Green Coffee & Quality Assistant
4 days ago
Honolulu
Job Description You are a curious and enthusiastic professional with a genuine passion for specialty coffee. You are highly organized and detail-oriented, comfortable working across both data-driven analysis and hands-on sensory tasks, with exposure to cupping or sensory evaluation considered a plus but not required. A strong communicator and natural collaborator, you value teamwork and shared success. You are eager to learn, grow, and take on increasing responsibility, and you approach your work with reliability, proactivity, and a deep commitment to quality, integrity, and purpose. Department: Operations Job Status: Full Time FLSA Status: Non-exempt Reports To: Coffee Procurement Manager Job Type: Non-union Hours: Monday – Friday, evenings and weekends as needed POSITION SUMMARY This entry-level role is designed for someone passionate about specialty coffee and eager to build a long-term career in sourcing, quality, and coffee operations. The Green Coffee & Quality Assistant supports all aspects of green coffee intake, inventory management, quality evaluation, sustainability tracking, and cross-departmental communication. This position also plays an important cultural role—helping strengthen internal coffee knowledge, supporting storytelling, and contributing to the company’s identity as a coffee-forward organization. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS Essential Functions Statement(s): 1. Green Coffee Intake, Inventory & Traceability • Assist in receiving, logging, and tracking all incoming green coffee., • Maintain accurate and up-to-date internal records for lots, origins, certifications, and contracts., • Support reconciliation of physical vs. system inventories across internal and external warehouses., • Help ensure traceability from green to finished product through careful documentation and process checks., • Communicate proactively with production, roasting, and operations teams regarding coffee availability and movement. 2. Quality Control & Cupping • Participate in daily/weekly cuppings of green samples, production roasts, and finished goods., • Prepare cupping tables, maintain grind and cupping standards, record data, and assist in reporting insights., • Assist in sample roasting and green evaluation under the guidance of the Coffee Procurement Manager and senior QC staff., • Help monitor flavor profiles across core blends to ensure consistency and quality., • Support sensory development by regularly calibrating with the QC and production teams. 3. Sustainability Tracking & Reporting • Support company sustainability initiatives related to green coffee procurement, farm partnerships, certifications, and packaging., • Maintain logs and documentation for traceability, environmental reporting, and internal sustainability KPIs., • Help gather data for impact reporting, farm communications, and certification audits. 4. Kona Mill Coordination • Assist with communication and coordination with the mill during harvest and production cycles., • Support mill-level administrative processes, including lot IDs, milling instructions, yields, and production reporting., • Help ensure required paperwork—receipts, milling instructions, and related documents—is accurate and properly filed., • Maintain organized and timely communication to ensure smooth seasonal operations with the mill. 5. Sales, Marketing & Education Support • Provide product information support to sales and marketing teams (flavor notes, processing details, farm narratives, etc.)., • Assist in preparing internal and customer-facing coffee information sheets., • Support hosting internal cuppings, training sessions, and exploratory tastings for staff and key partners., • Help promote and maintain a strong internal coffee culture. 6. Industry & Community Engagement • Attend association events, cupping trainings, and relevant industry gatherings., • Stay current on developments within the specialty coffee sector., • Represent the company with professionalism, curiosity, and enthusiasm. Other Functions: • Performs other related duties as assigned.POSITION QUALIFICATIONS Competency Statement(s) • Communication, Written – Ability to communicate in writing clearly and concisely., • Communication, Oral – Ability to communicate effectively with others using the spoken word., • Organized – Being organized or following a systematic method of performing a task., • Responsible – Ability to be held accountable or answerable for one’s conduct., • Honesty / Integrity – Ability to be truthful and be seen as credible in the workplace., • Accountability – Ability to accept responsibility and account for his/her actions., • Reliability – The trait of being dependable and trustworthy., • Friendly – Ability to exhibit a cheerful demeanor toward others., • Customer Oriented – Ability to take care of the customer’s needs while following company procedures. Mental Demands: • Ability to work under stressful conditions., • Able to interact with others with courtesy and tact., • Ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects in an organized and efficient manner., • Ability to respond to crisis situations in a calm and effective manner., • Ability to complete projects on schedule. Communication Demands: The position requires talking to co-workers, customers, vendors; requires written communications to and from co-workers, customers and vendors, talking on the telephone; requires responding to written or verbal requests of co-workers, customers and vendors; requires training/giving verbal and written instructions; requires receiving verbal and written instructions; requires writing/composing written language; requires reading; requires visiting/working at other work-sites; Ability to communicate via the latest technologies required for the position. Reasonable Accommodations Statement: To accomplish this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation, each essential function satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to help enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. SKILLS & ABILITIES Experience: 1-2 years in coffee, food/beverage, or production environment preferred. Exposure to cupping or sensory evaluation is a plus. Education: Bachelor’s degree preferred, High School diploma or equivalent required Computer Skills: Basic Microsoft skills (Word, Excel and Powerpoint), Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop Language: Well-developed verbal and written English AND Japanese communication ckills. PHYSICAL DEMANDS The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The employee is required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. Pushing/pulling/lifting/carrying up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision and ability to adjust focus. N (Not Applicable) Activity is not applicable to this position. O (Occasionally) Position requires this activity up to 33% of the time (0 – 2.5+ hrs/day) F (Frequently) Position requires this activity from 33% - 66% of the time (2.5 – 5.5+ hrs/day) C (Constantly) Position requires this activity more than 66% of the time (5.5+ hrs/day) Physical Demands Lift/Carry Stand O 10 lbs or less O Walk O 11-20 lbs O Sit F 21-50 lbs O Manually Manipulate O 51-100 lbs N Reach Outward O Over 100 lbs N Reach Above Shoulder O Climb N Push/Pull Crawl N 12 lbs or less O Squat or Kneel N 13-25 lbs O Bend N 26-40 lbs O Grasp O 41-100 lbs N Speak F WORK ENVIRONMENT We are a manufacturer of coffee and tea products. Our team members will encounter work environments ranging from air conditioned, low noise office settings, to the production/warehouse area that is not climate controlled and has a moderate noise level from operating machinery. Typically, production and warehouse positions spend most of their work time in the production/warehouse facility while the support and sales positions spend most of their time in an office environment. Team members will perform work in both environments. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals to perform the essential functions of their position, regardless of work environment. The job description is intended to provide guidelines for job expectations and the employee's ability to perform the position described. It is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all functions, responsibilities, skills, and abilities. Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by supervisors as deemed appropriate. This document does not represent a contract of employment, and the Company reserves the right to change this job description and/or assign tasks for the employee to perform, as the Company may deem appropriate.