Cornerstone Company Limited – Engadine NSW
Cornerstone is a neighbourhood cafe in the heart of Engadine, in the Sutherland Shire.
It's busy, around 50kg of coffee a week and it's built on relationships.
The kind of place where the morning rush is half community catch-up.
Cornerstone is a Steam Brothers sister store and has what independent cafes usually go without: proper systems, real training pathways, coffee roasted in-house, and management who have solved problems before.
About the Role
As Cafe Manager, you're accountable for how Cornerstone runs and how it feels.
You'll lead the team on the floor, own the venue's operational and financial performance, and be the face customers recognise and trust.
You'll work with group leadership on targets, systems and improvements, but the day-to-day calls are yours.
We're looking for someone who wants that.
This is a hands-on management role.
You'll be on the floor during service, on the machine when the venue needs you, and in the numbers when it doesn't.
The hours are one of the better parts of the job.
Full-time, five days, 6:00 am starts – no dinner service, no midnight closes, and you're usually done by mid-afternoon.
Weekends are shared across the leadership team: you'll work one weekend day and have the other off.
What You'll Be Responsible For
Leading, training and developing the Cornerstone team
Building a workplace culture that is positive, supportive and genuinely accountable
Overseeing day-to-day cafe operations across all dayparts
Building rosters and managing wage efficiency to target
Managing ordering, stock control, wastage and cost of goods
Maintaining standards across coffee, food, cleanliness and service
Handling customer feedback and resolving operational issues as they happen
Working with the Venue Area Manager on performance targets,



systems and improvements
Supporting local marketing, promotions and community engagement
Reporting weekly on venue performance and key operational issues
About You
You've done this before - or you're a strong second-in-charge ready to step up.
Experience as a Cafe Manager, Assistant Manager, Venue Manager or Senior Supervisor in a high-volume cafe
Proven people leadership - you can hire, train, hold standards and have hard conversations without losing the room
Confident running a busy floor: you get calmer as it gets louder
Genuinely customer-focused; you enjoy knowing regulars and being known
Comfortable with rosters, labour cost, ordering, stock and daily cost control
Solid coffee standards, and able to hold a team to them
Commercially switched on - interested in sales, margin, and how to move them
Happy working closely with an involved leadership team and present owners
Why Join Us?
You lead the venue.
The decisions are yours.
Hours that give you your life back.
6:00am start, done by mid-afternoon, one weekend day off every week.
No dinner service.
Owners who are present.
Involved, contactable and invested in you doing well - not absentee, not micromanaging.
Systems that already work.
Rostering, POS, reporting, training pathways and coffee QC are built.
You're not starting from scratch.
Career progression that's real.
We're growing across cafes, restaurant and roasting.
Group-level and multi-site roles go to our own people first.
Coffee you'll be proud of.
Roasted in-house, with proper training and calibration behind it.
Staff discounts and coffee benefits across the group.
An established local customer base.
You're building on something, not fighting for a first customer.
Genuine impact.
What you do here shows up in the culture and the numbers, quickly.
#J-*****-Ljbffr

📌 Cafe Manager | Cornerstone Engadine (Sydney)
🏢 Cornerstone Company
📍 Sydney