Part-Time Café Baristas and Cashiers Hotel and Cafe

Job Goal

To advance the college’s mission, vision, principles, values and strategic initiatives through continuous improvement decisions.

The Café at Kirkwood (Iowa Hall, Main Campus at Kirkwood Community College) is a part of the same team that operates The Hotel  Café and its two on‑campus satellite locations provide meals, snacks and beverages with fresh, high‑quality ingredients and tasty gourmet menus to students, employees and guests on Kirkwood’s main campus. Cashiers and baristas are critical to a positive and efficient delivery of service and are the main point of interaction with all of our customers.

• Advocate for continual improvement – empowering each other to identify opportunities for excellence.
• Collaborate with mutual accountability – working together with a willingness to take ownership and account for our actions.
• Champion service – anticipating needs and creating a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive environment.
• Perseverance – commitment to excellence even in the face of adversity or delay in achieving success.
• Lead – regardless of title, through positive influence.

• Greeting customers in a friendly manner and taking food and drink orders.
• Answering customers’ questions about menu choices.
• Promoting and recommending menu options to customers.
• Preparing and serving hot or cold beverages (coffee, espresso drinks, blended coffees, teas, smoothies) and ice‑cream desserts.
• Facilitating a seamless, efficient and positive interaction at the point of sale, while ensuring all customer needs are met.
• Handling cash, check, and credit card transactions and following proper cash handling procedures.
• Suggesting appropriate items to complete the transaction.
• Serving prepared foods such as muffins, pastries, and cakes; slicing fruits, vegetables or desserts for use in food service.
• Wrapping, labeling, and dating food items and ensuring compliance with food safety guidelines.
• Inspecting food preparation and serving areas to ensure observance of safe, sanitary food‑handling practices.
• Being knowledgeable about food storage/handling techniques.
• Cleaning or sanitizing work areas, utensils, or equipment.
• Maintaining regular and consistent attendance at work.
• Following instructions (e.g., menus/recipes) and properly using kitchen equipment such as blenders, coffee makers, soft‑serve machines, dishwashers and registers.
• Performing other related work duties as assigned, including supporting other roles such as prep cooks, catering and dishwashers.
• Managing time effectively and organizing tasks with good memory to handle multiple orders simultaneously and recall faces, names, and preferences of frequent patrons.
• Having a genuine excitement for helping people and positively engaging with customers and coworkers.
• Desiring to be part of an enthusiastic, fast‑paced and fun team.
• Welcoming, valuing, and nurturing people of all backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, while supporting an environment that accepts differences.

The physical demands for this position are seeing, hearing, speaking, reaching, lifting up to 50 pounds, sitting, standing for 4 to 8 hours, bending, twisting, climbing and moving intermittently during working hours. Employees may use vision to monitor food quality and quantity and may also serve students, order supplies, collect money, etc. Hearing and speaking abilities are required to exchange information.

The employee regularly works in an indoor kitchen environment with exposure to heat from ovens, hot foods and steamers, cleaning chemicals, fumes, equipment, and metal objects. Employees also work around knives, dicers, mixers, slicers and other sharp objects. Work surfaces may be slippery. The noise level is usually moderate but can be loud depending on the specific work site and/or equipment operation.

• High school diploma or equivalent.

• Customer service background.
• Experience with computers, hardware, and software.
• Cash handling experience.
• Preference will be given to candidates with a minimum of two years…