Founder & Operations Assistant

Salary £35,000.00 pro rata (effective £21,000.00) per year

This role exists to protect the founder’s time and to keep the business running with precision around him.

You will take ownership of the systems that run the business. One calendar. One operational database holding clients, events, costings and suppliers. A clear process running from enquiry through quote, delivery and invoice. Your job is to own them, keep them accurate, make sure they are followed and make sure things happen. Alongside that you will look for support on our social media, comms and other duties that are reasonable for this role.

This is a food business. Everything comes back to what ends up on the plate, and we want someone who cares about that as much as we do.

Job Description

Calendar and rhythm

• Own the business calendar covering events, preparation days, travel, calls and deadlines
• Protect the founder’s delivery days, flag clashes early and keep him ahead of what is coming
• Own the reminders, so nothing reaches a deadline without having been raised first

Enquiries and clients

• Be the first response to every enquiry, on the same day, in a tone appropriate to the client
• Capture how they found us, ask the right qualifying questions and get the call in the diary
• Keep client records accurate, including the preferences and dietary detail that make a client feel known

Operations

• Coordinate the work behind each event: supplier orders, equipment hire, freelance crew bookings, packing lists and event folders
• Prepare and issue invoices promptly, monitor outstanding balances and escalate overdue accounts
• Maintain the operational database so clients, events, costings and suppliers stay in one place and stay current
• Arrange travel and logistics, and handle the general administration of a business that moves quickly

Social media

• Work with our editor to turn images and videos into finished content
• Run the community. Replies, messages and relationships with galleries, brands and press
• Track which content produces enquiries and work with the team to improve metrics

Skills and Experience Required

• Two years or more coordinating something real. Events, restaurants, luxury hospitality, an art gallery, a private office or an executive assistant role
• A working understanding of how an event or restaurant business runs. Suppliers, prep, service, covers, margins and what happens when something does not arrive
• Real interest in food. You do not need to have cooked professionally, but you should know good from ordinary and be able to say why
• Genuinely organised. Not tidy, organised. You track what you said you would do and it gets done without a reminder
• A good eye. You can look at a table, a plate or a room and know what is worth photographing and from where
• At ease in high end environments. You will be in private homes, galleries and five star hotels, often while the client is there. You know how to present yourself in those rooms, how to speak to the people in them and how to be unobtrusive when service is running
• Confident writing directly to clients, including people who are used to being looked after extremely well
• Discreet. You will see private client information and it stays private. Some clients cannot appear in content at all and you will know the difference without being told twice
• Comfortable with software and quick to learn new tools. We run on Airtable, Xero, Google Workspace and Softr, with Canva and a social scheduling tool alongside them. You do not need to have used all of these, but you should be the kind of person who is ready to learn how to use these.

What good looks like in your first three months

• The calendar is accurate and recurring and standing meetings are happening and everyone is informed.
• Every enquiry is answered the same day and its source is recorded
• Every invoice goes out within a day of delivery and the debtor position is visible at any moment
• A publishing rhythm holds without reminders, and every event produces material worth using

We are an Equal Opportunities Employer and welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds, regardless of their race, disability, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion and belief, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and caring responsibility. We are committed to offering a working environment where everyone is valued and feels appreciated.

#J-18808-Ljbffr