Café Supervisor
Location: Pensacola, Florida Reports To: Café Chef/Manager Position Type: Full-Time
Position Summary
We are seeking a dependable, hospitality-focused Café Supervisor to support the daily operation of a café and foodservice program in Pensacola, Florida. This position will also provide daily oversight for a nearby coffee drive-thru in close proximity to the primary café.
Reporting to the Café Chef/Manager, the Café Supervisor will help ensure both locations operate efficiently, consistently, and in accordance with established expectations for food quality, customer service, cleanliness, production, and cost control.
This is a hands-on leadership position. The Café Supervisor will work directly alongside employees, provide daily direction, monitor service execution, and address operational needs as they arise. The Café Chef/Manager will retain overall responsibility for the program and provide direction regarding menus, staffing plans, purchasing, financial goals, and operating standards.
Key Responsibilities
Daily Operations and Supervision
- Provide daily supervision and direction for café and coffee drive-thru employees
- Support opening, shift-change, and closing procedures at both locations
- Assign daily work responsibilities and ensure tasks are completed
- Maintain an active leadership presence during production and service periods
- Monitor employee attendance, appearance, productivity, and adherence to workplace expectations
- Communicate operational concerns, staffing needs, maintenance issues, and customer feedback to the Café Chef/Manager
- Help ensure the café and drive-thru remain organized, clean, stocked, and prepared for service
Scheduling and Staffing
- Assist the Café Chef/Manager with the preparation and maintenance of employee schedules
- Help coordinate coverage for call-outs, vacations, peak periods, and special events
- Monitor staffing levels throughout the day and adjust employee assignments as needed
- Support employee onboarding, orientation, coaching, and continuing training
- Reinforce performance expectations and provide timely feedback under the direction of the Café Chef/Manager
Food and Beverage Production
- Oversee daily food preparation, coffee production, stocking, and service readiness
- Ensure production follows established recipes, portions, presentation standards, and production schedules
- Monitor product quality, freshness, holding temperatures, and availability
- Assist with food and beverage production when needed
- Coordinate production and product movement between the café and drive-thru
- Minimize overproduction, waste, shortages, and service interruptions
- Ensure products are properly labeled, dated, stored, rotated, and handled
Ordering and Inventory
- Assist with food, beverage, paper product, and operating supply orders
- Monitor inventory levels and identify products requiring replenishment
- Receive deliveries and verify quantities, product quality, and invoice accuracy
- Maintain organized storage areas and reinforce proper product rotation
- Conduct inventory counts as directed by the Café Chef/Manager
- Communicate unusual usage, shortages, substitutions, or purchasing concerns
Customer Service
- Model warm, attentive, and professional customer service
- Ensure employees greet customers, communicate clearly, and complete orders accurately
- Monitor speed of service at both the café and drive-thru
- Address customer questions, concerns, and service recovery needs promptly and professionally
- Help create a welcoming environment that encourages repeat business
- Reinforce established hospitality and customer service standards throughout each shift
Cost Controls and Financial Accountability
- Support established food, beverage, labor, and operating cost goals
- Monitor portion control, waste, product usage, discounts, comps, and employee meals
- Help manage labor deployment based on business volume
- Reinforce accurate point-of-sale procedures and cash-handling practices
- Assist with register counts, deposits, sales reporting, and other closing procedures as assigned
- Identify potential losses, inefficiencies, or control issues and report them to the Café Chef/Manager
Food Safety and Sanitation
- Ensure compliance with food safety, sanitation, and workplace safety standards
- Monitor food temperatures, cleaning schedules, equipment sanitation, and employee hygiene
- Ensure required logs and checklists are completed accurately
- Maintain orderly food preparation, service, storage, and customer areas
- Report equipment failures, safety concerns, pest activity, or facility issues immediately
- Reinforce proper procedures for chemical use, allergen awareness, and safe food handling
Qualifications
- Previous supervisory or shift-lead experience in a café, restaurant, coffee shop, bakery, quick-service restaurant, or similar foodservice environment
- Experience supervising employees during active production and customer service periods
- Working knowledge of scheduling, ordering, inventory, food production, sanitation, and customer service
- Ability to move comfortably between the café and nearby coffee drive-thru throughout the workday
- Strong organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills
- Ability to provide clear direction while maintaining a positive and respectful workplace
- Comfortable working in a hands-on role and assisting wherever needed
- Basic understanding of food, beverage, labor, and waste controls
- Familiarity with point-of-sale systems, cash handling, and daily sales reporting
- Food safety certification preferred or ability to obtain certification within the required timeframe
Physical and Scheduling Requirements
- Ability to stand and walk for extended periods
- Ability to lift, carry, and move food, beverages, supplies, and small equipment
- Ability to work in kitchen, café, storage, outdoor, and drive-thru environments
- Availability to work mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and varying shifts based on business needs
- Reliable transportation and dependable attendance are required
What Success Looks Like
The successful Café Supervisor will:
- Keep both locations prepared, organized, and properly staffed
- Maintain consistent food, beverage, and customer service standards
- Communicate effectively with the Café Chef/Manager and frontline employees
- Address routine operating issues before they disrupt service
- Protect product quality while controlling waste and unnecessary costs
- Provide steady, visible leadership during busy periods
- Create a positive experience for customers and employees
- Carry out the direction and operating priorities established by the Café Chef/Manager
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is a reliable, hands-on foodservice professional who enjoys working alongside a team and taking responsibility for the details of daily execution. This individual understands that the position supports the Café Chef/Manager while serving as the primary day-to-day leader for employees during assigned shifts.
The Café Supervisor should be comfortable balancing hospitality, production, staffing, organization, and cost awareness while helping both the café and coffee drive-thru operate as one coordinated program.
