Café Supervisor - The Pantry Café & Kitchen (Reading Town Hall)
| Posting date: | 06 November 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £28,142 to £31,022 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 13 November 2025 |
| Location: | Reading, Berkshire |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Reading Borough Council |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: |
Summary
We’re looking for an enthusiastic and experienced Café Supervisor to join our friendly team at The Pantry Café, located within the beautiful and historic Reading Town Hall. You’ll play a key role in ensuring our café runs smoothly day to day, providing excellent customer service, delicious food and drink, and a welcoming atmosphere for all visitors.
We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity and inclusion is the key to our success. Reading Borough Council is a Disability Confident Employer and is committed to the recruitment and continued employment of people with disabilities.
About The Role:
The Pantry Café & Kitchen is situated within Reading Town Hall and is one of the leading independent café destinations for Reading. We are looking for an enthusiastic and dynamic person to lead our team in this vibrant environment.
To find out more about The Pantry Café and Kitchen visit: https://thepantrytownhall.co.uk
You’ll work full-time hours, and some Saturday shifts will be required, these will be scheduled on a rotational basis and not every weekend.
As Café Supervisor, you’ll take the lead in delivering a high-quality experience for every visitor. You’ll supervise and motivate the Front of House team, manage rotas to meet business needs, and ensure the café is clean, organised, and running smoothly. You’ll also support the Executive Chef and kitchen team, assist with food and drink orders, and oversee stock control and inventory checks.
You’ll play a key role in maintaining food safety standards, keeping HACCP documentation up to date, and providing ongoing training to ensure staff are confident and knowledgeable. When the Commercial Operations & Café Manager is away, you’ll hold daily team briefings to keep communication flowing and morale high. Your leadership will help create a welcoming, efficient, and customer-focused environment.
About You:
You’ll have experience working in a café, restaurant, or catering environment, ideally with some supervisory or team leader experience. You’re approachable, organised, and thrive in a busy environment. A genuine passion for great customer service and good food is a must!
We’re looking for someone who:
Has experience in a similar café or hospitality role
Is confident leading a small team and supporting staff development
Has good organisational and communication skills
Holds (or is willing to gain) a Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate
Takes pride in maintaining a clean, efficient, and friendly café environment
You’ll be part of a team that relies on each individual to play their part to the best of their ability. As well as the colleagues that you work closely with every day, you’ll also be part of Team Reading, playing your personal part in making Reading a successful and vibrant place.
Our vision is to ensure that Reading realises its potential as a great place to live, work and play, and that everyone shares the benefits of this success. Our values and behaviours guide how we will achieve this:
Work Together as one team - work collaboratively, with each other and with our partners, and demonstrate the Team Reading values in everything we do
Drive Efficiency - show initiative, be adaptable to change and put forward ideas to help improve delivery and efficiency. Take responsibility for our own learning and development and for reaching our potential.
Be Ambitious - be demanding of our own performance – striving to be even better – and be prepared to engage with and challenge leaders in a constructive and positive way.
Make a Difference to Reading - maintain the highest levels of customer service and be flexible and willing to provide the services needed at the time they are needed.
Our offer:
We offer a supportive environment to grow and develop your career with the opportunity to put your ideas across. Innovation and ambition are strongly encouraged, and you’ll get a great feel for that working in our friendly and collaborative environment.
A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits including:
Generous holiday entitlement - 25 days holiday each year plus bank holidays - rising to 33 days after 10 years' service, with the option to buy additional leave
A wide range of flexible working opportunities
Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
Life Assurance - three times your annual salary (for members of the LGPS)
On-site day nursery (Kennet Day nursery) rated outstanding by Ofsted
Season Ticket Loan - a loan to help with the cost of your rail or bus journey, to and from work
Lease car salary sacrifice scheme allowing you to lease a brand new, greener car for three years. The monthly fee includes insurance, servicing and road tax
For more information on this position please contact Javier Prado – Commercial Facilities Manager - javier.prado@reading.gov.uk
Closing Date: Thursday 13th November 2025
Interview Date: To be confirmed
Interview Setup: Face to Face at The Pantry Café
We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity and inclusion is the key to our success. Reading Borough Council is a Disability Confident Employer and is committed to the recruitment and continued employment of people with disabilities.
About The Role:
The Pantry Café & Kitchen is situated within Reading Town Hall and is one of the leading independent café destinations for Reading. We are looking for an enthusiastic and dynamic person to lead our team in this vibrant environment.
To find out more about The Pantry Café and Kitchen visit: https://thepantrytownhall.co.uk
You’ll work full-time hours, and some Saturday shifts will be required, these will be scheduled on a rotational basis and not every weekend.
As Café Supervisor, you’ll take the lead in delivering a high-quality experience for every visitor. You’ll supervise and motivate the Front of House team, manage rotas to meet business needs, and ensure the café is clean, organised, and running smoothly. You’ll also support the Executive Chef and kitchen team, assist with food and drink orders, and oversee stock control and inventory checks.
You’ll play a key role in maintaining food safety standards, keeping HACCP documentation up to date, and providing ongoing training to ensure staff are confident and knowledgeable. When the Commercial Operations & Café Manager is away, you’ll hold daily team briefings to keep communication flowing and morale high. Your leadership will help create a welcoming, efficient, and customer-focused environment.
About You:
You’ll have experience working in a café, restaurant, or catering environment, ideally with some supervisory or team leader experience. You’re approachable, organised, and thrive in a busy environment. A genuine passion for great customer service and good food is a must!
We’re looking for someone who:
Has experience in a similar café or hospitality role
Is confident leading a small team and supporting staff development
Has good organisational and communication skills
Holds (or is willing to gain) a Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate
Takes pride in maintaining a clean, efficient, and friendly café environment
You’ll be part of a team that relies on each individual to play their part to the best of their ability. As well as the colleagues that you work closely with every day, you’ll also be part of Team Reading, playing your personal part in making Reading a successful and vibrant place.
Our vision is to ensure that Reading realises its potential as a great place to live, work and play, and that everyone shares the benefits of this success. Our values and behaviours guide how we will achieve this:
Work Together as one team - work collaboratively, with each other and with our partners, and demonstrate the Team Reading values in everything we do
Drive Efficiency - show initiative, be adaptable to change and put forward ideas to help improve delivery and efficiency. Take responsibility for our own learning and development and for reaching our potential.
Be Ambitious - be demanding of our own performance – striving to be even better – and be prepared to engage with and challenge leaders in a constructive and positive way.
Make a Difference to Reading - maintain the highest levels of customer service and be flexible and willing to provide the services needed at the time they are needed.
Our offer:
We offer a supportive environment to grow and develop your career with the opportunity to put your ideas across. Innovation and ambition are strongly encouraged, and you’ll get a great feel for that working in our friendly and collaborative environment.
A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits including:
Generous holiday entitlement - 25 days holiday each year plus bank holidays - rising to 33 days after 10 years' service, with the option to buy additional leave
A wide range of flexible working opportunities
Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
Life Assurance - three times your annual salary (for members of the LGPS)
On-site day nursery (Kennet Day nursery) rated outstanding by Ofsted
Season Ticket Loan - a loan to help with the cost of your rail or bus journey, to and from work
Lease car salary sacrifice scheme allowing you to lease a brand new, greener car for three years. The monthly fee includes insurance, servicing and road tax
For more information on this position please contact Javier Prado – Commercial Facilities Manager - javier.prado@reading.gov.uk
Closing Date: Thursday 13th November 2025
Interview Date: To be confirmed
Interview Setup: Face to Face at The Pantry Café
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.