Senior Barista

Job Summary

A Barnes & Noble bookstore is a gathering place for readers and the community. As a Senior Barista, you are an integral member of the team at the heart of our Cafés. In this role, you have mastered the key barista behaviors and skills, genuinely welcoming our customers to discover and taste our curated offerings. You create a hospitable place for customers to relax and enjoy our bookstores.

You create a sense of community for our customers, helping new Baristas learn so they can provide a knowledgeable and great experience for our customers.

You’ll make a great Senior Barista if you have what we term to be good “behaviors.”

These behaviors collectively demonstrate that you:

• Are always cheerful with customers, consistently going out of your way to help them.
• Are supportive and considerate of colleagues, going out of your way to help others on the team and showing them kindness.
• Are positive and willing in your approach to work, performing assigned tasks with purpose and energy, working hard and reliably.
• Show aptitude and willingness to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge in the store.
• 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 — we are open from early mornings to late evenings every day, including weekends and most holidays.
• Are curious, want to continuously learn, and demonstrate ambition and initiative to develop a café or bookselling career.
• Act as a resource for baristas, addressing concerns and issues by raising these timely to leadership.
• Above all, you show that you enjoy being a barista!

As a Senior Barista, you are part of a busy team and will be required to master the operational competencies of a Barnes & Noble barista.

You will be trained and expected to be proficient in:

• Using varied technology, including registers, computers, tablets, programs and other tools comfortably and efficiently while also troubleshooting routine issues.
• Maintaining the counter and floor retail fixtures through effective merchandising and visual understanding, keeping the Café neat and tidy, equally.
• Utilizing strong merchandising skill, attending to and maintaining a full and vibrant bake case.
• Running an efficient and quick register while taking orders competently to serve customers quickly and reliably while helping other baristas to do the same.
• Supporting the receiving and unpacking of deliveries, following First in First Out (FIFO) practices.
• Making suggestions on food and beverage products and pairings to enhance a customer’s experience.
• Mastering drink making and food preparation, using and following approved recipes and spec sheets.
• Keeping Café clean and tidy through excellent execution of daily and weekly cleaning tasks.
• Supporting the bookfloor team willingly and effectively when needed.
• Understanding loss prevention procedures and using de‑escalation techniques, identifying theft, spotting and seeking support for problematic behavior and issues in the store.

All this work requires physical activity which includes prolonged standing, repetitive bending, lifting and a lot of walking. You may work in other stores if you are able and this is needed, collaboratively supporting the wider Cluster.

As you gain experience, you should expect your barista knowledge and skills to develop. Each Barnes & Noble bookstore is the product of its bookselling and café team. You will increasingly contribute as you develop your expertise. You will:

• Use café knowledge of varied items (beverages, bakery and savory) and products to create an enjoyable dining experience for customers.
• Maintain visual presentation using knowledge of various café retail offerings (Harney Tea, Starbucks Coffee, Grab‑n‑Go, Drinkware, etc.) to offer options to our customers.
• Maintain the bake case and present offerings and products in an attractive manner.
• Use knowledge to educate baristas on making beverages properly to satisfy the customer.
• Understand and use café training tools appropriately.
• Know and speak comfortably about key sales objectives and company supported initiatives (new LTO, café promotions, Membership, etc.), with…