Bars Assistants

Job Description

Bar Assistants are an integral part of the Theatre’s Front of House Team, and with four wonderful bar areas for customers to enjoy, they are key to the overall Theatre experience.

Customer Service

• Provide a warm, friendly and professional welcome and excellent level of bar and food service to customers and visitor
• Develop a thorough knowledge about the Theatre’s bars and food products to be able to upsell and maximise sales
• Generate sales by directly approaching customers to promote internal orders and premium services
• Prepare and process internal orders and deliver premium services to box customers
• Handle money and stock accurately, reconcile floats, operate tills and escalate any discrepancies to the Bars Management Team
• Prepare and serve food to customers, complying with the Theatre’s food hygiene and safety standards at all times
• Ensure bar areas, kitchens and storage areas are stocked, clean, tidy and well presented at all times and complete service checklists
• Assist with stocktakes and deliveries as and when required ensuring that goods received are transported, unloaded and securely stored in the designated store rooms in a safe manner
• Co-ordinate and assist with the preparation, setting up and clearing of meeting and function rooms for events
• Provide a bar and waiting service for the Theatre’s events and functions
• Resolve customer complaints, and escalate unresolved complaints to the Bars Management Team
• Assist customers with any additional access or service requirements

Health & Safety

• Assist the Bars Management Team with the implementation of the Theatre’s emergency and evacuation procedures if required, evacuating audience members from the Theatre’s bar areas confidently and safely
• Assist customers with any additional access requirements in the event of an emergency evacuation
• Be vigilant in order to prevent accidents or incidents that might cause injury or harm to customers or staff and report all accidents, incidents or near misses to the Bars Management Team

A full and detailed Job Description is available in the Candidate Information Pack linked below.

Person Specification

Bar Assistants are friendly, confident and approachable individuals with a desire and commitment to provide an exemplary level of customer service and deliver sales. Candidates must have the ability to deal with customers confidently face to face, work as a team and deliver an excellent level of bar and food service.

Essential Experience

• A minimum of six months’ recent paid work experience as a bar tender in a busy customer service/hospitality environment
• Experience of delivering sales, upselling,  accurate cash-handling and till transactions in a busy customer environment.

Essential Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the demonstrable commitment to providing an exemplary level of customer service and delivering sales
• Ability and confidence to proactively sell to customers face to face 
• Good numeracy/mental arithmetic skills to enable accurate cash handling
• Ability to remain calm under pressure, prioritise tasks and think on your feet
• An understanding of Health and Safety regulations in a customer facing bars and food environment/hospitality venue
• Ability to work during the day and evenings Monday to Friday and must be available to work Saturday nights. 
• Must be at least 18 years of age to comply with the Theatre’s legal requirements

Terms and Conditions

The Bar Assistant wage is £12.71 per hour and we have a number of part-time contracts available for a minimum of 10.5 hours a week (ie. a minimum of 3 x 3.5hr shifts). Additional hours may also be available during busy weeks in the Theatre, but these hours are not guaranteed.

Bar Assistant shifts are rota’d across seven days of the week. A standard Bar Assistant shift for a show would normally start at 1pm (for a matinee shift) and 6pm (for an evening shift) and last around 3.5/4 hours, however the length and timing of shifts may vary as they are determined by the Theatre’s performance schedule.

Bar Assistants may also be required to work at the Theatre’s events during the day and therefore candidates must have some daytime availability as well as evening availability Monday to Friday and candidates must be available to work a Saturday night.