Head Barista

You will be the heart and soul of our café’s coffee operations. You will lead on all things coffee, from managing orders to standardizing training practices, ensuring that our learners receive high-quality instruction across all aspects of their curriculum. This role is pivotal in maintaining our café’s reputation for excellent coffee while fostering a supportive and inclusive learning environment. Additionally, you will spearhead our coffee wholesale business, driving sales growth through networking, pitching, and leading on tasters.

Coffee Operations Leadership: Manage the end-to-end coffee-making and hot drinks making process, ensuring consistently high standards of coffee preparation and presentation. Oversee inventory, ordering, and stock management to maintain optimal levels of coffee beans, milk, equipment, and supplies for the cafe, events and wholesale orders, and be the go-to person on all things coffee-station related. Develop and maintain a standardized training program for learners, ensuring consistency in skills development and quality control. Communicate with Cafe managers and proactively come up with action plans with to continuously improve coffee related operations Training and Development: Train learners in all aspects of barista skills, customer service, and café operations, adhering to their individual training plans and the broader curriculum and targets. Provide continuous coaching and feedback to learners and cafe team, adapting training methods to suit individual learning styles and needs. Monitor learner progress, maintaining records, and preparing reports for internal and external stakeholders. Business Development: Lead on the growth and development of the café’s coffee wholesale business, identifying new business opportunities and potential clients. Develop and deliver engaging pitches and presentations to prospective customers, including leading on tasting sessions and demonstrations. Build and maintain strong relationships with existing and new wholesale clients, driving customer retention and satisfaction. Work with Marketing Manager to navigate the coffee industry and bring Fair Shot coffee to the market space through industry events, such as UK Coffee Week and Coffee Festival. Customer Experience: Ensure an exceptional customer experience in the café, setting the standard for service, quality, and hospitality. Lead by example in all customer-facing activities, including welcoming customers, taking orders, and handling complaints or feedback. Collaboration and Team Leadership: Work closely with the Café Manager and other staff to align café operations with our charity’s mission and objectives. Act as a role model for learners, demonstrating a strong work ethic, empathy, and a passion for quality coffee and customer service. Support and train junior baristas, volunteers, and support staff as needed.