Community Café Cook & Supervisor

SMART London is looking for a compassionate, organised and community-minded Community Café Cook & Supervisor to help lead our welcoming Community Café & Wellbeing Hub in Chelsea, run in partnership with Open Age.

This is far more than a kitchen role. Our pay-as-you-feel café is a safe and inclusive community space where people come not only for affordable, healthy food, but also for connection, dignity and support. We work alongside people who may be experiencing mental health challenges, loneliness or social exclusion, and we believe everyone deserves to feel valued and welcomed.

We are looking for someone who can create delicious, nutritious meals while also helping foster a calm, supportive and positive environment for volunteers, staff and visitors alike.

What You’ll Be Doing

You will oversee the day-to-day running of the café kitchen, including:

• Planning and preparing simple, healthy, low-cost meals and snacks
• Making creative use of surplus and donated food
• Supervising and supporting volunteers 
• Maintaining high standards of food hygiene and health & safety
• Creating a warm, welcoming café environment
• Supporting people sensitively and confidently
• Managing stock, supplies and basic record keeping
• Working collaboratively with SMART and Open Age colleagues to ensure the café continues to thrive as a community hub

About You

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Experienced in preparing fresh, healthy food in a café, kitchen or community setting
• Calm, patient and approachable
• Confident supervising volunteers or staff
• Comfortable working with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences
• Passionate about inclusion, wellbeing and community connection
• Organised, reliable and able to work independently
• Knowledgeable about food hygiene and kitchen health & safety standards

Experience of working alongside people with mental health needs, or within community or voluntary sector settings, would be highly valued.

Why Join SMART?

At SMART, we believe recovery is possible for everyone. We work alongside people to build confidence, reduce isolation and create opportunities for connection and wellbeing.

This role offers the chance to make a genuine difference every day — using food, conversation and community as tools for inclusion and recovery.

If you are someone who cares deeply about people and community, and enjoys creating welcoming spaces where everyone feels they belong, we would love to hear from you.

To Apply

Please submit your CV and a short supporting statement explaining why you are interested in the role and how your experience matches the person specification.

We particularly welcome applications from people with lived experience of mental health challenges, and from candidates from underrepresented communities.