Coffee Specialist

Role Overview

The Coffee Specialist ensures every aspect of coffee production and service meets rigorous quality standards, from roasting profiles to the final cup experience. This position involves hands-on work, including qualifying a roasting partner in Qatar, managing daily coffee operations, providing client support, conducting training, and aiding business development.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and refine roasting profiles and blend formulas for all products in Qatar, beginning with CB Coffee Espresso Perfecto, ensuring consistency with Dubai's approved flavor profile.
• Create new blends and private-label coffees for joint venture clients as the customer base expands.
• Regularly assess and optimize blends based on feedback, coffee availability, and commercial factors.
• Maintain detailed documentation including specifications, cupping protocols, brewing recipes, and quality control records for each SKU.
• Qualify, audit, and approve local Qatar roasting partners, verifying their compliance with required standards.
• Ensure roasting, packaging, labeling (including Arabic), batch coding, and expiry date accuracy align with company requirements.
• Stay informed and enforce local food safety regulations applicable to roasting facilities in Qatar.
• Inspect every production batch to ensure it meets quality and consistency benchmarks before release.
• Manage the transition from Dubai-based roasting to local Qatar roasting, safeguarding quality continuity.
• Monitor roasting consistency, yield, and waste to optimize operational efficiency while upholding quality.
• Conduct regular cuppings of green coffee, production batches, and shelf-life samples to verify quality standards.
• Keep clear, comprehensive quality records from origin through to customer outlets.
• Perform quality audits at customer sites to guarantee that served coffee matches desired profiles.
• Investigate and resolve client quality concerns, applying corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
• Lead coffee tastings and cupping sessions for prospective and current institutional, F&B, and retail clients.
• Serve as technical liaison for clients, providing barista training, equipment support, recipe and dosing advice, and grinder calibration.
• Collaborate with sales during client pitches and onboarding by providing technical insights, coordinating samples, and tailoring coffee solutions.
• Maintain brewing standards across client locations, defining grinder settings, extraction recipes, milk texture, dosing, and calibration protocols.
• Assist with the installation, commissioning, and calibration of espresso machines and grinders.
• Develop and conduct training programs for Drinkit, Al Muftah F&B brands, and joint venture clients to ensure consistent coffee preparation standards.
• Coordinate closely with the Dubai team for quality control, sourcing, and sales to align Qatar operations with broader group objectives.
• Provide market insights from Qatar to Dubai leadership, including customer trends, competitor movements, and specialty coffee landscape updates.
• Support new product registrations and launches tailored to the Qatar market.
• Contribute to green coffee evaluations and origin decisions in partnership with the sourcing team.
• Assist commercial teams by offering coffee expertise in developing B2B, institutional, retail, and hospitality accounts.
• Represent the joint venture at coffee events, exhibitions, and client meetings.
• Identify opportunities for new products, seasonal offerings, and private-label solutions that promote business expansion.
• Drive continuous improvements in coffee quality, operational processes, and customer satisfaction while maintaining alignment with Dubai standards.

Candidate Profile

• Proven experience in specialty or commercial coffee, especially in areas such as roasting, quality assurance, blend development, or handling B2B accounts.
• Strong cupping abilities; holding a Q Grader certification is advantageous but not mandatory if practical skills are demonstrated.
• Prior experience with contract roasting, particularly auditing or working with roasting facilities within the GCC, is highly valuable.
• Comfortable engaging directly with clients, conducting tastings, training sessions, and technical discussions with food service operators and institutional buyers.
• Fluent in English; proficiency in Arabic is highly beneficial due to labeling and institutional responsibilities.