Coffee Director

Be Bold with Portland Coffee Roasters

For over 25 years, Portland Coffee Roasters has been forging positive connections with our customers and partners. We strive to create unbeatable relationships that will ultimately result in improving the coffee world, at the local and global level. Every year we commit resources to a global project supporting the coffee community. We are dedicated to sharing our knowledge and expertise; our training is thorough. We are a company of individuals with the common goal of making our industry better and more viable. We have fun together and we work hard together. If these values speak to you, PCR could be the fit you’ve been looking for!

We are currently filling the position of Coffee Director. The Director of Coffee is a key senior leadership position bringing passion and enthusiasm for coffee, industry expertise, and significant green coffee buying experience to the company in support of our growth plan, mission, and core values.

 Position: Coffee Director

•  Full-time position M-F starting salary $85,000/yr.
• Ten days paid vacation a year to start! + paid sick leave.
• 7 Paid holidays off.
• Great 401(k) plan available to all employees.
• Free Major Medical coverage with Providence health plan!
• Company sponsored Providence PPO health plan.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Free and discounted coffee benefits
• And much more…
  

Job Summary:

The Director of Coffee leads the Coffee team in enhancing our coffee brand and position while aligning with our mission. Responsibilities include coffee planning, sourcing, quality control, team training, and product innovation. They also collaborate with marketing, sales, and strategic development. This role maintains records, supports compliance, and acts as an internal and external coffee authority. The Director of Coffee works alongside the management accountant for financial planning. The ideal candidate will be a passionate, self-drive coffee expert who fosters growth and process improvements across the organization.

Primary Responsibilities:

·         Planning and Sourcing coffee. Responsible for annual planning and goal setting, managing purchasing of coffee offering. Maintaining and building relationships with producers, importers, and brokers with a focus on quality and sustainability. Producing reports as needed and evaluating annual plans and contracts to meet business needs and operating plan.

·         Coffee Quality management. Guiding a dynamic portfolio of specialty coffees. Perform cuppings, develop, and maintain coffee cupping and tasting protocols for all production needs. Follow all safety and QA requirements. Act as coffee information and training resource.  Maintaining coffee codes, descriptions, and recipe blends in all required locations (website, ERP system.). Working directly with Coffee Roasters and Op’s teams to improve coffee quality. Maintain and improve all equipment in coffee lab and facility.  

·         Coffee Roasting and Production. Develop and maintain recipes. Train roasters and green coffee handlers on roasting and recipes. Work with Warehouse and Production to oversee logistics for green coffee purchases and inventory storage. Procedures and Sanitation SOP’s. Creating reports as needed.

·         Coffee Strategy and Brand Leadership. Provided strategic guidance for coffee sourcing, branding and products at the executive and senior leadership level. Serve as a training and information resource for Sales and Marketing departments, as well as potential customers and prospects. Engage with key business decisions. Collaborate with all members of management to support company operations and initiatives. Act as host to customers; provide education and training on coffee sourcing, origin, quality, roasting, and PCR’s brand and values. 

Additional Responsibilities:

• Lead cross-functional problem-solving teams.
• Train coffee quality team and roasters
• Provide support as needed on ad-hoc projects to marketing, sales, and QA.
• Participate in ancillary system projects as a technical resource in coffee.
• All other relevant duties as assigned.  

Minimum Requirements and Skills:

• At least 10 years’ experience in coffee quality, sourcing, roasting and production 
• 5+ years in progressive leadership roles and budget authority for green coffee management 
• Managing forward contracts and coffee position to sustain demand and meet financial goals. 
• Extensive experience in cupping, brewing methods, and coffee applications 
• Demonstrated experience in blend development, roasting, and product development. 
• Familiarity with coffee market channels and product demand (Retail, grocery, direct to consumer, food service, etc.) 
• Origin travel and sourcing experience in at least two regions, relationship management and strong network of coffee professionals and specialty coffee industry associations 
• Must be willing and able to travel locally and internationally. 
• Proficiency in Spanish is a plus. 

 Education/Experience Requirements:

•  Bachelor's degree in business, finance, agriculture, or relevant field 
•  Graduate degree in business, economics, finance, or agribusiness preferred.
•  10+ years in Quality Coffee, Sourcing, Roasting and Production
•   *Relevant field; 5+ years in-role for Business Management, Financial Management, Agribusiness Management

 Technical Skills: 

• Q Certification or similar coffee quality evaluation credentials 
• Coffee Roaster (sample and production) operation, sanitation, and maintenance 
• Managing forward contracts and coffee position to sustain demand and meet financial goals. 

 Physical Demands: 

• Ability to work on the computer most of the day. 
• Ability to sit for most of the day. 
• Ability to lift 50 lbs. and tolerate heat and roasting environment in production areas.  

Work Environment:

Minimum in-office: 3 days/week

 The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to typical office environments as well as customers’ on-site coffee service locations. There is regular exposure to traffic during local travel and occasionally to other travel-related environments such as airports. There is frequent exposure to the coffee roasting environment with a moderate noise level and exposure to heat.  

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. The employee is regularly required to stand for long periods of time; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; balance; engage in repetitive bending and turning; reaching with hands and arms; use feet to operate foot pedal operation; and talk or hear. Occasionally required to climb ladders, sit, stoop, kneel, squat, crouch, or crawl. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

*Selected applicants will receive full Job Description.