Position: Café Barista

Reports to: Café Manager

Status: Non-Exempt / Part-Time

Hours: Minimum of 20 hours/week / Maximum of 30 hours/week

Hours of Operations: Mon-Fri / 7am-4pm, Saturday / 7am-2pm; opening & closing shifts up to 1 hour before/after hours of operations

Organizational Description. North Lawndale Employment Network is a comprehensive workforce development agency on Chicago’s West Side dedicated to advancing the economic outcomes of the community’s residents through innovative employment initiatives, including our social enterprises. In August 2021, North Lawndale Employment Network transitioned to a new campus which features a premier community café for residents and stakeholders.

Our Mission. To improve the earnings potential of the North Lawndale community through innovative employment initiatives that lead to economic advancement and an improved quality of life for residents.

Opportunity.We are seeking a dynamic barista to be part of our team as we grow the Bee love Café, our newest social enterprise, as well as our second location at Love Blooms Here Plaza (3601 W. Douglas Blvd).

Key Responsibilities.

· Make specialty drinks and serve food items with quality and care.

· Learn with an open mind and continually improving beverage crafting abilities.

· Create positive guest experiences & build relationships with regular guests.

· Balance individual duties, team duties, and customer service.

· Work well with others to help create a strong and cooperative team.

· Stay calm under pressure and work quickly without sacrificing quality.

· Take initiative in following cleaning schedules and instructions for equipment use.

· Appropriately escalate issues that affect operational efficiency and guest experience, including items low on stock, repairs needed, guest feedback, etc.

· Restock merchandise shelves.

· Comply with food safety and business regulations.

· Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications.

· Commitment to being a team player and a strong work ethic.

· Eagerness to learn and improve daily.

· Customer service experience, preferably in the food & beverage industry.

· Strong verbal and social skills.

· Ability to use a digital point-of-sale system.

· Hold a current food handling certification (preferred) or able to pass the exam and become certified within 90 days of employment.

NLEN Core Values

Neighborhood-focused employment initiatives are fundamental.

Successful programs are neighborhood-focused and community-driven, so they meet the specific needs of individuals.

Quality of work matters.

People who work hard should not be poor. A full-time job must meet basic needs and offer conditions for engagement, advancement, and respect.

Economic mobility is essential to reducing poverty.

Family supporting wages and financial literacy are core to addressing economic insecurity, which disproportionally affects African American, Latino, and other families of color. Economic insecurity is not only impacting the poor; it has grown to threaten the middle class. Self-employment and entrepreneurship are critically important economic mobility strategies to generate income and boost household finances.

We must address the racial wealth gap and social inequality.

The United States’ history of racially charged public policy has created the modern racial wealth divide not just through the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, but through the more recent race-based discrimination in hiring, housing subsidies, tax subsidies, and veteran benefits as well as other implicitly and explicitly racist public policies.

Everyone deserves human dignity and empowerment.

To uphold this belief, we do all of our work in a manner that values human dignity and eliminates shame, humiliation, and stigma by building on the strengths that help our participants and community survive loss and trauma and rebalance the power dynamic between participants and authority figures.

Job Type: Part-time

Pay: $15.80 per hour

Expected hours: No more than 30 per week

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Disability insurance
• Employee discount
• Flexible schedule
• Paid sick time
• Paid time off
• Paid training

Restaurant type:

• Café
• Coffee shop

Shift:

• Day shift
• Morning shift

Weekly day range:

• Every weekend
• Monday to Friday

People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply

Work Location: In person