Cafe Manager in Deal

As Café Manager, you’ll ensure the smooth day-to-day running of Climpson & Sons Café in Deal.

About Us: Climpson & Sons is a B Corp Certified, independent specialty coffee business. We source, roast, and craft our coffees from farm to cup, delivering the best specialty coffee experience to our customers. After nearly 20 years at our flagship Broadway Market café in East London, we’re excited to open our second sit down cafe site in Deal this April. Led by owner Ian, who has lived in Deal for over 10 years, we aim to create a welcoming, vibrant space for locals and visitors alike—serving excellent coffee, thoughtful food, and relaxed hospitality from morning through evening, seven days a week.

Role Purpose: You’ll lead a motivated team, uphold our brand standards, and create a culture that reflects Climpson’s ethos. You’ll actively drive sales, maintain high operational standards, and develop coffee, food, drinks and hospitality excellence across both the daytime and evening operations, while building strong relationships with customers and the local community.

Key Responsibilities:

• Oversee all daily operations of the café and coffee bar, ensuring efficiency, quality, and consistency across morning, daytime, and evening service.
• Monitor sales performance with the Cafe Manager and Directors, set improvement targets, and develop strategies to grow revenue and profitability across both day and evening trade.
• Identify opportunities to increase revenue and reduce costs without compromising standards.
• Work closely with the Food Manager/Chef to ensure seamless transitions between breakfast, lunch, and evening menus.
• Maintain departmental control systems to meet or exceed food and beverage margins.
• Manage stock, weekly P&L, and labour forecasting to reflect both day and evening trade.
• Recruit, train, and develop a high‑performing team capable of delivering excellent service across different dayparts.
• Conduct regular performance feedback, appraisals, and manage disciplinary or grievance issues in consultation with HR.
• Plan and deliver training for coffee, food, evening service, brand standards, health & safety, and hospitality.
• Ensure all staff are motivated, informed, and supervised effectively across all shifts.
• Deliver exceptional service, consistently exceeding guest expectations in both the café’s daytime and evening offerings.
• Encourage and act on customer feedback to continuously improve the guest experience.
• Build strong relationships with the local community, including residents, businesses, and visitors.
• Support marketing, promotions, and revenue‑generation initiatives for both day and evening trade.
• Maintain a safe, hygienic, and compliant workplace in line with relevant H&S and food safety legislation.
• Ensure all team members follow hygiene, safety, and operational procedures.
• Respond promptly to food hygiene, safety, or operational issues to protect our reputation and brand integrity.
• Be fully aware of fire, evacuation, and emergency procedures.
• Act as a change agent, reviewing service delivery, challenging assumptions, and driving continuous improvement across all dayparts.
• Promote a positive, collaborative, and high‑performance culture across the team.
• Ensure regular team meetings and shift handovers are effective, briefed, and actioned.

Café operates seven days a week. Some weekend, bank holiday, and busy‑period shifts are required, shared across the team. Flexibility and adaptability are key to managing both daytime and evening operations.

What We’re Looking For:

• Experienced café or hospitality manager, ideally with specialty coffee knowledge.
• Strong leadership skills and experience building high‑performing teams across multiple dayparts.
• Commercially minded with the ability to drive sales and control costs in a day‑to‑evening operation.
• Passion for coffee, food, hospitality, and delivering exceptional customer experiences.
• Flexible, proactive, and solution‑oriented, thriving in a start‑up environment.

The Details:

• Full time. 37.5‑45 hours per week.
• Based at our new café in Deal, Kent.
• A 7‑day a week operation with weekends and evening work.
• Holiday weekends and summer holidays will be peak time.

Perks & Benefits:

• Salary band competitive depending on experience.
• All you can drink specialty coffee plus a bag of beans to take home each week.
• Discounts at Climpson’s Café & Brat restaurant.
• Free yoga classes + staff BBQs & events.
• Opportunities to attend and cover industry events.
• A collaborative, supportive team environment.
• Contribution to an ambitious, values‑led Bcorp company with a focus on sustainability.
• Coffee training, other training and volunteer time per year.
• 4 paid sick days per year.
• Employee Assistance Program and supportive app for health and wellbeing.

How to Apply:

Send your CV and a short cover letter telling us why you would be a great fit to [email protected], with the subject line: Application Cafe Manager Deal – Your Name. The application process: CVs and cover letters to be submitted by Friday, 27th February. Stage one: Introductory calls. Stage two: Interviews. Ideally this role will start mid‑March.

At Climpson & Sons, we’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members.