Café Manager

The Main Library Café is located on the beautiful bridge that overlooks Boulder Creek. The Café is an important gathering point for the community, and we are looking for someone who can help us increase it's use even more.

The Boulder Public Library District (BPLD) is committed to advancing equity in our diverse community by providing accessible programs, print and digital materials, tools and technology, and educational opportunities. Across our five current locations, we are proud to offer resources such as a makerspace, art galleries, outdoor learning areas, a multimedia local history archive, community literacy programs, and a theater. Boulder Public Library strives to be a safe and welcoming place to all staff and patrons, alike. Through outreach, community partnerships, and volunteer-driven programs, we seek to adapt our services to those who may experience barriers to visiting our physical locations.

We circulate more than 1.5 million items annually, but we believe that a library is more than a place to borrow free materials. As a vital civic space, we provide opportunities for our more than 500,000 yearly visitors to study, host meetings, be introduced to new people or experiences, and connect to essential local services.

Our employees are part of a vibrant, uplifting workplace culture that honors the joy and commitment of meaningful public service, while still caring for the needs of the individual. Our work is highly collaborative, adaptive, inquisitive, and is always on-going. We are passionate individuals with diverse backgrounds, interests, and experiences and we are dedicated to our mission of connecting people, ideas and information to transform lives and strengthen our community.

Job Summary: The Café Manager is responsible for the organization, management, supervision, and effective operation of The Library Café. This includes overseeing day-to-day activities, training and supervising staff, and ensuring smooth and efficient business operations. The Café Manager is also tasked with leading and motivating staff by providing both initial and ongoing training, offering confidential feedback, and implementing policies and procedures to maintain high standards of service. Acting as a working supervisor, this role will work alongside café staff, performing tasks that are necessary for the café’s smooth operation, ranging from cleaning and organizing café areas to ordering products and managing inventory levels.

This is a 40-hour per week, non-exempt, at-will role.

Essential Functions:

• Help provide consistent, high quality customer service. (30%)
• Create and manage staff schedules, cover staff absences, and coordinate with café substitutes to ensure consistent operations. Oversee staffing, including the hiring, onboarding, and offboarding of baristas. (20%)
• Manage existing vendor contracts and source new vendors as needed to maintain and expand product offerings. Support ordering and help prepare café products for library-sponsored events and other public meetings held in the library’s meeting rooms upon request. (20%)
• Plan for financial success by assessing profit margins, setting pricing strategies, and monitoring sales and expenditures. Provide reports and other statistical information to the Director for operational and financial analysis. (15%)
• Assess current policies and procedures, making recommendations to the library leadership team for improvements. (15%)

Additional Responsibilities:

• Coordinate closures with MODs (Managers on Duty) and provide broader operational suggestions to library management.
• Foster collaborations within the community, potentially partnering with local businesses to offer traditional café snacks like pastries.
• Maintain café equipment and coordinate repairs as necessary to ensure all equipment is functioning properly.
• Conduct initial and ongoing training for café staff and substitutes, ensuring they are proficient in all aspects of café operations. Delegate duties based on staff members' skills and abilities, encouraging continued growth and learning.
• Troubleshoot basic issues with the café’s technology, including network connectivity, point-of-sale equipment, and software applications.
• Develop staff awareness and understanding of the library’s vulnerable populations, such as patrons experiencing homelessness, and work with security to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for all library patrons.
• Collaborate with the Communications department to create and implement effective marketing and promotional strategies for the café.

Health and Wellness Benefits

• Group Medical, Dental & Vision benefits to employees who work 20 hours or more per week
• Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) for all benefit-eligible employees
• Employer paid Basic Life & Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Employer paid employee assistance program (EAP) for employees & their household members
• Health Savings (HSA) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for all benefit-eligible employees
• Voluntary, Employee Paid, Group Accident, Critical Illness & Hospital Indemnity Plans for all benefit-eligible employees
• Employees who work 20 hours or more per week are eligible to take up to 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave following the birth of an employee’s child or the placement of a child with an employee for adoption or foster care
• Infant at Work Program
• Transportation and Parking Assistance

Time-off Benefits

• New employees accrue 4 weeks Paid Vacation
• 80 hours of Paid Sick leave per year for employees who work 20 hours or more per week
• 12 Paid Holidays and 3 Floating Holidays
• Time off for Jury Duty, Bereavement and Voting
• Pet Adoption Leave
• Grandparent Leave

Helping Your Future

• Public Employee Retirement Association of Colorado (PERA) Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan
• PERA 401(k) Plan
• Tuition Reimbursement Program and Student Debt Repayment Assistance
• Paid Training and Professional Development

Library Perks

• Easy access to unlimited resources—including books, movies, programs, digital technology and more

Minimum Qualifications:

Experience: 3-5 years working in a cafe setting as a Barista, ideally in a lead or management role. Must know how to operate cafe machinery.

Skills: Ability to work independently with limited supervision, with a strong aptitude for detailed work and proficiency in prioritizing tasks. Ability to supervise, coach, train, and lead a team effectively. Proficiency with a variety of software programs related to café operations, including word processing, internet research, scheduling, calendaring, and point-of-sale systems.

Working Conditions:

Primarily physical work with repetitive handling of items, frequent walking and standing, and occasional lifting of items up to 40 pounds. Requires sufficient manual dexterity that permits the employee to operate restaurant equipment. Sufficient personal mobility and physical reflexes which permit the employee to work in a multilevel facility. Seeing, hearing, and speaking required.

Please apply by Friday, September 6th at 4PM. Interviews for the role will begin the following week.

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Application Accommodations

BPLD is committed to advancing equity in our diverse community, and jobs are one great way for us to do this. Please tell us if you need accommodation for a disability to apply for this position.

Examples of this could include: A paper copy of the application or emailing the interview questions to you in advance via email or reading the application to an applicant with visual impairment. This is not an exhaustive list.

Please note a few things:

• If you need more time to fill out anything on the application, we recommend that you fill out the answers on a word processing document or a text file. The system times out after 30 minutes and does not retain your information. Having it on a word processing document will help in case you need to copy and paste the information back into the application.
• Uploading documents qualifications can impact the formatting of your resume. We will not discount your application if Paylocity transcription alters the formatting.

Reach us at: hr@boulderlibrary.org, and we will work with you to see if we can accommodate.