Barista - Temporary

Barnes & Noble•Edison, NJ

About The Position

A Barista is an integral member of the Barnes & Noble Café team, welcoming customers, helping them choose beverages and café items, and contributing to an attractive, efficiently run café. The role includes serving customers at the register, making food and drinks, stocking deliveries, maintaining café and retail presentation, and completing cleaning and food-safety tasks. Baristas also support the bookfloor team and may work at other stores when needed and able to do so. The position requires reliable attendance, flexibility to help fill scheduling gaps, a positive and helpful approach to customers and colleagues, and willingness to learn. Baristas are trained to use café technology and tools, follow operational procedures, and develop knowledge of café products, promotions, customization options, and retail offerings. As skills and experience grow, the employee is expected to progress toward the Senior Barista career step. The role also requires compliance with company policies and procedures. The work involves prolonged standing, repetitive bending, lifting, and extensive walking. Benefits depend on scheduled weekly hours and location. The stated starting hourly rate is $16.00, depending on experience, seniority, geographic location, and other factors permitted by law.

Requirements

Maintain reliable and punctual attendance for scheduled shifts.
Be flexible and responsive to store scheduling needs, including availability that may be needed during early mornings, late evenings, weekends, and most holidays.
Approach work positively and perform assigned tasks purposefully, energetically, and reliably.
Be supportive and considerate of colleagues and helpful to customers.
Show willingness and aptitude to learn new skills and knowledge.
Use registers, computers, tablets, programs, and other tools comfortably and efficiently.
Develop and maintain effective merchandising skills.
Operate a register competently and serve customers quickly and reliably.
Prepare food and drinks properly and accurately.
Perform prolonged standing, repetitive bending, lifting, and extensive walking.

Responsibilities

Welcome customers, answer questions, and help them select beverages and café items.
Serve customers quickly and professionally at the register.
Prepare food and drinks accurately using product information and recipe guides.
Maintain café presentation, cleanliness, and dining-area tidiness.
Maintain presentation of counter and floor retail fixtures.
Receive, unpack, and accurately stock deliveries.
Follow First In First Out (FIFO) practices and date products correctly.
Complete daily and weekly café cleaning tasks and follow safety, hygiene, and sanitation procedures.
Build product knowledge across beverages, bakery, savory items, and gifting, and use it to support sales and make customization recommendations.
Share knowledge about new limited-time offers, café promotions, and key products with customers and colleagues.
Support café retail execution and use café training tools appropriately.
Support the bookfloor team when needed.
Follow loss-prevention procedures, identify theft or problematic behavior, and seek support or use de-escalation techniques as appropriate.
Support other stores in the wider Cluster when able and needed.
Comply with company policies and procedures.