Head Roaster & Coffee Equipment Lead

Calvary Church of Albuquerque; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

SoPo Coffee seeks a Head Roaster & Coffee Equipment Technician to oversee roasting operations and equipment across locations. You will manage inventory, develop roast and brew recipes, and ensure quality control while leading training for café staff and apprentices.

You will maintain roasting logs, support green coffee purchasing, and supervise preventive maintenance. Strong knowledge of coffee, hands-on maintenance skills, and effective communication are essential.

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of specialty coffee, roasting, brewing, extraction, and sensory evaluation.
• Ability to operate a commercial coffee roaster safely and consistently.
• Ability to develop, evaluate, and adjust roast and brew recipes.
• Mechanical aptitude and ability to learn equipment maintenance and troubleshooting procedures.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills with the ability to balance production schedules and unexpected equipment issues.
• Ability to maintain accurate production, purchasing, wholesale, quality-control, and maintenance records.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to train and educate employees with varying levels of coffee knowledge.
• High level of responsibility, judgment, and trustworthiness when operating expensive equipment and making purchasing or repair decisions.
• Ability to work independently while appropriately communicating and escalating issues to management.
• Previous café and/or specialty coffee experience preferred.
• Previous roasting experience strongly preferred.
• Equipment maintenance or mechanical experience preferred.
• Calvary Church must be your home church
• Must attend one Calvary Church in-person weekend service per week.

Responsibilities

• Maintain appropriate roasted coffee inventory for espresso, batch brew, cold brew, retail bags, specialty offerings, and wholesale accounts.
• Plan and execute roasting according to production needs while maintaining freshness standards and accurate roast records.
• Develop, evaluate, and adjust roast profiles based on coffee origin, seasonality, environmental conditions, sensory results, and production needs.
• Regularly taste production coffees and identify potential roast defects or inconsistencies.
• Maintain accurate roast logs, production records, sample-roast information, recipe changes, and quality-control notes.
• Monitor green coffee inventory and coordinate the selection, ordering, receiving, transportation, and storage of green coffee.
• Evaluate coffees based on quality, flavor profile, price, origin, varietal, seasonality, supplier information, and SoPo’s production needs.
• Coordinate significant purchases with management and maintain records of green coffee purchases, pricing, supplier information, storage location, and remaining inventory.
• Conduct regular cuppings and sensory evaluations of production and specialty coffees.
• Monitor roast consistency and identify defects including scorching, tipping, underdevelopment, overdevelopment, and baking.
• Develop and maintain brew recipes for espresso, batch brew, pour-over, and other coffee offerings.
• Document recipe adjustments and communicate relevant changes to manager and café staff.
• Maintain relationships with existing wholesale customers and assist in developing new wholesale business.
• Prepare and fulfill wholesale coffee orders, communicate with customers, coordinate invoicing, and manage deliveries as needed.
• Provide training and coaching to café staff when coffee quality, brewing consistency, dialing-in procedures, or equipment operation require additional support.
• Train roasting apprentices as assigned in roasting fundamentals, roast defects, cupping, sensory evaluation, brewing methods, sample roasting, and other relevant skills.

Skills

Specialty coffee knowledge

Roasting

Brewing/extraction

Equipment maintenance

Record keeping

Training staff

Safety procedures

Communication

Time management

Independent work

Education

High school diploma or GED

Tools

Espresso machines

Grinders

Batch brewers

Water filtration systems

Roaster equipment

Job description

SoPo Coffee seeks a Head Roaster & Coffee Equipment Technician to oversee roasting operations and equipment across locations. You will manage inventory, develop roast and brew recipes, and ensure quality control while leading training for café staff and apprentices.

You will maintain roasting logs, support green coffee purchasing, and supervise preventive maintenance. Strong knowledge of coffee, hands-on maintenance skills, and effective communication are essential.