Café 16 Manager
The Oswin Project — Café 16, Newcastle Cathedral
Salary: £30,000 | Full time
Manage a café that changes lives.
Café 16 sits in the heart of Newcastle Cathedral, and it’s more than a café. It’s a training ground run by The Oswin Project, a charity creating second chances through employment for people leaving prison. As our Café 16 Manager, you’ll run the whole show — and help break the cycle of re-offending while you do it.
About the role
You’ll take full ownership of the day-to-day running of Café 16: the finances, the food, the team and the customer experience from start to finish. Reporting to the Catering Operations Manager, you’ll lead a team that includes our “Oswinners” — people we’re supporting back into work — alongside volunteers and staff. Your focus will be leadership, financial performance and growing the business, all while building the confidence and skills of the people around you.
What you’ll be doing
- Running Café 16 end to end — hitting financial targets and delivering a surplus for the charity
- Developing popular, well-priced menus for the café and for outside catering
- Managing external events in partnership with Newcastle Cathedral staff, from customer liaison and diary planning through to invoicing
- Keeping food safety, hygiene and HACCP standards high, with excellent record keeping
- Managing stock efficiently, cutting waste and keeping availability strong at peak times
- Handling catering admin — stock takes, recipe building, reporting, risk assessments, COSHH and allergen records
- Ensuring all health & safety and compliance procedures are met
- Recruiting, managing, training and developing the catering team alongside our Mentoring team
Where and when you’ll work
Based at Café 16, open 9am–4pm, Monday to Saturday. You’ll work a 5-day roster that can include evenings, weekends and bank holidays, as we often cater for evening events and the occasional Sunday. You’ll need to live within reasonable travelling distance of Newcastle city centre.
What we’re looking for
Essential:
- Supervisory experience in a successful catering operation
- Experience of profit responsibility, event planning and managing staff performance, training and rotas
- Level 2 Food Hygiene certificate (minimum)
- Working knowledge of health & safety and risk assessments
- Financial skills for budgeting and menu costing
- Strong communication, leadership and time-management skills, and good numeracy and literacy
- Comfortable using a PC and on-site technology
Desirable:
- NVQ Level 3 in catering/hospitality, Level 3 Food Hygiene, barista training, COSHH, first aid
- A driving licence for outside catering
- Ability to promote the business via social media
- Above all, a genuine passion for transforming lives and a commitment to supporting former offenders
Why join us
This is a rare chance to run a thriving café and genuinely change lives at the same time. You’ll inspire a team, generate vital income for the charity, and see the direct impact of your work every single day.
The Oswin Project welcomes applications from people with criminal records. For a confidential conversation, please email caroline.chrisp@oswinproject.org.uk.
We’re committed to equal opportunities. If you have a disability, we’d be glad to discuss reasonable adjustments to the role.
Application Pack here
How to apply
To apply for the Café 16 Manager role, please send your CV together with a covering letter telling us why you’re interested in the position and how your experience matches what we’re looking for. Applications should be emailed to info@oswinproject.org.uk to arrive no later than midday on Tuesday 28th July. We look forward to hearing from you.