The Role
As a Coffee Education Specialist, you will lead engaging coffee classes, educate customers on brewing techniques, and drive coffee equipment sales. You will build brand loyalty and ensure a quality customer experience through interactive demonstrations and product recommendations.
Summary Generated by Built In
Position Overview
As a Coffee Education Specialist at Seattle Coffee Gear, you are the in-store expert and educator responsible for delivering engaging, hands-on coffee classes that inspire customers, build confidence, and create long-term loyalty. You bring Seattle Coffee Gear’s brand to life by teaching brewing techniques, espresso fundamentals, and coffee equipment through structured classes, demonstrations, and interactive experiences.
This role plays a key part in driving sales of espresso machines, grinders, coffee makers, and accessories by helping customers understand the “why” behind great coffee, and matching them with the right products for their goals, taste preferences, and lifestyle.
Key Responsibilities
Customer Experience & Brand Representation
· Represent Seattle Coffee Gear’s brand and culture by creating memorable, educational experiences that inspire repeat visits and customer loyalty.
· Lead engaging and interactive coffee classes designed to teach customers brewing fundamentals and advanced preparation skills.
· Educate customers on a variety of brewing techniques, including pour-over, French Press, AeroPress, espresso, cold brew, and coffee art.
· Guide customers in selecting coffee beans based on flavor profiles, roast levels, and origin.
· Maintain a “coffee-ready” environment by ensuring quality and consistency across in-store brewing and demonstrations.
Sales & Business Performance
· Recommend appropriate coffee equipment, brewing tools, and maintenance practices based on customer needs and skill level.
· Promote and sell coffee products, equipment, and accessories through education and product demonstrations.
· Drive customer conversion through teaching and helping customers leave with the right tools and confidence to succeed at home.
· Assist the store in achieving revenue goals by driving customer engagement and conversion through education.
· Consistently meet or exceed store goals by delivering exceptional classes that drive customer engagement and sales. Performance is measured by product sales performance through SPH, UPT & guest feedback.
Team Engagement & Store Support
· Partner with store leadership to align class offerings with seasonal initiatives, product priorities, and business goals.
· Collaborate with store leadership on merchandising strategies that highlight key tools and products featured in classes.
· Support the store team by modeling exceptional service and product expertise.
Operations & Compliance
· Ensure compliance with food safety standards, local health codes, and sanitation regulations.
· Maintain accurate inventory levels, minimize shrink, and control supply and culinary expenses.
· Ensure store safety and cleanliness, addressing any maintenance needs promptly.
· Adhere to applicable wage and hour laws. Accurately records time worked according to Seattle Coffee Gear Policy.
· Model and ensure consistent adherence to all Seattle Coffee Gear’s policies and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Physical Requirements
· Ability to communicate verbally and work cooperatively with associates and customers.
· Ability to remain standing for up to 4 hours at a time.
· Ability to move about the store directing class participants while selling to customers and retrieving merchandise from stockroom or sales floor.
· The capability to accurately perceive and differentiate variations in intensity or quality of flavors or odors, or to identify specific tastes or scents using the tongue or nose.
· Ability to grab, reach, push, pull, bend, stoop, kneel, and crouch to retrieve and replenish merchandise from stockroom or sales floor.
· Ability to use hands to seize, hold, grasp, turn, or otherwise to grind, tamp, steam, pour, froth, and/or demonstrate other coffee brewing techniques.
· Ability to lift and/or move merchandise weighing up to 50 lbs.
· Ability to ascend/descend ladders to retrieve and/or move merchandise.
· Ability to operate a computer, POS system, keyboards, merchandise scanners and mouse to accomplish work.
· Available to work between 12 and 16 hours per week, with a flexible schedule, including nights, weekends, and holidays. While this is the minimum availability, scheduled hours may differ based on business needs.
· Regular and predictable attendance.
· Ability to work in a coffee bar area with exposure to hot equipment, steam, varying temperatures, and potential airborne and physical coffee-related allergens.
Qualifications & Experience
· Must be 18 years of age or older at time of employment.
· Passion for coffee and in-depth knowledge of brewing methods, coffee origins and equipment.
· Ability to create engaging, hands-on experiences for customers.
· Strong enthusiasm for coffee and a genuine eagerness to share knowledge with others.
· Excellent communication, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
· Passion for community engagement and delivering exceptional customer experiences.
· Proficiency in Microsoft Office and retail management systems is preferred.
This job description represents a summary of the job, not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all possible job responsibilities, tasks, and duties. Responsibilities, tasks, and duties of the jobholder might differ from those outlined in the job description and other duties, as assigned, may be part of the job. This job description is not an employment agreement or contract. Seattle Coffee Gear has the exclusive right to alter this job description at any time without notice.
Skills Required
- Passion for coffee and in-depth knowledge of brewing methods, coffee origins and equipment
- Ability to create engaging, hands-on experiences for customers
- Excellent communication, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office and retail management systems
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The Company
What We Do
We acquire overlooked store and catalogue based retailers and transform them into high performance, "digital first” brands through our proven omni-channel technology platform, operating expertise and scale. Founded by Justin Yoshimura and backed by world class investors.
