Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Food & Beverage leader; someone who lives and breathes hospitality and thrives on providing excellent customer service, to help us deliver the world class experience that Chester Zoo is known for. You will be responsible for leading, supervising and motivating your team to ensure optimal people performance, in order to maximise sales, net profits and customer experience.



Food & Beverage at the zoo includes a variety of restaurants, serving everything from fast food to traditional family favourites, a Gastro-pub, as well as coffee shops, kiosks our staff canteen and a 450-seat street kitchen serving Indonesian inspired street food.

The Role

We are looking for a hands-on leader with good management experience to be responsible for our fast-paced operation. You will initially have responsibility for the day-to-day running of our Bembe restaurant at the main entrance of the zoo which also leads on to our brand new Heart of Africa project. Bembe consists of a 200 cover restaurant, a coffee shop and a hot food and snack kiosk. You will be managing a team in excess of 30 during our busy summer period. You will run your unit along with the support of your Coordinator and under the supervision of the Food & Beverage operations manager.



In addition, you will:

Assist in achieving and monitoring budgets with the aim of meeting agreed departmental targets and KPIs. Implement and adhere to policies, standard operating procedures, safe working practices including food safety systems and support training programs to ensure your team follow best practice Be aware of and have a good understanding of current food trends, both in the leisure and tourism sector and the wider food industry to ensure we are leaders in the industry Be responsible for the management of the epos and stock management system

Our Requirements

Demonstrable experience in a similar role, ideally within a busy food court style operation Experienced people manager who is able to lead and inspire a team in a range of disciplines Good practical knowledge of budgets, forecasting and setting targets Excellent written and verbal communication with the ability to liaise with people at all levels Knowledge of balancing customer requirements and service capabilities with the need to return a profit Knowledge of effective performance monitoring systems Good working knowledge of Health & Hygiene Safety Legislation processes Computer literate with working knowledge of Excel and other Microsoft products

The Package

You'll be working a variety of shifts, 5 days out of 7 on a rota basis including weekends and bank holidays. Hours of work will generally be during our core zoo opening hours, although evening work will be required for special events such as 'Into the night' and 'The Lanterns'.

Permanent contract Salary of 29,260.20 per annum 33 days annual leave Holiday buy/sell scheme Staff pass so you can visit the zoo during your time off, plus multiple complimentary tickets for your friends and family Cycle to work scheme Healthcare plan and employee assistance programme Discounted gym membership Discounts on cinema tickets, restaurants, high street shops and more via Perks Pension scheme with generous employer contributions up to 9%


The Zoo welcomes 2 million visitors per year and our Food & Beverage outlets are very busy. It is therefore important that you are able to work in a fast paced, high volume, multiple Food & Beverage outlet environment and that you are able to thrive working under pressure.



What makes Chester Zoo a great place to work?



As the UK's biggest and best zoo, we have ambitious goals, exciting plans, and there's always lots going on here. We're an inclusive and diverse organisation, made up of over 600 permanent and 500 temporary team members, and we know how important it is to invest in our colleagues to help boost their career development. We have ambitious goals, and we want you to be with us for the long term on our exciting journey.

We reserve the right to close our vacancies earlier than the listed date if we have received a high level of applications. We recommend that if you do wish to be considered that you submit your application as promptly as possible as shortlisting and interviews may be taking place whilst the advert is live.