Cafe Lead

CAFÉ LEAD

Location: New General Café & Coffee Bar – Winter Park, FL
Employment Type: Full-Time

New General is a health-forward café and coffee bar focused on creating familiar, house-made food and beverages with nutrition, wellness, and quality in mind. We are committed to exceptional hospitality and thoughtful ingredients. We never utilize seed oils or cane sugar, serve organic milks, and source locally whenever possible.

The Café Lead is a hands-on leadership position responsible for supporting and leading the day-to-day success of the front of house. This person sets the standard for hospitality, coffee quality, service, teamwork, cleanliness, and operational excellence.

The Café Lead must be highly present on the floor and confident leading a team during busy service periods. They must have a strong background in craft coffee, understand how to troubleshoot equipment and POS issues as they arise, and be able to make thoughtful decisions that always consider the guest experience.

This role requires a leader who can motivate and develop others, have constructive conversations when needed, and create a team environment where everyone understands the importance of working collectively toward the same goal: delivering an exceptional experience for every customer.

• Lead the front-of-house team with confidence, professionalism, and a positive attitude.
• Motivate team members to work collectively and support one another.
• Set clear expectations and hold team members accountable for performance, hospitality, quality, and workplace standards.
• Have constructive and direct conversations with staff when performance, behavior, or expectations need to be addressed.
• Provide feedback in a way that is respectful, productive, and focused on growth.
• Help team members understand how their individual actions impact the overall guest experience.
• Lead by example through a strong work ethic, professionalism, urgency, and willingness to step into any role when needed.
• Foster a collaborative environment where every team member considers the customer when making decisions.
• Help coach and develop team members to become stronger, more confident contributors.

• Maintain a high level of knowledge and experience in craft coffee and espresso.
• Ensure all coffee and espresso beverages meet New General's standards for quality, consistency, presentation, and speed.
• Coach and support baristas on espresso quality, drink preparation, milk steaming, workflow, and beverage consistency.
• Monitor beverage ticket times and identify opportunities to improve bar efficiency without sacrificing quality.
• Troubleshoot common coffee and espresso equipment issues as they arise.
• Understand when an equipment issue can be resolved in-house and when it needs to be escalated for service or repair.
• Assist with routine coffee equipment maintenance and ensure the team is following proper cleaning and care procedures.

• Troubleshoot POS and technology issues as they arise during service.
• Quickly assess operational issues and take appropriate action to minimize disruptions to the guest experience.
• Remain calm and solution-oriented when unexpected issues occur.
• Support and maintain efficient workflows during busy service periods.
• Monitor ticket times and service flow throughout each shift.
• Identify bottlenecks and work proactively with the team to keep service moving.
• Ensure orders are accurate and modifications are communicated clearly.
• Maintain a strong sense of urgency while protecting quality and hospitality.

• Lead with the guest in mind and encourage the team to consider the customer in every decision they…