Job Description

Barista All-Rounder

Vida Plena is an innovative hospitality group founded in Lisbon in 2018, dedicated to making our guests and team feel truly at home. We pride ourselves on delivering warm, blissful experiences, fostering a diverse and inclusive atmosphere, serving top-quality fresh food, and providing exceptional service.

Our foundation is built on passion, respect, kindness, ambition, and modernity, alongside a commitment to joy, positive energy, and a laid-back approach to enjoying life's best moments. At Vida Plena, we embrace the true essence of hospitality while adhering to our core values, creating a fun, respectful, and loving environment for all.

About the role

We run an office café and bar — a genuine benefit, not a canteen and not a restaurant. It serves our own team across two floors plus the companies renting offices downstairs. We're expanding in September (new floor, ~60–65 more people), with a realistic peak of around 75 people a day.

This is a solo all-rounder role: you run the bar counter end to end. Coffee and fresh drinks are the core of the job, alongside a tight, fixed light-meals menu you prep and serve yourself, plus the front-of-house warmth that makes the space feel like an amenity. Purchasing is owned by our office manager — you track what the café needs and pass clear requests to them; they place the orders.

Because you run the counter on your own, we're looking for a genuine all-rounder: a strong barista who's organised, hygienic, calm at peak, and enjoys putting out good, simple food as much as good coffee.

This is a Monday-Friday schedule, from 8am to 4pm

What you'll do

Coffee & beverages

• Prepare espresso-based drinks — espresso, cappuccino, and the rest — consistently and to a high standard.
• Make the wider drinks offer well: matcha, tea, the morning-batched juice of the day, and shakes.
• Operate and maintain the espresso machine and equipment; keep it clean and service-ready.

Food preparation & service

• Prep and assemble a tight, fixed light-meals menu - following set recipes, with attention to consistency and presentation.
• Do the morning prep (batched juice, components) so service stays fast and low-waste.
• Follow proper food-handling and hygiene standards at all times (HACCP principles)

Hospitality & front of house

• Deliver excellent customer service and connect with our staff and the downstairs renters in a friendly, professional manner.
• Own the relationship with the downstairs renters — they're guests of the café, and their experience matters.
• Accurately handle and operate the point-of-sale (POS) system.
• Work collaboratively with the office manager and wider team to keep service running smoothly.

Counter operations & cleanliness

• Keep the counter, seating, and equipment clean, stocked, and presentable throughout the day.
• Track stock levels, anticipate what's running low, and order requests for purchasing
• Receive and check deliveries; rotate stock and keep waste down.

Who we're looking for

• Strong, proven barista skill on an espresso machine — ideally from a café, brunch spot, or specialty-coffee setting where coffee and light food ran side by side.
• Experience preparing fresh light-meal food to a good standard, plated with care.
• Sound food-handling and hygiene principles
• Self-sufficient and autonomous — able to run a small café counter largely on your own.
• A hospitality mindset: warm, present, reliable, and great with regulars and guests.
• Well organised — comfortable tracking stock, flagging needs, and keeping quality consistent day to day.
• Professional proficiency in English, written and spoken. Portuguese is a plus.

Nice to have

• A food-safety / food-handler certificate (or willingness to obtain one).

What's In For You?

• A generous welcome at our venues — enjoy special discounts
• A bright, two-floor office in Cais do Sodré — with a big terrace and river view
• Vida Plena Activities, every week — yoga, surf, kart racing, and more
• We care about wellness — Spin classes for the body, and Mindpartner access for the mind
• Flexibility on contract — open to full-time in-house or freelance/retainer for the right person