👨‍🍳 Cafe Chef (Full-Time) - Columbus Coffee New Lynn

☕ About Us

At Columbus Coffee, we’re all about great food, expertly crafted coffee, and creating a welcoming café experience for our local communities. As one of New Zealand’s most recognised café brands, we serve premium coffee and fresh, delicious meals inside Mitre 10 and Mitre 10 MEGA stores nationwide.

Our New Lynn café is a popular local destination — busy, fast-paced, and known for consistent quality and warm service. With strong foot traffic and an established customer base, this is a café where standards matter and teamwork is everything.

Joining Columbus Coffee means becoming part of a trusted national brand, backed by strong systems, seasonal menu innovation, and opportunities for growth.

👩‍🍳 About the Role

This is a key kitchen position within our café team — ideal for someone who takes pride in leading from the front, maintaining high standards, and keeping service running smoothly.

You’ll work with an established, much-loved Columbus menu (with seasonal updates), ensuring consistency, food quality, and presentation are delivered every day. This is not a create-your-own-menu restaurant role — it’s about executing exceptionally well within a proven framework.

Reporting to the Café Manager, you will:

• Oversee day-to-day back of house operations
• Guide and support other kitchen team members
• Maintain food quality, portion control, and presentation standards
• Manage prep planning and service flow during busy periods
• Monitor food safety and compliance (NZ Food Control Plan)
• Support ordering, stock rotation, and waste control
• Contribute to seasonal menu rollouts
• This is a hands-on, full-time role based in New Lynn.

🔪 What You’ll Bring

• We’re looking for someone who brings experience, maturity, and steady leadership to the kitchen.
• Proven experience in a high-volume café or similar environment
• Strong understanding of food safety and kitchen systems
• Confidence coordinating service during peak periods
• Experience supporting or mentoring other kitchen staff
• Excellent time management and organisational skills
• A calm, solutions-focused approach under pressure
• Reliable transport and availability to work weekends
• This role would suit an experienced café chef ready to step into greater responsibility within a structured, supportive environment.

🎁 The Perks

• Generous staff purchase scheme at select Columbus Café’s and Mitre 10 stores!
• Stable, established menu — no constant reinvention required
• Support from a recognised national café brand
• A busy, well-supported location with strong foot traffic
• A leadership-level kitchen role without restaurant late-night hours

🚀 What’s Next

If you’re ready to take ownership of a busy café kitchen and lead from the front within a structured, well-loved menu environment — we’d love to hear from you. Apply online with your CV and a brief cover letter outlining your relevant experience and what appeals to you about this role.