Assistant Bistro Manager

Assistant Manager — The Henley on Broadwater Bistro

The bistro is where the day happens at The Henley. We are a 25 level residence on Marine Parade, home to 130 residents, and most of them walk through the bistro every single day. They have a table they prefer. A coffee order you will learn inside a week. A story they will finish on Thursday because they started it on Tuesday.

That is the job in one line. Not turning tables. Knowing people.

We are looking for an Assistant Bistro Manager to lead the floor alongside our Bistro Manager, hold the standard across weekends when the Bistro Manager is not in the building, and coordinate the private functions and community events that run through our Lifestyle Programme.

THE PART MOST APPLICANTS MISS

Please read this section properly before you apply, because it is the difference between a good fit and a short stay.

Our guests are our residents. Some are in their seventies and still working. Others are in their nineties and living with dementia, low vision, hearing loss, limited mobility, swallowing difficulties or medically modified diets. They are not passing trade. They are people in their own home, and for some of them the twenty minutes they spend with you is the main human contact of their day.

The Henley is accountable to the Aged Care Quality Standards, and the bistro sits inside that accountability. Hospitality here is measured on dignity, safety and consistency, not just speed and presentation.

In practice that means you will be trained in things a standard bistro would never ask of you. Texture modified diets and IDDSI levels. Allergen and dietary management for people whose health depends on getting it right. Dignity of risk. Recognising when a regular is not quite themselves today, and knowing who to tell. Serving someone in a way that protects their independence rather than doing it for them.

You do not need any of this on day one. Full training is provided. You do need to genuinely want it, because it is not a bolt on to the role. It is the role.

WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING

Service. Lead front of house across breakfast and lunch, seven days a week operation, and set the tone on the floor.

Weekend leadership. You are the senior person in the bistro on weekends. Decisions, escalations, standards and team direction sit with you.

Knowing our people. Learn names, preferences, dietary requirements and the small things that matter. This is a performance expectation, not a nice extra.

Functions and events. Coordinate private functions from first enquiry through to delivery, and work with our Lifestyle Coordinator on community events, celebrations and seasonal programming.

People. Support rostering, coach junior team members on service and care aware hospitality, and step up into the senior operational role when required.

Operations. Food safety compliance, stock support, kitchen liaison, and the day to day running of a bistro that has to be right every single day.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Essential
- Experience in a supervisory or senior service role in a cafe, bistro or restaurant
- Demonstrated experience coordinating functions or events from enquiry to delivery
- Genuine warmth and patience with older people, and comfort working alongside residents living with dementia, sensory loss or reduced mobility
- Willingness to complete aged care specific training including dietary modification, dignity of risk and mandatory compliance modules
- Sound food safety and handling knowledge
- Availability across 4 days per week including regular Saturday and Sunday shifts
- Current National Police Check, or willingness to obtain one

Desirable
- Experience in retirement living, aged care, hospital or community hospitality
- Food Safety Supervisor Certificate and RSA
- Experience with rostering or functions management systems
- Familiarity with IDDSI or texture modified diets

Previous aged care experience is a real advantage but it is not the deciding factor. Attitude to people is.

WHY THE HENLEY

You will get to know your guests by name, and they will know yours. Over time you will know who takes their tea weak, who needs their meal cut differently and never wants to ask, and who is quietly having a hard month. That level of relationship is rare in hospitality and it is the reason people stay in this team.

You will also have real scope. Functions, events, weekend leadership and team development are all yours to own and grow, with the support of a Bistro Manager and a wider leadership team who take professional pride seriously.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply through Seek with your resume and a short cover letter answering one question: tell us about a time you changed how you served someone because of what they needed, not what was on the menu.

We review applications as they arrive and will contact suitable candidates promptly.