Blue Bottle Coffee is a passionate and growing team of hundreds around the world, united by the simple purpose of connecting the world to delicious coffee. We roast on four coasts, make delicious drinks, clean up after ourselves, bake cookies, get change at the bank, and say please and thank you. We’re an impossibly eclectic group of coffee experts, artists, writers, sensory scientists, bakers, designers, and all-around dreamers, who also happen to be some of the most hard-working and talented in the business. Join us.
About the job:
The Green Coffee Department manages a number of collaborative relationships to successfully
discover, prioritize, and design the best coffee lineups possible for our guests while contributing
to the success of a true quality market in coffee--one that creates sustainability through pricing and win-win partnerships. This requires an increasing amount of sample processing, focused communication with producers and importers, and an ongoing effort to be the best customer we can. Producers and importers earn our partnership through quality and sustainability, but we also must earn theirs through a buying process that honors their work and respects their value.
The Green Coffee Specialist & Lab Manager will manage the Green Coffee Cupping Lab and all
events hosted in the Lab. This role reports to the Coffee Sourcing and Relationship Manager, within our Global Supply Chain organization. They will be responsible for all sample processing and roasting, and prioritizing coffee approvals with all key decision makers. The Specialist is expected to have fluency with technical coffee lab tasks, including physical coffee grading; sample roasting; hosting cuppings; and SCA-compliant sensory analysis.
Global Supply Chain is a core piece of our Operations organization, driving local and global processes, key strategic initiatives, and building the Supply frameworks needed to deliver our strategic plans. It is focused on ensuring we have the right things, in the right place and at the right moment to help our teams succeed - all while looking for continuous process and economic improvement and maintaining our exceptionally high quality. This team provides a key operational heartbeat for Blue Bottle - come and help us make it even better.
You will:
- Participates as a key decision maker in all sourcing and approval sample cuppings, influencing lot selection and sample approvals
- Help to develop and implement quality reporting for green coffee producers
- Prioritize and host sample cuppings according to the needs of all key decision-makers
- Develop and iterate upon sample roasting protocols, and consistently roast samples in accordance with specifications
- Perform physical analysis of green coffee samples and manage green coffee sample data in Cropster
- Share cupping feedback reports with suppliers
- Be a point of contact for all sample information
- Be a licensed Q Grader, or have extensive cupping experience and willingness to become Q-certified
- Manage the Green Coffee Cupping Lab, including schedule of events and equipment maintenance
- Help train new team members in sample roasting and cupping skills as needed
- Represent Blue Bottle while traveling to visit suppliers
You are:
- Detail-oriented: you will leave no bean misplaced and no roast undocumented
- Process-oriented: your obsessive to-do lists and organized calendar can speak for
- themselves
- Flexible and self-motivated to take on new projects as assigned
- A consistently clear communicator
- Able to work independently to support the demands of a dynamic and partially
- remote team.
- A natural collaborator, excited to work on a range of projects with people from different
- teams
- A master multi-tasker: you love working on lots of different types of projects at the same
- time and never let a ball drop
- Interested in participating in the piecemeal logistics of specialty coffee trading, and in
- learning an immense amount about the realities of coffee buying and importation in the process
You have:
- Must have a strong understanding of the sensory evaluation of coffee
- Experience with structured coffee cupping and green coffee evaluation required
- Industry qualification, such as Q Grader, preferred
- Must have a solid understanding of roasting concepts
- Experience with Google Office Suite
Physical Requirements:
- The following is a list of the physical activity, requirements, and environmental factors related to this role. Blue Bottle is committed to partnering with all candidates and employees to ensure reasonable accommodations are made to meet the following:
- Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word;
- Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction, and having the ability to receive detailed information through oral communication.
- Making substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.
- Close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal and written documentation
- Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Occasionally walking, climbing stairs, and standing occur in this role.
- Environment: this role is protected within a building, but may be exposed to mild changes in temperature with heating or air conditioning.
A Few Benefits We Offer:
- This position has a salary range of $73,000-90,000 annually. This salary is a good-faith estimate for this position. The final salary offer will be determined after reviewing relevant factors, which include a candidate's qualifications and experience, where appropriate.
- Health, dental, and vision coverage for eligible employees starting on your first day
- 401(k) plan
- Paid time off
- 50% discount on all products, both online and in-cafe. This includes food, beverages, whole-bean coffee, and merchandise
- Flexible spending account & commuter benefits
- Employee Assistance Program