We have been passionate about people enjoying great-tasting and 100% traceable speciality coffee ever since we started roasting in the basement of our first restaurant fourteen years ago. Today, we’re a B Corp certified roaster, supplying coffee fresh from the Loring Peregrine S70 at our North London roastery to a range of growing customers, including our nine restaurants and three Brew Bars.
With our in-house Female Producer programme, we champion opportunities for women by sourcing 50% of our coffee from female-run farms, whilst also funding projects that support women in our coffee-growing communities.
As Head of Coffee, you will be an energetic leader for Caravan’s coffee programme, both internally and externally, overseeing quality control from farm-to-cup with your Q-grade standard sensory skills. You will be running a commercial and responsible green buying process, as well as coaching and line-managing the coffee team to execute a consistent daily roasting operation.
Key responsibilities
Green coffee procurement
Sourcing stability: Enable Caravan to receive the best price for agreed coffee quality and profile, balancing commodity price risks with alternative pricing models and delivery phasing.
Tendering process: Account for origin-specific sampling and contracting periods, bringing benchmarked options through to Director sign-off reviews.
Enticing single origin schedule: Refresh offer that meets GP targets, including complex flavour profiles, compelling origin stories, experimental processes and plant varieties.
Supplier relationships: Build strong connections with key importers, logistic providers, cooperatives and partner farms. Run annual quality audits and collaborate on opportunities to improve service and environmental impact.
Green coffee stock cover: Coordinate with the Head Roaster to manage weekly replenishment of green coffee into the roastery. Highlight stock risks and bring longer-term buying needs into the S&OP process.
Green coffee sampling: Support the team to sample roast and score in line with the SCA scoring system.
Roasting and quality control
Team management: Coach and develop a team of four people, including the Head Roaster. Maintain live training materials for safe green loading, consistent roasting, blending and quality control.
Roast planning: Oversee the Head Roaster to ensure sufficient daily resource levels, effective daily and weekly roast stock cover planning, and look for efficiencies and automation in the operation.
Coffee release process: Manage timely system setup and share the live schedule and story around the latest release with stakeholders.
Third-party roasting & QC: Plan green coffee availability, agree on metrics that guarantee partners can match our profiles, and oversee the QC and release process.
Recipe development: Adapt recipes in existing blends and work on recipes for new coffee profile requests.
100% traceability: Ensure the team, processes and systems are set up to deliver full batch-level traceability from green coffee to finished goods.
QC testing: Continually refresh QC procedures to represent our end consumer experience across all formats, brewing methods and shelf life.
Certification compliance: Maintain our Fairtrade, Organic and SALSA standards. Train team members in protocol and lead audits
Coffee leadership
Female Producer programme: Lead the programme, maintaining sourcing in line with the 50% target. Work with charity partners on proposals for future projects and share stories on our female-produced coffees and live projects.
Be an ambassador for Caravan in the coffee community: Participate in industry events and stay on top of trends.
Play an active role in customer sell-in meetings: Present our coffee offer, understand coffee-related decision variables, and support new coffee ideation and sampling where required.
Support sales & marketing with resources, market updates and information on our coffees.
Requirements for the role
Experience managing green coffee procurement, from micro-lots to full container volumes.
Familiarity with factors influencing coffee prices.
Roasting experience, ideally on a Loring.
Q-grade or equivalent sensory skills and SCA training.
Experience owning and improving quality control procedures.
Energetic and confident in delivering customer and supplier presentations at the senior level.
Strong commercial acumen and negotiation skills.
Strategic, analytical and solution-focused problem solving.
Excellent written and verbal communication with all stakeholders.
Not afraid to get stuck in.
Willingness and ability to travel to coffee origin.
Ability to work from our Islington roastery Monday to Friday (flexible working needs can be discussed).
Caravan Core Values
As Head of Coffee, you will be a role model in promoting and displaying Caravan’s purpose and values. Our 4 core values are:
Caravan of Love
No boundaries
Well-travelled
All welcome
To say thank you for choosing us, we also offer our teams
Roastery team lunch on a Wednesday cooked by our chef Jack
50% off all food in our Brew Bars
Dining discount when visiting our restaurants
All of the coffee you can drink on site
Weekly allowance of coffee for home
Bike to work scheme
Mental health and well-being support
Financial health education and support
Leadership training and development
Birthday & Anniversary Treat: on your birthday and work anniversary, you’ll receive a Caravan voucher to spend in any of our restaurants
Development and career progression: 80% of all our management roles are filled internally
Sustainability
We expect our teams to support environmental stewardship targets and efficiency goals by following departmental environmental policies and monitoring own usage of vital resources such as energy, disposable goods, and food waste, to name a few.
Diversity & Inclusion
All our teams must respect individual differences with regards to identity, national and cultural background, and level of experience in all interactions while at work, including with members of the public.
