Head Barista

Bluestone Lane; Walnutport (Northampton County); On-site; USD 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Bluestone Lane in Walnutport is seeking a Head Barista to uphold coffee quality and enhance customer interactions. The ideal candidate has a strong background in specialty coffee and hospitality, coupled with essential mentoring skills.

This position involves managing coffee-related tools, training baristas, and ensuring smooth operations while providing exceptional service to our locals.

Qualifications

• 2+ years working as a Barista in Specialty coffee or 4+ years in non-specialty coffee.
• 2+ years of relevant hospitality experience.
• Strong technical barista knowledge and skills.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for coffee quality and training others in the café.
• Engage with locals and maintain positive relationships.
• Manage coffee related equipment and inventory.

Skills

Specialty coffee experience

Hospitality experience

Coffee extraction skills

Interpersonal skills

Team training and mentoring

Education

2+ years as Barista or Head Barista

DOH accredited or Safeserve Certified

Job description

Summary / Objective

A Head Barista is responsible for upholding the standard of quality of the Bluestone Lane coffee and beverage program within their home store. The Head Barista is a positive influence over other baristas and strives for the highest of standards in drinks, local interactions, attitude and brand ambassadorship. The Head Barista acts as a role model in their own drink quality, local interaction and food preparations while also taking significant responsibility for on the job training and education of their teammates in store. The Head Barista is responsible for all aspects of the coffee menu in full in their assigned store as well as strong support for their relevant manager. This role follows the Steps of Service to maximize sales while providing a high level of customer service. The Head Barista serves our locals and runs drinks to tables Monday through Friday. The Head Barista is a cross-functional role and rotates off the machine with responsibility for POS and take-away orders working alongside their Server Teammates.

Positioning: The Head Barista is cross-functional and positioned either behind the machine when assigned, at the POS, or on the café floor so that they are accessible and within eyes reach of our local.

Essential Functions / Responsibilities

• Store level extension of Education team; coffee/beverage quality and processes gatekeeper for café
• Teamwide holistic education and training of coffee product & coffee/beverage program; Face of Bluestone Lane coffee to locals & teammates
• Manages coffee related equipment and tool cleaning and maintenance (daily cleaning and periodic maintenance)
• Inventory management of coffee and coffee-related product
• Deep understanding of the menu in order to educate and excite local
• Services tables with focus on upselling food & beverage. Keen eye to refill beverage at right time
• Comes around the machine to personally deliver drinks to locals
• Engages and attends Monthly Head Barista meetings
• Upskills teams and initiates training and accreditation requests for teammates when needed
• Out of LA and NY – One senior HB to facilitate accreditations upholding BL coffee quality and hospitality philosophies.
• With Manager, responsible for upskilling team and initiating training and accreditation requests when needed
• Train, educate and acclimate new baristas into store and BL system
• Serves as Teammate rotating off machine to run POS, serve locals, clear tables & process takeaway
• Locals focused, interacting and servicing locals with beverage needs
• Sets tone in store with recognition and connection with locals – name, face & order every time; Builds relationships and human connection through personalization and conversation; Provides input to GM/Ops in selection and hiring of new baristas
• Attends regular calibration sessions with Education team (1 every 6-8 weeks, ability to travel may be needed)
• Contributes to and builds upon innovations which assist workflow and operations in store and speed of service
• Zenput inputs such as monthly staffing reports to Education team, monthly coffee and process audits & ownership of store achieving correct extraction via daily dial in
• Focus on coffee, beverage product and workflow systems of each barista within the team while providing a positive influence in upholding BL standard of hospitality.
• Coffee product rotation, ordering and quantity management following standard operating procedures (i.e. coffee used within 3 weeks of roast for beverage preparation, Retail coffee no older than 7 days on shelves)
• Minimizes waste – ensure proper ordering
• Ensures bar and workspace are always clean and fully functioning
• Speed of service – provide quality product with speed and accuracy
• Maintains grooming guidelines at all times
• Shift leader who assists General Manager to direct and manage live labor; ensures operational excellence in absence of GM

Measures of Success

• Cross-functional operations – flexible and agile moving from machine to serving local – service focused and quality driven
• Baristas in training are ready for test within 30 days of employment
• Pipeline of Baristas ready for accreditation
• Knows locals’ name & order – provides genuine escape by delivering great service
• Good communication & working environment with Servers – working together to service local efficiently and effectively
• Consistent coffee quality from all baristas in the café
• Reduces coffee waste

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

• You have 2+ years working as a Barista or Head Barista in Specialty coffee or 4+ years working in non-specialty coffee in a high volume fast paced environment.
• You have 2+ years of relevant hospitality experience, previous management or leadership roles are preferred
• You are DOH accredited or Safeserve Certified
• You are keen to train, mentor and support teammates in their coffee education
• You have strong technical barista knowledge and skills (extraction, texturing, pouring)
• You have strong interpersonal and communication skills
• You can work in a high stress, fast paced work environment
• You can stand for extended periods and lift to 40lbs

Work Environment

Working conditions are typically indoors in environmentally controlled conditions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.