Cafe Leader

Blue Bottle Coffee; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 64,000 - 72,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision

401(k)

Paid time off

Employee discount

Free drinks during shifts

Flexible spending account

Employee Assistance Program

Hourly wage $34.50–$39.30

Job summary

Blue Bottle Coffee in San Diego is seeking a Cafe Leader to build and develop an exceptional team, deliver outstanding hospitality, and drive financial and operational success.

You will train and coach staff, manage scheduling, ensure safety and standards, and collaborate with Area Leader to foster community.

Qualifications

• 2+ years retail/hospitality experience with coffee/food/beverage.
• 2+ years leadership experience leading 10+ people.
• Barista Essentials training completed or within 90 days post‑hire.
• Food Safety Certification required for the state and role or within 30 days post‑hire.
• Strong understanding of profit & loss and how to impact it.
• Comfort using Google Drive tools (Sheets, Docs, Calendar).
• Flexible schedule including mornings, evenings, weekends and holidays.

Responsibilities

• Build, develop, inspire, and retain an incredible team by listening carefully and sharing feedback openly.
• Ensure guests have hospitable experiences by coaching the team to exceed expectations.
• Drive strong financial performance and expand the cafe reach while maintaining efficiency.
• Communicate company values and sustainability goals to the team.
• Collaborate with other Blue Bottle teams and the Area Leader to engage the community.
• Coach and train to meet high standards of quality for beverages and food.
• Work on bar and on the floor to stay connected and improve operations.
• Create and maintain a thoughtful work schedule balancing needs with business goals.
• Manage day-to-day operations including ordering, banking, payroll approvals.
• Promote a safe and respectful working environment; follow health and safety guidelines.

Skills

Leadership

Hospitality

Team development

Operations

Guest service

Tools

Google Drive

Job description

About The Job

A Blue Bottle Cafe Leader creates a culture of belonging where teams with diverse backgrounds, styles, and perspectives can grow. They develop the team to consistently deliver great hospitality and coffee experiences, while ensuring accountability for cafe standards and business goals.

Our Cafe Leaders are responsible for the overall success of our cafes. They hire and build strong teams and are focused on training and developing each team member and future leader. They are also responsible for ensuring all our cafe guests experience exceptional hospitality and coffee experiences and for leading the cafe to achieve our financial and operational goals.

Our Cafe Leaders inspire our teams by living out our Guiding Principles—Welcome and Care for All, Raise the Bar, Build for Tomorrow, Simplify and Go, Grow Together—every day. They invite their team, vendors, and guests to create community through coffee.

Seeking

• 2+ years of retail/hospitality experience with a strong preference for coffee, food, and beverage
• 2+ years of leadership experience leading a team of 10+ people

You are

• A strong and dedicated people leader who understands that collaboration takes work. You understand your team and cultivate the right experiences so team members and leaders can grow together
• A business leader who understands how to drive a cafe to financial success through operational excellence, creative initiatives, and building an amazing team
• Obsessed with hospitality, you always anticipate the needs of guests and your community
• Deeply empathetic, with an open and positive attitude toward problem solving. You are not afraid to ask challenging questions if it helps us do right by our teams, guests, and business
• Never satisfied with the status quo, you are energized by ambitious and challenging goals
• Able to balance both the big picture and the nitty‑gritty in shaping and leading the strategy for your cafe while also driving excellent day‑to‑day operations
• Flexible and creative in problem solving—you roll with the punches and have fun doing it
• Passionate about the planet and creating a sustainable future for our people, the company, and our planet

You will

• Build, develop, inspire, and retain an incredible team by listening carefully, sharing feedback openly and honestly, and remaining transparent
• Ensure every guest at your cafe has an exceptionally hospitable experience by continually finding new ways to coach your team to exceed guest expectations
• Drive strong and ever‑improving financial performance, always finding ways to expand the reach of your cafe and be as efficient as possible in doing it
• Communicate our company values for a sustainable future to your team members and inspire them to help Blue Bottle achieve our company‑wide sustainability goals
• Collaborate with other teams at Blue Bottle and your Area Leader to creatively engage your community, deepening relationships with regular guests and welcoming newcomers
• Coach and train to ensure we always meet our high standards of quality and deliciousness for every beverage and food item served in your cafe
• Work on bar and on the floor, not only to help the team in busy moments but to stay constantly connected to the heart of our work and find ways to continually improve it
• Create and maintain a thoughtful work schedule for your team that balances individual, team, and cafe needs while meeting our business goals for efficiency
• Manage day‑to‑day operations of the cafe smoothly and accurately, including ordering, banking, reviewing and approving payroll, and so on.
• Promote a safe and respectful working environment
• Uphold and follow all health, food safety, and safety guidelines

You have

• 2+ years of retail/hospitality experience with a strong preference for coffee, food, and beverage
• 2+ years of leadership experience leading a team of 10+ people
• Completed Blue Bottle’s Barista Essentials training and validation program or will complete it within 90 days post‑hire
• Existing Food Safety Certification required for the state you will be working in and your specific role or will obtain it within 30 days post‑hire
• A strong understanding of a profit and loss statement and knowledge of how to impact it
• Comfort using computer programs, especially Google Drive tools (Sheets, Docs, Calendar)
• A flexible schedule and are available to work mornings, evenings, weekends and holidays

Role

Our Cafe Leader position is a dynamic one! Below we’ve mapped out the physical demands that are essential to the role:

• Ability to stand and walk for long periods of time. You’re on your feet the majority of the day, whether you are standing behind bar pulling shots or walking the cafe floor
• Use of hands to reach, grip, turn and perform precision work. You’re using your hands to operate beautiful espresso machines, pour delicious pour overs, and operate the register (among other responsibilities)
• As needed squat, bend, twist and reach for items below waist level or above shoulders. For example, you may have to bend down or reach up to grab cups, lids and towels
• Ability to lift, push/pull, carry and/or move up to 50 pounds. For example, you’ll be handling bags of coffee beans, coffee kegs, crates of milk, tub of dishes and trash bins
• As needed climb ladders, stairs, ramps and uneven floor and/or surfaces. For example, climb on a step stool to change menu slacks, go up and down stairs and ramps to storage areas
• Ability to smell and taste. You’re tasting and smelling coffee and food, helping ensure quality control for each cup and plate
• Ability to listen and speak. You’re listening and speaking with our guests to guide and create experiences

A Few Benefits We Offer

• The salary at time of posting will be between $64,000-$72,000. 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.
• 2 free drinks during shifts for cafe team members
• Flexible spending account & commuter benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• $34.50 - $39.30 an hour

Blue Bottle is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value an open mind, dedication to work, and a collaborative spirit. We hire based on these qualities, a job’s requirements, our business’s needs, and an applicant’s qualifications. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind—in the hiring process or in the workplace.

We comply with the ADA and consider reasonable accommodation measures that may be necessary for eligible applicants/employees to perform essential functions.

We may refuse to hire relatives of present employees if doing so could result in actual or potential problems in supervision, security, safety, or morale, or if doing so could create conflicts of interest.

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

We participate in E-Verify. We will provide the federal government with employees’ Form I-9 information to confirm authorization to work in the U.S. We will only use E-Verify once an employee has accepted a job offer and completed the Form I-9.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.