Lead Roaster Fleet Coffee

Sprudge; Austin, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Free coffee and bags to take home

Cafe discounts

Professional development assistance

Job summary

Fleet Coffee in Austin is seeking an experienced Lead Roaster to captain our roasting program. This senior, hands-on role requires real time production roasting, dialing in profiles, sourcing green, and maintaining quality while getting finished coffee out the door.

You’ll lead a team behind you, set profiles, uphold our quality bar, and shape Fleet’s signature flavor. This role is for someone ready to lead rather than merely execute, with room to grow as Fleet expands.

Qualifications

• Multiple years of hands-on production roasting experience.
• Strong sensory cupping skills and a structured QC approach.
• Working knowledge of green coffee: grades, origins, contracts, and inventory management.
• Self-directed, organized, and accountable for output and quality.
• Experience on a Loring or similar air-roaster highly preferred (Loring S15 Falcon).
• Familiarity with roast-logging software (Cropster, Artisan, or similar).
• Q-Grader certification a plus.
• Ability to lift 60+ lbs and work on your feet in a warehouse/roastery.

Responsibilities

• Production roasting: plan and execute weekly roast schedule to meet café and wholesale demand.
• Quality control & profile development: lead cupping and QC, refine roast profiles for new and seasonal coffees, and troubleshoot when something tastes off.
• Green sourcing & inventory: manage green coffee buying, vendor and importer relationships, contracts, and inventory so we’re never short and never sitting on stale stock.
• Packaging & fulfillment: oversee packaging, labeling, and order fulfillment for retail bags and wholesale accounts, keeping freshness and accuracy tight.
• Wholesale & café support: collaborate with cafés and wholesale customers on dial-ins, feedback, and training as needed.
• Equipment & safety: keep the roaster and supporting equipment maintained, clean, and running safely, and keep the roastery organized.

Skills

Roasting experience

Sensory skills

Inventory management

Process ownership

QC / cupping

Q-Grader certification

Roast-logging software

Tools

Cropster

Artisan

Loring S15 Falcon

Job description

About Fleet Coffee

Fleet Coffee is an Austin-built coffee company with a hospitality-first point of view. We run several cafés across the city and roast the coffee that fills every cup we serve, plus a growing list of wholesale and café partners. We care about the details that customers feel but rarely see — and the person who roasts our coffee is at the center of that.

The Role

We’re hiring an experienced Lead Roaster to captain our roasting program. This is a senior, hands‑on role for someone who has logged real time behind a production roaster and is ready to run it all: dialing in profiles, sourcing green, holding the quality bar, and getting finished coffee out the door.

You won’t be out here alone — you’ll have a leadership team behind you that invests in the coffee, the equipment, and the people who make it matter. But the roasting program is yours to run. You set the profiles, you hold the measure for excellence, you decide what Fleet tastes like.

This is the right role for a roaster ready to lead, not just execute.

What You’ll Do

• Production roasting— Plan and execute the weekly roast schedule to meet café and wholesale demand, maintaining consistency batch to batch and roaster log discipline (Cropster/Artisan or similar).
• Quality control & profile development— Lead cupping and QC, develop and refine roast profiles for new and seasonal coffees, and troubleshoot when something tastes off.
• Green sourcing & inventory— Manage green coffee buying, vendor and importer relationships, contracts, and inventory so we’re never short and never sitting on stale stock.
• Packaging & fulfillment— Oversee packaging, labeling, and order fulfillment for retail bags and wholesale accounts, keeping freshness and accuracy tight.
• Wholesale & café support— Partner with our cafés and wholesale customers on dial‑ins, feedback, and the occasional training or account visit.
• Equipment & safety— Keep the roaster and supporting equipment maintained, clean, and running safely, and keep the roastery organized.

What We’re Looking For

• Several years of hands‑on production roasting experience, ideally including profile development from scratch.
• Strong sensory skills and a structured approach to cupping and QC.
• Working knowledge of green coffee — grades, origins, contracts, and how to manage inventory and freshness.
• Comfort owning a process: someone organized, self‑directed, and accountable for output and quality.
• Experience on a Loring (or comparable air‑roaster) a strong plus — we roast on a Loring S15 Falcon.
• Familiarity with roast‑logging software (Cropster, Artisan, or similar).
• Q‑Grader certification a plus.
• Ability to lift 60+ lbs repeatedly and work on your feet in a warehouse/roastery environment.

Why Fleet

• Your craft, your call. You’ll build the entire roasting program — profiles, green selection, quality standards — from the inside out. The coffee Austin drinks at Fleet is the coffee you shape.
• Quality‑first culture. You’ll work with a team that sweats the details and a leadership group that backs investment in good green, good equipment, and doing it right.
• Modern equipment. You’re roasting on a Loring S15 Falcon — efficient, consistent, and a genuine pleasure to dial in on.
• Room to grow. Fleet is expanding across cafés and wholesale, and the roasting program is growing with it. Your work directly shapes that trajectory.
• The everyday perks. Paid time off, free coffee and bags to take home, café discounts, and support for continued education — SCA coursework, cupping, origin exposure.

Benefits

• Employee discount
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• 60,000-75,000 depending on experience
• Experience:
• Roasting: 2 year (Preferred) Work Location: In person