Venue & Beverage Lead

Lead the team. Create the drinks. Elevate the experience. Make Tofu famous. 

Who we are

Tofu Monkey is a café, bakery and tofu bar built on a QSR engine: fast, crave-able, repeatable, and made to go global.

Bowls, burgers, baked goods, barista coffee and soy smoothies, all for people who've never thought twice about tofu. We're not the tofu version of anything. We're the real thing, and tofu makes it better.

Our first store opens in Darlinghurst in December. Every morning, we'll make our own soy milk in small batches on site and turn it into warm, silky tofu fa. Our firm tofu, silken tofu and nuggets come through an industry-leading tofu partner. And everything the soy leaves behind, we cook with. Sydney first. Then the world.

The job

1. Own the day-to-day venue operations

• Take ownership of the daily running of the venue, ensuring smooth, efficient and consistent operations.

• Lead service during trading hours, setting the standard for speed, quality, presentation and customer experience.

• Manage opening and closing procedures, daily checklists, stock levels, ordering and general venue presentation.

• Monitor sales, wastage, labour costs and other key operational metrics to support commercial performance.

• Identify operational gaps and introduce practical improvements that make the venue run better.

2. Lead and develop the FOH team

• Build a welcoming, motivated and service-focused team culture.

• Manage rostering, shift allocation, team coordination and day-to-day performance.

• Support recruitment, onboarding and training of FOH team members.

• Coach the team on service standards, product knowledge, coffee preparation and beverage consistency.

• Lead by example, stepping in wherever needed to keep service running smoothly.

3. Bring your coffee and beverage expertise

• Build and maintain a strong working relationship with Pablo & Rusty’s Coffee, helping bring the best of our coffee offering to every customer.

• Demonstrate strong hands-on knowledge of specialty coffee, including espresso preparation, dialling in, milk texturing and maintaining consistent coffee quality.

• Understand alternative milks, coffee variations and the fundamentals of specialty beverage preparation.

• Take ownership of our broader beverage offering, including matcha, iced drinks, signature beverages and other specialised drinks relevant to our concept.

• Maintain beverage quality, presentation, recipes and consistency across the team.

• Help develop and refine beverage recipes, preparation processes and training standards.

4. Take ownership of POS and venue systems

• Manage our POS system and ensure accurate product setup, pricing, modifiers and reporting.

• Oversee the effective use of operational systems, including ordering, inventory, rostering and other venue technology.

• Troubleshoot day-to-day system issues and help the team use technology confidently.

• Maintain accurate cash handling, end-of-day reconciliations and operational records.

• Use sales and operational data to identify opportunities for improvement.

5. Get creative and help grow the brand

• Bring new ideas to the table to build and improve our menu, beverages, service and overall customer experience.

• Experiment with new drink concepts, seasonal specials and creative product combinations.

• Keep an eye on emerging café trends, specialty beverages and what customers are getting excited about.

• Help test new ideas, gather feedback and turn successful concepts into practical offerings.

• Work closely with the wider team to bring ideas to life and continuously evolve the Tofu Monkey experience.

• Support marketing activities and campaigns that bring the Tofu Monkey brand to life and drive customer engagement.

6. Deliver an exceptional customer experience

• Create a friendly, welcoming environment that encourages customers to return.

• Handle customer feedback and resolve issues professionally.

• Maintain high standards of cleanliness, food safety, workplace safety and presentation.

• Ensure the venue consistently reflects the quality and personality of the Tofu Monkey brand.

We trade Wednesday to Sunday at launch (7am–3pm weekdays, 8am–3pm weekends), going seven days from February 2027.

You are

You’ll be a great fit if you

• Have proven experience in café, specialty coffee or fast-paced hospitality operations, ideally with experience supervising or managing a venue.

• Are a confident, hands-on barista with a strong understanding of espresso coffee and beverage preparation.

• Have experience with, or a genuine interest in, specialised beverages such as matcha, signature iced drinks and other contemporary café offerings.

• Can lead a FOH team, manage busy service periods and bring out the best in people.

• Are comfortable working with POS systems and learning new operational technology.

• Understand the basics of rostering, stock control, ordering, wastage and sales performance.

• Are naturally curious and creative, with the confidence to suggest ideas and the initiative to put them into action.

• Have a strong sense of ownership, pay attention to detail and take pride in getting the little things right.

• Communicate well, stay calm under pressure and enjoy being on the floor rather than managing everything from behind a screen.

Big pluses:

• Experience in a venue working towards zero waste.

• Experience in a high-volume café or fast-casual kitchen run to cost and speed targets.

• Existing Sydney supplier relationships.

• Previous venue management experience is highly regarded. We’re also open to an experienced senior barista, café supervisor or assistant manager who is ready to take the next step into a broader leadership role.

And you show up the Tofu Monkey way:

• Attack It. If it's in front of you, it's yours.

• Bring It. Energy is the job. No passengers.

• Care Hard. About the food, the people, the details.

No ego. No shortcuts. No average.

The essentials

• Based in Sydney, available full time, on site and on the tools.

• Current right to work in Australia. We can't offer visa sponsorship.

• Food Safety Supervisor certificate, or able to get it before we open.

The deal

• Salary: $80,000–$100,000 plus super, full time and permanent. 

• Real ownership: The opportunity to shape how the venue operates and contribute ideas that make a tangible difference.

• Room to be creative: Help develop our beverage offering, trial new concepts and bring fresh thinking to the customer experience.

• A hands-on leadership role: Lead the team while remaining connected to the craft of coffee and hospitality.

• The chance to grow with the brand: Be part of a developing business where initiative, ideas and execution matter.

• A collaborative environment: Work closely with the wider team to build something we can all be proud of.

• A business built to last: We build to B Corp standards and commit 1% of revenue to the planet from day one. Profit matters. Impact matters more.

Sounds like you?

We’re looking for someone who combines the heart of a great hospitality professional with the mindset of an operator and the curiosity of a creator. If you can lead a team, make an excellent coffee, keep a venue running smoothly and are always thinking about the next great beverage idea, Tofu Monkey could be the place for you. 

We’d love to hear from you!

Send your CV to ••••@tofumonkey.com.

You just need to love great coffee, get creative with beverages, and know how to turn good ideas into an experience people come back for. 

GOOD FOR THE JUNGLE 🐒