Cafe Operations Manager

Café Operations Manager\n\nSouth West London | Multi-Site Hospitality\n\n£40,000 - £45,000 + Fantastic Career Progression\n\n45 Hours per Week | Permanent\n\nThis ambitious family-run bakery business has grown from a single location into multiple thriving cafés across South London, earning an outstanding reputation for exceptional coffee, incredible food and genuine customer service.\n\nWith exciting expansion plans already underway, they're now looking for a Café Operations Manager to become one of the most influential people in the business, working directly alongside the owners to help shape the future of the operation.\n\nThis is a hands-on leadership position where you'll be out in the cafés, supporting your teams, driving standards, opening new sites and making a genuine difference every single day.\n\nThe Opportunity\n\nYou'll take overall responsibility for the day-to-day operation of all six cafés, leading and developing an Assistant Café Operations Manager together with six Café Managers and approximately 60-70 team members across the business.\n\nYou'll become the go-to operational leader, ensuring every café consistently delivers an exceptional customer experience whilst maintaining the high standards and culture that have made the business so successful.\n\nWorking directly with the owners, you'll also play a key role in future café openings, helping launch new sites, embedding teams and ensuring every opening is a success from day one.\n\nKey Responsibilities\n\n * Lead the day-to-day operations across six busy café locations.\n\n * Coach, mentor and develop the Assistant Café Operations Manager and Café Managers.\n\n * Support approximately 60-70 team members across the business through strong leadership.\n\n * Drive exceptional customer service, food quality and operational standards.\n\n * Spend the majority of your time out in the cafés, supporting teams and leading from the front.\n\n * Help launch new sites, spending time on-site to ensure successful openings.\n\n * Monitor sales performance, labour costs and operational KPI's, identifying opportunities for improvement.\n\n * Introduce and continuously improve operational systems and processes.\n\n * Oversee café technology and POS systems, managing supplier relationships and ongoing improvements.\n\n * Support recruitment, organise trial shifts and help build high-performing teams.\n\n * Build strong relationships with Café Managers, acting as a trusted operational partner.\n\n * Work collaboratively across all six locations to ensure consistency and continuous improvement.\n\nWhat We're Looking For\n\nSomeone who enjoys being on the café floor just as much as reviewing performance, supporting managers or planning the next opening.\n\nYou'll probably already have experience as a:\n\nMulti-Site Operations Manager\nArea Manager\nRegional Manager\nOperations Manager\nHospitality Operations Manager\nCafé Operations Manager\nRestaurant Area Manager\n\nExperience within cafés, restaurants, hospitality or retail will all be considered.\n\nYou'll also bring:\n\n * Multi-site management experience.\n\n * A passion for developing people and building high-performing teams.\n\n * Strong commercial awareness with the ability to improve operational performance.\n\n * Excellent organisation and problem-solving skills.\n\n * A proactive, hands-on leadership style.\n\n * Confidence making decisions and taking ownership.\n\n * A genuine passion for delivering exceptional customer experiences.\n\nWhat's on Offer?\n\n * £40,000 - £45,000 salary depending on experience.\n\n * Permanent full-time opportunity.\n\n * 45-hour working week.\n\n * 28 days annual leave (including Christmas Day allocation).\n\n * Birthday off every year.\n\n * Genuine opportunity to influence the future direction of a rapidly growing business.\n\n * Work directly alongside passionate owners who genuinely care about their people.\n\n * A supportive culture where everyone rolls their sleeves up and works together.\n\n * Fantastic long-term career progression as the business continues to expand.\n\nIf you're looking for a role where you can genuinely make an impact, lead from the front and become a key part of an exciting growth journey, we'd love to hear from you