* Intermediate Food Hygiene Certificate and a commitment to ongoing professional development and training.
Desirable
* Other relevant food, catering or hospitality qualifications e.g. NVQ, Diploma etc.
When applying for this job role, please complete the 2 forms below and attach them to your email when you apply:
Word Document Format:
Application Form Word
Equal Opportunities Monitoring Word
PDF Format:
Applications Form PDF
Equal Opportunities Monitoring PDF
Closing Date: Monday 24th March 2025
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