We are seeking a deeply experienced, highly specialized Specialty Coffee Consultant to support the strategic development, technical setup, and operational refinement of our coffee business. This role is intended for a proven industry expert with end-to-end experience across the specialty coffee value chain - from green bean sourcing and roasting strategy to café design, equipment planning, workflow optimization, service standards, retail performance, and go-to-market execution.

This is not a general advisory role. We are looking for someone with exceptional technical credibility, commercial understanding, and practical operating knowledge with proven track record who can help us build a best-in-class coffee program from the ground up. The successful candidate will serve as a key strategic partner in defining standards, systems, and decisions that shape both the quality and long-term viability of our new shop.

The ideal candidate combines deep coffee expertise with the ability to translate vision into disciplined execution. They understand not only what "good" looks like in specialty coffee, but how to build the sourcing, roasting, equipment, workflow, training, retail, and customer experience systems that make excellence repeatable at scale.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

1) Coffee Program Strategy & Concept Development

- Advise on the development of a differentiated specialty coffee program aligned with the company's brand, target customer, service model, and commercial objectives.
- Define the coffee philosophy, quality positioning, and program architecture for the current shop.
- Recommend best practices for building a coffee offer that balances craft, operational feasibility, profitability, and guest appeal.




- Guide key decisions around beverage identity, menu hierarchy, house standards, seasonal offerings, and overall coffee experience.
- Establish foundational principles for how coffee quality, hospitality, retail presentation, and education should work together as a unified concept.

2) Green Bean Sourcing & Supply Chain Advisory

- Provide expert guidance on green coffee sourcing strategy, including origin selection, supplier evaluation, importer relationships, seasonal buying considerations, quality benchmarks, and risk factors.
- Advise on approaches to procurement that support consistency, distinctiveness, traceability, and commercial sustainability.
- Evaluate opportunities for direct trade, relationship coffee, importer-led sourcing, or blended sourcing models depending on brand objectives.
- Support the development of sourcing criteria related to cup profile, processing method, price sensitivity, availability, and storytelling value.
- Assess supply chain resilience, quality risk, and continuity planning for key coffees and program components.
- Recommend best practices in green coffee selection for espresso, filter, retail, and seasonal offerings.

3) Roasting Strategy & Product Quality Development

- Advise on roasting philosophy, profile direction, and product architecture to support the desired guest experience and brand positioning.




- Support decisions related to roast style, flavor clarity, solubility targets, espresso suitability, milk performance, and filter expression.
- Collaborate with internal teams or external roasting partners to define standards for coffee development, consistency, and sensory expectations.
- Establish cupping, evaluation, and quality assurance frameworks for roasted coffee.
- Provide technical direction on how roasting choices influence extraction, bar workflow, retail appeal, and customer accessibility.
- Recommend systems for maintaining consistency across production, seasonal transitions, and menu rotation.
- Advise on all operational aspects of opening a new coffee shop, ensuring that layout, service model, equipment placement, and staffing design support both efficiency and hospitality.
- Review or help shape café layout plans with a focus on bar flow, customer movement, production efficiency, ergonomics, safety, and service quality.
- Identify and solve workflow bottlenecks before opening.
- Establish optimal sequencing for drink production, dish flow, takeaway operations, order handoff, bussing, restocking, and peak-hour movement.
- Ensure that the café’s physical setup supports quality execution under real operating conditions.
- Provide recommendations on front bar design, back counter functionality, storage logic, refrigeration placement, point-of-sale positioning, and retail integration.

5) Equipment Strategy & Technical Specification

- Lead or advise on equipment selection across espresso machines, grinders, batch brewers, hand-brew systems, water filtration, refrigeration, ice, dish

📌 Senior Coffee Strategy Consultant (Vancouver)
🏢 Slo Coffee
📍 Vancouver