One Garden Brighton is seeking an experienced, confident and customer-focused Assistant Manager to support the leadership and day-to-day delivery of our retail and hospitality operations across this unique visitor destination.

This is a hands-on leadership role within a fast-paced, high-footfall environment, ideal for someone with supervisory or assistant management experience in hospitality and/or retail who is passionate about exceptional service, people development and commercial performance.

About the Role

As Assistant Manager, you will play a key role in delivering an outstanding visitor experience across all the outlets within One Garden Brighton’s offer; One Café, One Market, our pop-up and visiting food and beverage provision and working closely with the team at the new Sussex Butterfly Gardens, opening 23rd May 2026.

Reporting to and supporting the Retail and Hospitality Manager, you will help oversee daily operations, drive sales performance and maintain high standards of service, presentation and compliance. You will deputise for the Manager when required and act as a visible, supportive leader across front-of-house and retail environments.

You will champion a culture of “exceptional service, every time, for everyone” while supporting One Garden Brighton’s ambition to be a leading destination for food, drink, retail and events.

You will:

• Drive retail and hospitality sales through confident selling and excellent customer engagement
• Maintain high standards of visual merchandising, product presentation and stock control
• Support seasonal ranges, pop-ups and new product launches
• Deputise for the Manager, overseeing daily front-of-house and retail operations
• Deliver a consistently welcoming, knowledgeable and high-quality customer experience
• Handle customer feedback and complaints professionally
• Open and close operations on a rota basis in line with procedures
• Supervise, motivate and support retail and hospitality team members
• Lead daily briefings, allocate duties and support smooth service delivery
• Ensure compliance with food safety, health & safety and licensing requirements
• Support EPOS use, cash handling, reporting and event delivery
• Work collaboratively with kitchen, retail and wider College teams

You will also contribute to maintaining the ethos, reputation and commercial success of One Garden Brighton as a high-quality visitor destination.

About You

We are looking for a motivated and professional leader who enjoys working in a customer-facing environment and takes pride in delivering high standards through their team.

Essential:

• Supervisory experience within retail and/or hospitality
• Experience supporting or supervising small to medium-sized events (e.g. weddings, corporate functions)
• Proven ability to drive retail sales and deliver excellent customer service in a high-footfall setting
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Strong IT, literacy and numeracy skills
• Relevant Food Hygiene / Food Safety qualification (Level 3)
• Positive work ethic with a flexible and proactive approach
• Ability to work under pressure and manage competing priorities
• Willingness to work evenings, weekends and bank holidays

Desirable:

• Personal Licence to sell alcohol (or willingness to work towards this)
• First Aid qualification
• Full UK driving licence

You will be confident, adaptable and people-focused, with a strong commitment to service excellence, operational standards and team development.

Working Hours

This role is 40 hours per week, worked across 5 out of 7 days. Hours are annualised, with increased hours during busier summer periods and reduced hours in quieter winter months.

One Garden Brighton operates 08:00–18:00, seven days per week, all year round. Some flexibility is required to support evening functions, events and College promotional activities.

Why Join Us?

At Plumpton College, we live our values—Ambitious, Professional, Enterprising, Passionate, Supportive and Progressive—in everything we do.

You’ll benefit from:

• A competitive salary
• 22 days’ annual leave plus 8 bank holidays (with TOIL applied where bank holidays are worked)
• Automatic enrolment into the NEST Pension Scheme
• Access to Continuous Professional Development opportunities
• Free onsite parking
• A supportive team environment within a unique visitor attraction

New colleagues benefit from a structured induction and ongoing support from their line manager, helping them to succeed and develop in their role.

Equality, Diversity & Safeguarding

Plumpton College is committed to the promotion of equal opportunities and is dedicated to eliminating unfair discrimination. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Plumpton College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of learners and expects all staff to share this commitment. This role involves regular work in an establishment mainly for children and therefore requires a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

We reserve the right to interview or close this vacancy early should we receive a high volume of applications. Early applications are encouraged.