Home Jobs General Manager at the Garden Café - Garden Museum
General Manager at the Garden Café - Garden Museum
* Contract Type: Full Time, Permanent Contract (c 45-49hrs weekly shift patterns, some pre-planned evening and weekend working)
* Salary: c£45,000 Total Package per year (made up of £35k basic salary plus Tronc) plus a Performance-Related Bonus & Benefits
* Responsible For: The effective delivery of smooth and cost efficient Café operations, with lead responsibility for the Front of House team; Working in synergy with our Head Chef, who leads the Kitchen Team; thus jointly ensuring our inspiring “dining destination” reputation
* Manager of: The Café Front of House Team
* Reports to: The Director of Commercial and Operations
* Location: The Garden Museum, Lambeth, London, SE1 7LB
About us:
The Garden Café is open for dining every lunchtime and one evening a week (Tuesday); in the spring and summer it also opens on Friday evenings. We also cater for private dinners, meetings and events. Set within a garden designed by Dan Pearson, it is unique in London in being part of the Garden Museum, but also a popular dining destination in its own right.
The menu at the Garden Café changes daily based on the seasons and what our fantastic suppliers have to offer. The best quality ingredients are treated with care and attention by the kitchen team with flavour and freshness at the heart of what ends up on the plate. It reflects the ethos of the Museum, whose design is contemporary, authentic, and original with an emphasis upon the honesty of materials.
Opened in June 2017, the Garden Café was reviewed by Jay Rayner of The Observer as ‘one of the loveliest new spaces to open in the capital in a long while and boasting food to match’. Other mentions include:
“A leafy enclave to treasure in Lambeth… brilliant”– Evening Standard
“I’ve found a hidden oasis in the centre of London”– The Times
“A green-fingered treat… and truly seasonal food”– The Week
“A bit of everyday magic”– Londonist
The new General Manager will work with our fantastic Head Chef, Myles Donaldson and the rest of the team at the Museum to enthusiastically grow and celebrate the quality of the Museum’s dining offer.
Our Café turnover is over £1m per year; therefore applicants for this role must have strong General Manager experience, gained within a successful and similar sized restaurant. Additionally, this year we are growing the share of our Café Catering offer for Private Venue Hire events, that take place at the Museum.
* Manage the Café Front of House team - including other Managers and Supervisors.
* Provide regular reports of activities, staffing, targets and operations to the Director of Commercial and Operations.
* Collect payroll information (including kitchen team) and supply to the relevant departments by deadline dates.
* Create and manage a weekly Front of House Rota in line with agreed staffing budgets.
* Ensure your Direct Reports have Job descriptions and agree their responsibilities, targets and how these feed into the wider FoH, Kitchen teams and role of Café General Manager.
* Demonstrate a firm but fair approach in the management of the FoH team, fostering a positive and enthusiastic team culture.
* Hire, train, conduct appraisals and provide support to the Café team; Hold regular team & 1:1 meetings with the café Front of House team to discuss their roles, targets and ideas.
* Provide induction for new recruits, notifying them of Garden Museum and probation procedures.
* Ensure Café team are provided with training for all areas of their roles, including relevant training for Food hygiene, First Aid, Allergy Awareness and Coshh.
* Ensure synergy is maintained with the kitchen and the events departments.
* Ensure staff are well-presented, wearing agreed uniform and protective equipment.
Personal:
* Prioritise time and resources to ensure essential targets are met.
* Manage division of your personal working time between projects, service and office admin, as required.
* Communicate clearly and positively with the café team, the kitchen and all other Garden Museum staff and stakeholders.
* Demonstrate trust and discretion.
* Demonstrate a can-do attitude in the development of new ideas for success.
* Approach challenges as opportunities.
* Agree Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) with the Director of Commercial and Operations and ensure they are met.
* Establish and maintain a high-quality and consistent service style that is conscientious, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, informal and unfussy.
* Oversee the daily service set up, order of service, sections of responsibility - and manage rota in accordance with seasonal variations in business.
* Foster an award-winning culture for the café.
* Be a Key holder for the Garden Museum; Ensure the safe opening and closing and security of the café.
* Ensure the highest levels of cleanliness, hygiene and health and safety are maintained.
* Work to increase visitor numbers, maximise spend per head and customer satisfaction.
* Work with the Head Chef and Kitchen team to provide an engaging, quality and consistent food offer.
* Own responsibility for tidiness and organisation of cafe space.
* Ensure all relevant licences are in place (Alcohol, events, PRS etc).
* With the Head Chef ensure that the operations of the café are conducted in a manner that maintains the Museum’s good relationship with our neighbours.
* Innovate and come up with new ideas for the Café.
* Curate the drinks offer, working closely with suppliers.
* Keep abreast of industry trends and the offers of competitors and comparable operations.
Promotional:
* Market the Garden Museum Café, working with the Museum Marketing team.
* Provide ideas and content for physical and social media marketing.
* Market the Garden Museum Café through word of mouth with visitors and point of sale options.
* Take ownership for the promotion and response to reviews.
* Promote Café news and social media.
* Oversee use and promotion of online table booking platform.
* With the Museum Senior management team and Head Chef create the yearly budget for the Garden Museum Café.
* Set targets for the café income, expenditure, margins and reforecasting.
* Look for ways to make savings and the café operation more efficient.
* Work with our accountants to create the monthly accounts and provide relevant commentary.
* Ensure all aspects of financial control and reporting are achieved.
General:
* Represent the Garden Museum in a positive and professional manner.
* Work closely with all Museum departments.
* Support the work of other departments of the Museum when appropriate.
* Attend Garden Museum meetings as required.
* Engage with general Museum Donation and Fundraising/promotional schemes when appropriate.
* Other general duties as and when they arise in relation to the role of Café General Manager.
The Ideal Candidate will possess the following:
* Strong hands-on General Manager experience, gained within a successful and similar sized restaurant (turnover over £1m p.a).
* Demonstrable evidence of the practical experience to successfully deliver the above listed role responsibilities.
* Strong people management, communication & interpersonal skills.
* Confidence and accuracy in financial control and reporting.
* Highly organized, with an eye for detail.
* Able to support growth of our Café catering for Venue Hire.
* Knowledge and Passion for Wines.
* An understanding of working in a cultural venue, and a creative response to the Museum’s cultural programme.
* 27 days paid annual leave per annum plus entitlement to statutory Bank Holidays.
* Pensions Auto Enrolment and Staff Discounts in the Café, Museum Shop & Museum.
* Mark the subject box: CAFÉ GENERAL MANAGER
* Closing date for applications: Midnight on Weds, 5th March 2025.
We regret that we are unable to respond to all applicants; you will only hear from us if we wish to invite you to interview.
The Garden Museum aims to be an inclusive organisation where everyone is treated with respect and dignity, and where there is equal opportunity for all. The Garden Museum respects and values diverse characteristics. We are committed to positively engaging and celebrating the differences of our diverse staff and users.
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