Barista

Barnes & Noble • Columbia, MD

1d • Onsite

About The Position

As a Barista at Barnes & Noble, you are an integral member of the Café team, responsible for creating a welcoming atmosphere for customers. Your primary duties include greeting customers, answering questions, and connecting them with appropriate beverages and café items. You also play a crucial role in maintaining the Café's attractive presentation and efficient operation, which involves unpacking and stocking deliveries, tidying the bakes case and dining area, and operating registers quickly and friendly. The role requires strong behavioral traits such as reliable attendance, flexibility to cover shifts including weekends and holidays, a positive and willing approach to tasks, supportiveness towards colleagues, cheerfulness with customers, and an aptitude for learning new skills. You will be trained in operational competencies including using various technologies (registers, computers, tablets), merchandising, visual merchandising, running a register, handling deliveries, preparing food and drinks accurately using guides, maintaining café cleanliness through daily and weekly tasks, following FIFO practices, and supporting the bookfloor team when needed. Additionally, you will learn loss prevention procedures and de-escalation techniques. The position involves physical activity such as prolonged standing, repetitive bending, lifting, and walking. As you gain experience, you are expected to develop your knowledge of café products (beverages, bakery, savory, gifting), maintain appealing presentations, promote sales objectives and LTO items, make customization recommendations, understand café retail options, use training tools, and adhere to safety, hygiene, and sanitation guidelines. The ultimate goal is to enjoy being a barista, with opportunities to advance to a Senior Barista role.

Requirements

• Maintain reliable and punctual attendance for scheduled shifts.
• Be flexible and responsive to the needs of the store, including working early mornings to late evenings every day, weekends and most holidays.
• Be positive and willing in your approach to work, performing assigned tasks with purpose and energy, working hard and reliably.
• Be supportive and considerate of colleagues.
• Be always cheerful with customers.
• Show aptitude and willingness to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge in the store.
• Enjoy being a barista.
• Proficiency in using varied technology including registers, computers, tablets, programs and other tools comfortably and efficiently.
• Strong merchandising skills to maintain the café presentation and cleanliness.
• Effective visual merchandising skills to maintain the counter and floor retail fixtures.
• Ability to run a register competently.
• Ability to support the receiving and unpacking of deliveries, and efficient and accurate stocking.
• Ability to make food and drinks properly with ease and accuracy.
• Ability to maintain café cleanliness through accurate and reliable execution of daily and weekly cleaning tasks.
• Ability to follow and execute First In First Out (FIFO) practices and dating product consistently and correctly.
• Ability to support the bookfloor team willingly and effectively when needed.
• Understanding of loss prevention procedures and de-escalation techniques.
• Physical activity which includes prolonged standing, repetitive bending, lifting and a lot of walking.

Responsibilities

• Welcome customers in a cheerful and helpful way by saying hello, answering questions and consistently going out of your way to connect readers with the right beverages and café items.
• Maintain the attractive presentation and ensure the efficient running of the Café.
• Help unpack and stock deliveries and to tidy our bakes case and dining area.
• Work our registers in a quick and friendly manner, ensuring our customers receive a highly professional service.
• Maintain reliable and punctual attendance for scheduled shifts.
• Fill scheduling gaps when you are able, being flexible and responsive to the needs of the store.
• Perform assigned tasks with purpose and energy, working hard and reliably.
• Be supportive and considerate of colleagues, going out of your way to help others in the team and showing them kindness.
• Be always cheerful with customers, consistently going out of your way to help them.
• Show aptitude and willingness to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge in the store.
• Use varied technology including registers, computers, tablets, programs and other tools comfortably and efficiently.
• Develop strong merchandising skills to maintain the café presentation and cleanliness of the Café.
• Develop effective visual merchandising skills to maintain the counter and floor retail fixtures.
• Run a register competently to serve customers quickly and reliably.
• Support the receiving and unpacking of deliveries, and the efficient and accurate stocking that follows.
• Make food and drinks properly with ease and accuracy, using a combination of your own knowledge or that of your colleagues, and the available information like drink recipe guides, product spec sheets and other tools.
• Maintain café cleanliness through accurate and reliable execution of daily and weekly cleaning tasks during your shift.
• Follow and execute First In First Out (FIFO) practices and dating product consistently and correctly.
• Support the bookfloor team willingly and effectively when needed.
• Understand loss prevention procedures and de-escalation techniques, identifying theft, spotting and seeking support for problematic behaviors and issues in the store.
• Build café knowledge of the products we offer across beverage, bakery and savory options and gifting.
• Use this knowledge to maintain the presentation in an interesting and appetizing manner.
• Speak about and support key sales objectives such as new LTO items or café promotions sharing this knowledge with customers and colleagues.
• Be able to make effective food and beverage customization recommendations to customers on varied items.
• Build knowledge and engagement for execution of café retail options.
• Understand and use Café training tools appropriately.
• Use knowledge about café safety, hygiene, sanitation guidelines and procedures to maintain all standards correctly and reliably.
• Use this knowledge to support the success of key products and promotions.
• Comply with all company policies and procedures.

Benefits

• For those who are scheduled to work less than 20 hours per week: Employee Discount, EAP and Sick Pay.
• For those scheduled to work between 20 and 29.99 hours per week: Employee Discount, EAP, Sick Pay, Paid Time Off including paid Maternity and Parental Leave, Company Paid Holidays, Transit and 401(k) with Company Match.
• For those scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week: Employee Discount, EAP, Sick Pay, Paid Time Off including paid Maternity and Parental Leave, Company Paid Holidays, 401(k) with Company Match, Comprehensive Health Benefits (Medical, Dental and Vision), Healthcare and Dependent Care Spending Accounts, Healthcare Spending Account, Disability Benefits, Life Insurance, Transit, and Tuition Reimbursement.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed