Front End Manager

Front End Manager

Job Title:  FRONT END MANAGER

Job Function:  It is the responsibility of the Front End Manager to effectively balance and excel at managing the dual core values of Excellent Customer Service and Accurate and Honest Cash Management and Financial Stewardship within the largest and most diverse and dynamic department of 1st Choice Foods.  The Front End Manager is a leader of people, providing stewardship in line with Company Values, and promoting a positive and progressive work environment in alignment with the Company’s mission, vision, values and policies.

Reporting to:  General Manager, and in his/her absence, the Staff Accountant

Staff Reporting to this position:  Cash Office Supervisor, Front End Supervisors, Assistant Front End Supervisor, Cash Office Clerks, Senior Cashiers, Cashiers, Customer Service Reps, Baggers, Cleaners

Requirements:

• No less than 5 years’ management experience in a fast-paced, high-volume business
• Strong Leadership skills; ability to confidently and effectively lead a large team of employees
• Highly driven towards customer care and satisfaction
• A strong and consistent communicator, both verbally and in writing; highly proficient in letter-writing and drafting of management reports
• Strong numeracy and problem-solving skills; experience in cash-handling
• Proficient in Point of Sale (POS) systems
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Word, Outlook
• High level of integrity and strong work ethic
• Ability to multi-task and meet tight deadlines
• Experience in preparation of work schedules for large teams
• Flexibility; ability to work shifts
• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management/Accounting/Banking

Duties & Responsibilities:

1)        Observe and uphold all Company Policies, Procedures, Rules and Regulations as outlined in the Company’s Employee Handbook, the Collective Agreement, regular written Memoranda, and all other forms of documentation containing such rules, policies, procedures and guidelines of the Company.

2)        Adhere to all the Laws of Antigua and Barbuda as they pertain to retail, pricing, and food handling.

3)        Promote customer goodwill by providing a very high standard of Customer Service; handle customers’ queries and complaints with professionalism, respect, expediency and high levels of customer care at all times.

Identify current and future customer requirements and expectations by establishing and maintaining a strong rapport with a wide cross-section of the store’s customers, as well as with the department’s team members who understand the business’ service requirements through their own regular dialogue with the store’s customers. 

Manage the store’s Customer Suggestion Box by doing the following: checking the box weekly for suggestions and complaints made by customers; logging suggestions and complaints by department in an Excel spreadsheet; creating departmental Action Lists and distributing them to Department Heads/Supervisors (copying the General Manager) to be actioned; and raising important customer-related matters at monthly Management Meetings for further discussion and action.

4)        Be prepared for changes in customer volumes during peak periods of the day and peak seasons of the year, thus minimising customer inconvenience and long wait times.  This includes making on-the-spot decisions for Supervisors, Cash Office Clerks and Customer Service Reps to cash and/or bag in order to reduce long lines, liaising with other departmental heads to request the assistance of their team members, adjusting break and lunch times, and requesting overtime of team members in order to meet customer demand.  Enforce the store’s operating and opening hours with the support of the Duty Manager. 

5)        Be able to process all of the various types of transactions that are conducted in the store and the various forms of tender (i.e. cash, cheques, credit/debit cards, loyalty points, virtual cash), and to engage in cashiering duties during particularly busy periods in the store or when the department is short-staffed.  Assist with the bagging of customers’ groceries when the store is busy/short-staffed.

6)        Ensure that Cashiers are assisted with price checks, refunds/returns, overrides, voids, bulk purchases, discounted purchases, charge account/credit transactions, Loyalty Point payments and any other transactions that require management approval in a timely and prompt manner.

7)        Apply mobile telephone top-up/credit for customers in a timely manner.

8)        Work alongside the Cash Office Supervisor to manage all of the affairs of the Cash Office, which include but are not limited to:

                       i.            Leading the Front End Management Team’s efforts in assisting the Cash Office with taking Cashiers off of the floor and into the Cash Office in order for end-of-shift procedures to be carried out; assisting the Cash Office Clerks with the balancing and ‘picking-up’ of Cashiers at the end of shifts when necessary;

                    ii.            Conducting investigations into Cashiers being short or over in their expected cash and all other forms of tender as discovered at the end of the balancing process. Doing searches and running various reports in the system when there are discrepancies in transactions or anomalies in balancing figures.  Reviewing of camera footage to aid in the process of determining how and when Cashiers’ errors occurred;

                   iii.            Assisting the Cash Office Supervisor with carrying out the procedures for preparing end of shift and end of day deposits to the bank and to account for monies being deposited to the bank.  Being ultimately responsible for the accuracy, honesty and integrity required to properly account for the depositing of the Company’s monies.  Assisting the Cash Office Supervisor with the preparation of daily deposits being sent to the bank and collected by armoured security personnel.  Reviewing the spreadsheets and paperwork that have been prepared by the Cash Office Supervisor and Front End Supervisors to account for the cash and cheques being sent to the Bank.  Preparing/conducting all of the above in the absence of the Cash Office Supervisor/Front End Supervisors;

                   iv.            Ensuring that the Accounts Department has been given all of the required electronic and physical reports needed to provide accountability for all monies collected and deposited by the Front End Department on behalf of the Company.  Reviewing the work of the Cash Office Clerks and all associated balancing and deposit reports before they are submitted to the Accounts Department;

                     v.            Responding in a timely manner to verbal and email queries from the Accounts Department regarding Cash Office paperwork.  Being readily available to physically report to the Accounts Department to present and review reports and account for decisions taken in the Cash Office;

                   vi.            Maintaining the Company’s Policies as it relates to exercising disciplinary action when the strict procedures of the Cash Office have not been followed by Cash Office Clerks, persons responsible for preparing and submitting daily deposits, and Cashiers who are frequently and/or by excessive amounts, over and short in their expected monies;

                 vii.            Responding verbally and via email to queries from the bank regarding deposit discrepancies, orders for change, ATM maintenance issues, etc.;

               viii.            Liaising with the banking institution(s) used by the Company to ensure that the Front End Department is always readily stocked with change.  Overseeing the Cash Office Clerks’ counting of change received from the bank; reporting discrepancies to the bank, copying the Company’s Staff Accountant and the Front End Management Team.  Overseeing the counting and consolidation of change at the start of each week, in order to determine required quantities of each denomination of change for the upcoming week’s activities; preparing the weekly change orders accordingly and sending them to the bank via email every Monday, copying the Staff Accountant and the General Manager;

                   ix.            Being responsible for the management of the Company’s Safe/Vault, both in physical form and within the back-office reporting of the company’s Point of Sale software.  Ensuring that when change from the bank is received and counted, it is stored in the safe and accounted for in the system.  Ensuring that when the Cash Office Clerks request change to be issued to Cashiers and to maintain the Change Float in the Cash Office, that such disbursements are accounted for manually and in the system.  Balancing and reconciling the safe before change orders are made.  Conducting audits of the safe on a monthly basis, both physically and in the system.  Preparing the safe for end-of-financial year audits to be conducted by the Staff Accountant;

                     x.            Being the point-person for customers’ credit and debit card disputes/queries; leading investigations into incorrect or suspicious charges; reporting fraudulent matters to Senior Management and the bank.  Contacting customers regarding missing/incorrect cheque information in an attempt to rectify before depositing.

9)        Assist with various aspects of Customer Care and ‘Choice Rewards Loyalty’, which include registering customers for Choice Rewards Cards, photocopying customers’ IDs, taking customers’ photos for the printing of cheque cards, and explaining how the program works.  Train Customer Service/Loyalty Representatives in Loyalty Customer data entry and management of all reports associated with the Company’s Choice Rewards Loyalty program.

10)    Be very proactive as it relates to the protection and maintenance of Company Assets (equipment and facilities, cash, merchandise/inventory).  Conduct weekly equipment and supply audits of the Front End Department (to include the Cash Office and Customer Service/Loyalty Desk) to determine the functionality of equipment such as digital scales, Point of Sale stations and belts, computers and printers used at the Points of Sale (to include the Express stations) in the Cash Office and at the Customer Service/Loyalty Desk, coin counters, cash counters, telephones etc.  To follow established Company Procedure for reporting equipment failures, both verbally and via email, ensuring that the General Manager is always copied in such reports. 

11)    Ensure that the Front End Department is fully equipped and stocked with the tools and materials required for the daily operations of the department, which include but are not limited to calculators and adding machines, currency pens, paper pens and other forms of stationery, receipt rolls/paper, deposit bags, change bags, cleaning equipment and chemicals, etc.  Take regular stock of such items, and identify and control abuse. 

12)    Be an expert in the software used by the Company for both Point of Sale and Cash Office (back-end) operations.  Create and regularly update a Front End manual that covers all of the software functions and reports used by every category of employee in the department, from Supervisors to Cash Office Clerks to Cashiers. Use said manual for the training of new employees in each of these categories.

13)    Establish, document and maintain the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which govern the operations of the Front End Department.

14)    Ensure that all employees in the department are following the Company’s rules, policies and procedures.  Enforce disciplinary procedures by means of chairing disciplinary hearings and drafting and issuing Coaching documents, Verbal Warnings, Written Warnings and Suspension Letters, all within the legally required period of seven (7) days from the date of the offence/violation/incident.  Ensure that disciplinary procedures are carried out in accordance with the Antigua & Barbuda Labour Code, as well as the Disciplinary Table of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

15)    Manage and be highly invested in the Performance and Assessment/Evaluation of Performance of every employee of the department by:

                       i.            Ensuring that all employees are well trained to execute the duties of their Job Descriptions;

                     ii.            Conducting refresher training sessions for existing staff;

                   iii.            Conducting, completing and documenting 30/60/90-day evaluations for employees on probation in as thorough and accurate a manner as possible, ensuring that evaluation reports are submitted to the HR Department within reasonably sufficient time to discuss and make final decisions regarding confirmation;

                   iv.            Planning/structuring, conducting, completing and documenting mid-year and year-end evaluations for all employees within the department and submitting paperwork to the HR Department by the deadlines established by Company Policy;

                     v.            Throughout the year, identifying employees who need to be placed on Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) and managing the process towards ensuring that employees are given the tools and support to improve their performance; making constructive and honest representation to Senior Management and the HR Department in instances where demotion or termination are the best options for the department and by extension the business;

                   vi.            Preparing and presenting data for Employee of the Month and Employee of the Year reports;

                 vii.            Identifying employees who possess and display key performance indicators and characteristics which would make them eligible for upward mobility within the department.  Training and motivating toward promotion.  Making recommendations to Senior Management and the HR Department using substantiated data to support same;

               viii.            Integrating the Cash Office Supervisor, Front End Supervisors and Assistant Front End Supervisor in all of the above processes, and ensuring that all members of Front End Middle Management are very involved in the training and performance assessment and improvement processes of the department.

16)    Make quarterly representation to the General Manager regarding structured incentive programs designed to keep the team motivated.  Prepare quarterly reports and budgets for approval by the General Manager in this regard.

17)    Prepare and issue departmental schedules on a weekly basis, ensuring that Company Policy is consistently followed as it relates to weekly deadlines for distribution, as well as legal requirements regarding shifts, days off, and adequate rest periods between shifts etc.

The Front End Manager’s primary responsibility as it relates to schedule preparation is to ensure that every category of employees within the department has the adequate, total hourly coverage that is required to meet the demands of the department and the business’ customers, and that the schedule in its totality prepares the department for anticipated peaks in customer traffic for specific periods within the day, and specific days of the week and month. 

Edit the Front End schedule in the event of ‘unplanned absenteeism’ within the department such as sick leave, emergency leave, jury duty etc.

Ensure that not only are original schedules uploaded into the Company’s Time & Attendance software on a weekly basis, but that all changes that are required during the course of a week are adjusted in the software as well.

Ensure that all necessary adjustments are completed to facilitate the timely payment of employees within the department, and that all manual time sheets for staff on probation are submitted to the HR Department in a timely manner.

18)    Plan and manage the vacation and other leave calendar of the Front End Department by:

                       i.            Encouraging all employees of the department to submit their applications in a timely manner, following the application deadlines as outlined in the Collective Agreement.

                     ii.            Managing a spreadsheet that indicates leave periods subject to Senior Management/HR approval and leave periods already approved.

                   iii.            Communicating with employees whose applications for vacation/other leave, overlap/clash with already approved leave periods, and leading the process for resubmittal of applications.  Communicating, in a timely manner, with employees whose applications have not been approved; working closely with such employees to choose dates that are conducive to the operations of the department.  Communicating application approvals to employees, in order to facilitate their personal arrangements.

                   iv.            Making planned and timely representation to the HR Department to recruit seasonal employees to cover periods of vacation, maternity leave, emergency leave and all other forms of leave as covered by the Collective Agreement.

                     v.            Being very aware of upcoming vacation and other leave periods, so as to adequately plan the requisite coverage in departmental schedules.  Making representation to the HR Department regarding possible postponement of already approved leave periods in extreme cases of the department being short-staffed.

19)    Maintain and manage daily established times for 15-minute breaks and 1-hour lunch breaks of all Front End employees; ensure that staff leave and return from breaks at their required times; make judgement calls to adjust break times when the store is busy; be vigilant and aware of abuse of company time by ensuring that staff make purchases in the store after clocking out for breaks and taking the necessary disciplinary action when company time is abused.

20)    Be very knowledgeable of the supermarket’s merchandise; be aware of changes to codes for produce and other scalable items, and assist Cashiers with these changes.

21)    Manage price check and price verification matters that have been reported by Cashiers during customer transactions; take items that are not scanning at POS stations or have not been inputted in the system to the Pricing Department to be addressed; report items that have scanned at the POS at different prices to what are shown on shelf tags, to the Pricing Department.

22)    Manage Cashier tips; enforce Company Rules which prevent Cashiers from having money on their person while on duty; collect tips on Cashiers’ behalf and safely store until end of Cashiers’ shifts.  Monitor Cashiers and Baggers for aggressive solicitation of tips and exercise disciplinary action where necessary.

23)    Ensure that Baggers are collecting shopping carts and baskets from the parking lot and throughout the store, so that they are readily available to customers; ensure that Baggers are stationed in the parking lot during assigned periods to focus on cart collection and sanitization.

24)    Ensure that returned/unwanted merchandise is handled in a prompt and orderly manner and returned to their requisite locations in the supermarket and storage areas, with immediate attention being given to temperature sensitive products; assign Baggers and Cashiers to return items left at the Front End throughout the course of the day and particularly before the end of respective shifts.

25)    Ensure that all employees strictly comply with the Company’s Policies regarding Uniforms and Standards of Appearance; ensure that his/her presentation is always neat and professional and sets a good example for the staff on the team.

26)    Ensure that all Front End Staff (not limited to Cleaners) understand the importance of maintaining a clean and tidy working environment; ensure that Cashiers are regularly cleaning and sanitizing their work stations throughout the course of their daily shifts, and in particular that their work areas are thoroughly cleaned, sanitized and tidied before the end of their shifts.

27)    Adhere to the Company’s Health and Safety policies and ensure that all employees within the department do as well.  Report accidents/incidents to the Duty Manager and provide full details to facilitate accurate and comprehensive Incident Reports.

28)    Perform any other duties/assignments as directed by a Senior Manager.

29)    Stay alert and aware and notify Management or Security of any suspicious or abnormal behaviour, particularly as it relates to cash and company merchandise.

We thank all interested persons however only persons who matches the above qualifications will be shortlisted and contcated. Deadline for submission 16th Aptil 2026.