Lead Barista

Barnes & Noble•North Canton, OH

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Barista is an integral member of the Barnes & Noble café team, providing hands-on leadership and helping ensure the café operates efficiently. The role guides baristas, supports compelling product presentation, and helps create a welcoming environment where colleagues feel comfortable raising questions or concerns and trust that they will be addressed. The Lead Barista serves as a resource for baristas and booksellers, models high standards, supports the shift, and helps resolve concerns or escalate them to leadership. The position requires proficiency in the operational competencies of a Barnes & Noble barista, including drink making, food preparation, merchandising, register service, delivery handling, stocking, and cleaning. The Lead Barista coaches colleagues in these areas, supports café sales objectives, maintains inventory and waste records, and helps ensure food safety, hygiene, sanitation, and loss-prevention standards. The role may also involve supporting other stores in the wider Cluster when needed and when the employee is able. The work involves prolonged standing, repetitive bending, lifting, and extensive walking. Stores are open from early morning to late evening every day, including weekends and most holidays, and the Lead Barista is expected to maintain reliable attendance and be flexible about filling scheduling gaps when able. Benefits vary according to scheduled weekly hours and location. The position offers opportunities to develop café skills and advance along the career path.

Requirements

Demonstrated or developing proficiency in drink making, food preparation, and café tools and processes.
Ability to coach and support colleagues in café operations, merchandising, customer service, and maintaining standards.
Strong merchandising skills, including creating and maintaining café displays and a full bake case.
Ability to support accurate register service, delivery handling, stocking, FIFO practices, and cleaning tasks.
Ability to follow café safety, hygiene, and sanitation guidelines and procedures.
Ability to support loss-prevention procedures, recognize theft, and effectively de-escalate challenging situations and problematic behaviors.
Reliable and punctual attendance for scheduled shifts.
Positive, proactive, supportive, and considerate approach to work and colleagues.
Cheerful, helpful customer-service approach.
Willingness and aptitude to learn new skills and knowledge and apply them while guiding and supporting others.
Curiosity, initiative, and ambition to develop a bookselling or café career.
Physical ability to perform prolonged standing, repetitive bending, lifting, and extensive walking.

Responsibilities

Guide the café team and oversee efficient café operations while modeling reliable, positive, and supportive work behaviors.
Serve as a resource for baristas and booksellers, address and resolve concerns, and raise issues to leadership as appropriate.
Prioritize resources and barista support to keep shifts on track.
Model best practices in drink making, food preparation, and café tools and processes; coach baristas in their execution.
Coach the café team in merchandising and maintaining a full, vibrant bake case, counter and floor displays, cleanliness, and presentation standards.
Coach baristas in customer conversations and improve register speed and accuracy.
Guide and support receiving and unpacking deliveries, accurate and efficient stocking, and First In First Out (FIFO) practices.
Support completion of daily and weekly café cleaning tasks and maintain café cleanliness.
Support bookfloor presentation and maintenance standards.
Coach the team in loss-prevention procedures, identifying theft, de-escalating challenging situations, and maintaining a safe and secure bookstore.
Place food and beverage orders accurately and on time, using available tools and resources to keep the café in stock.
Complete and submit accurate monthly inventory and waste logs on time.
Coach the team in making effective food and beverage recommendations to customers.
Lead and support café sales objectives, including new limited-time offers, café promotions, and Membership, and share relevant information with customers and colleagues.
Use café training tools and resources to help baristas broaden their experience.
Maintain café safety, food hygiene, and sanitation standards and procedures.
Maintain reliable and punctual attendance; fill scheduling gaps when able and support other stores in the Cluster when able and needed.
Comply with company policies and procedures.