Since January 2015,
Sustainable Harvest Rwanda Ltd, a for-profit company affiliated with
Sustainable Harvest Rwanda-NGO has been roasting and selling specialty grade
quality coffee in Kigali. In December, SHR Ltd opened the Question Coffee
Cafe to serve specialy espresso drinks and sell roasted bags of coffee.
SHR Ltd sells fresh roasted coffee to hotels and cafes and rest
arurants
across Rwanda. The cafe and roaster is located in Kimihurura.
Website:
Sustainable
Harvest Rwanda, LLC
Director –
Social Enterprise
Report to Executive
Director Relationship Coffee Institute
Goals:
Build a social
enterprise that generates profit that sustains a roasting business and espresso
bar and provides additional resources to return to farmers as training or
premium sharing.
Duties &
Responsibilities
Developing new
business
- Develop
a strategic sales plan to achieve monthly/quarterly goals - Work
with owners to research, identify and prioritize targeted account
opportunities by strategic channel and geography - Report
weekly, monthly and quarterly on strategic sales plan - Leading,
managing, and holding the sales team accountable for increasing sales. - Act as
a conduit between sales and all other integrated departments for wholesale
operations - Manage
priorities, help drive the schedule and resources across projects and
initiatives maintain a comprehensive and working target and lead list that
ties to sales objectives for all regions - Responsible
for achieving or exceeding annual sales revenue plan for wholesale market
sales - Coordinate
new account sales activity. Oversee weekly roast-to-order production,
inventory levels and delivery. Work closely with operations manager to
coordinate activity - Respond
to wholesale inquiries and opportunities within 12-24 hours and prioritize
opportunities with owners - Closely
monitor industry trends, regularly secure market intelligence and maintain
professional contacts with industry innovators and knowledge sources to
insure that company anticipates market moves and can quickly respond to
changing customer needs
Manage existing
accounts
- Directly
manage relationships with all wholesale accounts - Establish
and maintain a call/visit schedule with all wholesale accounts - Maintain
a current knowledge of existing wholesale account locations, coffee
offerings, equipment and brew methods used - Follow
sales trends of existing accounts and monitor pricing levels - Find
opportunities to improve the wholesale program and add value to all
wholesale accounts - Work to
improve account performance and sales through coffee education, trainings,
cupping’s, demos and sales promotions - Communicate
with customers in a positive, compassionate and professional manner - Keep
your finger on the pulse of accounts – paying attention to events at a
local, regional and national level and how that affects sales - Maintain
working knowledge of our marketing/promotional material, help maintain
inventory of material at accounts - Resolving
guest, team member, and service issues in a timely fashion ensuring each
product delivered to guests meets quality standards - Place,
receive and verify orders, conduct inventory, control waste and dates
Sales of equipment
- A
team/collective approach is taken when preparing proposals for equipment. - Prepare
equipment proposals for espresso machines, grinders, brewers, water
filtration, parts and start up tools - Responsible
for the majority of communication during the proposal process - Use
account management software to record and track progress
Retail Quality
Control
- Maintain
accurate records and paperwork including daily sales results, monthly
inventory, cash drawer reconciliation, personnel records and employment
documentation - Participate
in the development of the coffeebar’s annual budget, and identify
quarterly goals and objectives - Ensure
cleanliness, organization, and attractiveness of the coffeebar’s interior
and exterior - Maintain
strong vendor relationships to ensure response time and deliveries are
timely; track vendor activity, particularly those responding to and
completing work order requests - Plan,
identify, communicate, and delegate appropriate responsibilities and
practices to staff to achieve operational goals - Continuously
review the coffeebar’s operations to identify problems, concerns, and
opportunities for improvement - Recruit,
hire, and supervise qualified personnel when positions become available - Prepare,
monitor and manage the coffeebar’s staffing levels and schedule; identify
opportunities to increase efficiency without sacrificing operations - Review
monthly financial reports to identify and address trends and issues in
performance - Suggest
and implement new initiatives in pursuit of increasing quality and
profitability, streamlining labor/systems, and increasing morale - Ensure
staff’s adherence to operational guidelines and standards, compliance with
all safety and security policies, and the proper functioning and
maintenance of store equipment
Training/Education
- Work
with coffeebar staff – on an individual and group basis – to ensure that
staff is confident in their drink preparation skills, throughout the year,
and particularly prior to quarterly testing periods - Review
the Retail Training Manual with new staff, and help guide employees to
strengthen their skills based on the coffeebar’s needs - Act as
an ambassador by maintaining strong relationships with the Green Coffee
department, Marketing, NGO, and other Question stakeholders - Continuously
seek out education for the store, incorporating innovative and avant-garde
ideas and initiatives into the evolving training program - Research,
suggest and implement new brewing methods and merchandising opportunities
Experience
and Education and Skills Required
Wholesale Customer
Management
- Experience
as the primary account manager for international hotel, cafe, and
restaurant chains - Experience
managing 25+ wholesale clients - Experience
working with super markets and retail outlets with roasted coffee bags - Menu
development and consultation for coffee within larger hospitality context - Proven
track record growing sales through wholesale channels - Ability
to develop profitable coffee menu items within hospitality based
businesses - Deep
knowledge of commercial espresso machines, grinders, commercial brewing
equipment and bean-to-cup machines with soluble milk products - Ability
to troubleshoot equipment commonly used in large hotel, restaurant and
cafes
Wholesale Sales
Development
- Experience
identifying potential new customers - Proven
track record cold calling, developing, and pitching new customers - Experience
using sales tracking systems to manage and maintain sales funnel - Experience
negotiating supply contracts with international hotel chains - Experience
leading coffee tastings for variety of customers including cafe owners,
hotel general managers, food and beverage directors, and restauranteurs
Wholesale Customer
Training
- Experience
creating training curriculums for various customers including cafe,
restaurant, and hotel - Expert-level
knowledge in espresso extraction with experience teaching hospitality
staff - Expert-level
knowledge in creating milk micro-foam with experience teaching hospitality
staff - Expert-level
knowledge in hand-made coffee through chemex, siphon, aeropress and cold
brew with experience teaching hospitality staff - Proven
track record executing successful on-going coffee education programs with
metrics
Quality Control
- Expert-level
knowledge in coffee tasting with the ability to evaluate/judge coffee
quality and consistency - Deep
understanding of coffee roasting process with ability to detect flaws
through visual inspection and taste inspection - Ability
to communicate feedback from a variety of customers including cafe,
restaurant and hotels to production staff in order to maintain quality
Product Development
- Expert-level
knowledge in Rwandan coffee flavour profiles - Experience
in a wide range of international coffee beverages - Experience
in costing of new coffee beverages including hidden costs such as spoilage
and wastage
Retail Development
- Experience
in retail scouting in international markets where coffee culture is
relatively new compared to North America, Europe, and Australia - Proven
track record in developing profitable coffee menus - Experience
in sourcing suppliers for products to be served alongside coffee such as
tea, juice, baked goods, and soft drinks - Experience
in building a retail team including training, new hires, orientation and
development - Proven
track record in creating a hospitable environment for guests to
international cafe standards - Coach,
support and recognize team members by providing performance feedback
including disciplinary action when necessary - Deep
understanding of coffee supply chain and ability to communicate Question
Coffee’s unique story to customers.