'Gis a job...

We are looking for a full-time supervisor to run all aspects of our modest taproom and hop garden at the Creative Juices brewery, which is based on Woodoaks Farm in Rickmansworth. Whilst you will report into the brewery Founder, the taproom will effectively be your baby to run independently. This will obviously include being a host behind the taproom bar, but it is so much more than just this. You will become a public face of the Creative Juices business and part of a very hands-on team.

The taproom is not like a regular pub. We are looking to create a more relaxed and welcoming environment than your average watering hole, and this role is key to that aim. It will be your responsibility to ensure that all visitors feel like they belong; be that full families, groups of friends, couples or people who just stroll in on their own. All are equally important and equally loved by us; even their dogs!

The taproom supervisor will be expected to act as a personal guide to the Creative Juices experience. That encapsulates everything from helping people navigate their way through a potentially daunting beer menu (no beer snobbery here please), to explaining the brewing process and what goes into our beers, to talking about the history of the farm and the dairy building we occupy.

You will be responsible for boosting direct sales in the taproom and will work with the rest of the team on fresh ideas to make that happen. This could be anything from subtle changes in the taproom or hop garden, and our offer as we evolve, through to putting on special events. There are no written rules here and it is a chance for you to flex your own creativity. Ultimately repeat business will be driven by people coming back for more of the experience you create.

This role will also be responsible for general stock management, ensuring the taproom always has a plentiful supply of all drinks / food we offer the public. Most importantly that includes keeping a fresh and exciting portfolio of guest craft beers, which will require a mixture of building relationships directly with other breweries and also potentially distributors. At the appropriate time, you’ll set new beer prices, physically change beers that are on the taps, and switch out inventory listings on the taproom menu, on Untappd, and on the Tyl payment system too. You’ll also be responsible for managing the food options available in the taproom (pasties, sausage rolls and naughty nibbles currently), and for managing and tracking the financials associated with these various supply functions.

The taproom supervisor will also look after a number of other taproom host staff. Your role here will be one of organisation, mentorship, learning and support for your team… not just delegation; we’re small and everyone needs to dig in. This person will lead by example. You will actively manage the staff rotas to ensure full staff coverage at all times. It will be your responsibility to create a fun working environment and to have fun whilst you’re doing it.

The taproom supervisor, along with the rest of the team, will also be responsible for maintaining cleanliness standards within the taproom, hop garden and facilities. This critically includes the food and drink service to customers, but also includes a daily clean-down operation once our guests have left and a weekly deep clean of the taproom, the cellar and the beer lines. You will also be responsible for managing the team of cleaners we employ to help the deep clean on a weekly basis. All of this activity obviously has an even greater priority as we operate with pandemic restrictions in place.

In the future, any taproom events or special evenings will be managed by the taproom supervisor – it is early days in our evolution and whilst we have a number of ideas, we have yet to undertake any of these in earnest. We’d love you to bring your own ideas to the table here. The successful candidate will have the chance to grow their role with the business.

The role will be based on site at the brewery, but you may also be expected to represent the brewery at industry events and festivals. Exact hours are flexible to a degree and we can discuss this further when we chat, but working days will be Wednesday to Sunday. Remuneration will be based on experience, but is likely to be in the mid-twenties range.

First and foremost, you’ll have a love of friends and family, a zest for life and good times, and you’ll recognise the role a community hub such as our taproom and hop garden plays in both of those things.

Secondly, but equally importantly, you’ll have a love for beer; specifically craft beer. The idea of a quality product and exploration of flavours will excite you. You’ll already have some favourite breweries and beers, and you’ll be keen to build relationships with these and others. You might even brew a bit yourself or at least have a decent understanding of what goes into the process of making beer.

Your hosting skills will be exceptional. Your personality will shine through and you will be happy to strike up and hold a conversation with complete strangers. By the same token, you are also a professional listener. You are confident and gregarious, yet always respectful and polite. You are stylish, clean, and immaculately presented. You are a people person and you ooze passion. You derive real joy from helping other people and making them happy… in your group of friends, you are often seen as the instigator.

You don’t necessarily need to have previously run your own taproom, pub or bar, but will hopefully have some solid bar and / or retail experience, and knowing the basics is a big advantage – i.e. how to pull a decent pint and change a keg, etc etc. Maybe you are currently working shifts in a bar and looking to make a step up? Perhaps you’re already a bar supervisor / manager, but want to operate in a more pleasant environment, at more pleasant times, and have more direct control over things? Either way, this role isn’t intended to be a short-term stopgap on the way to something else, it’s an opportunity for you to run your own venue in your way, to work in the craft industry and to help us grow as an outstanding brewery business.

Your organisational skills and attention to detail will border on obsessive. You appreciate the importance of the little things and the working benefits of an efficient streamlined operation.

You are a calm and level-headed person. You know how to keep your cool, are not easily knocked off your stride and have a strong moral compass.

You will have a love of the creative arts. Think music, movies, TV, theatre, novels, painting, design, photography, etc etc. You’ll love talking about these things and will be able to surprise people with a fresh view on new and innovative media examples.

You will be comfortable working in a start-up environment. That means small teams and getting your hands dirty. That means going above and beyond to help out. That means pushing yourself and working your butt off! In fact, these are some of the things that give you a real kick in your working life – you are very definitely not afraid of hard work, as you know that what you do makes a direct material difference to the success of the business as it grows. That also means there is scope for you to get involved with other aspects of running the brewery on a day-to-day basis as we evolve in the coming months and years… and reap the rewards accordingly.

You are driven and self-motivated. You are as happy to work alone as you are to work in a team, and will be doing both as part of this job.

If you’re a university or IBD graduate, hold your own personal alcohol licence, are a qualified first aider, and / or happen to be a beer sommelier, then that is great and do please let us know. However, none of these things are things that can’t be learnt, so don’t worry too much if you don’t have them either; we’re more interested in finding the right fit personality and attitude wise.

We’d invite you to hunt around the website and our social pages a little, and that should probably give you a decent flavour for the type of business we are.

Our creative ethos goes beyond the beer itself. Certainly we wish to create taste sensations, using only quality natural ingredients, and to bring a creative twist to traditional beer styles, but we also want to give something back to our community.

It’s early days for us as yet, but as we grow and evolve as a business, the plan is to support creative arts along the way. Whether that’s commissioning artists to produce our beer designs or by giving to creative charities or through some other mechanic we haven’t even thought of yet… we want to do business right.

The taproom and hop garden are our cosy little window to the world and everything we believe in is represented in this space. That is why this taproom supervisor role is critical to our success. Obviously at the moment we are living in strange times. The internal taproom space is currently closed to the public, so we have set up the outside area (the hop garden) instead and are having to play everything by ear a little at this stage. This role will flex accordingly. We may be a modest set-up, but we are ambitious… and we need you to help us get where we want to be.

We’re all about equal opportunities and believe in finding the best person for the job. We’re also a Living Wage employer.

If you like the sound of us and the role, and think you’d like to apply for this job, we’d love to hear from you. Give it a try… what have you got to lose?

Drop us a line by way of introduction, complete with your CV, and we’ll get in touch with next steps. You can email us at gisajob@creativejuicesbrewingcompany.com.

Closing date for applications: 31st August.