Assistant Manager, Freelance Coffee Project

About the Role

Freelance Coffee Project is a single-origin, award-winning coffee company based in Newport Beach, California, looking for an Assistant Manager to run day-to-day operations at our warehouse/café, owning scheduling, ordering, and SOPs while building a team that takes real pride in serving fantastic, Q-grade coffee.

Core Responsibilities

• Build and manage weekly staff schedules, covering call-outs and shift gaps

• Own inventory and ordering (beans, milk, syrups, packaging, retail), tracking pars and avoiding stockouts

• Maintain and enforce SOPs across bar, cleaning, opening/closing, and cash handling; flag gaps and keep docs current as processes evolve

• Run daily floor operations: bar flow, quality control, POS troubleshooting

• Hire, train, and coach baristas on brewing standards, espresso dialing, and customer service

• Lead pre-shift huddles and team meetings; keep morale and communication strong

• Track and report labor and COGS against targets; flag variances early

• Handle customer escalations and ensure a consistently excellent guest experience

• Support wholesale/online order fulfillment as needed

• Act as key holder, handling opening/closing, cash reconciliation, and deposits

• Keep the space itself running beautifully, a warehouse that looks and feels as good as the coffee tastes

• Uphold health/safety and food handling compliance

What You Bring

• 2+ years of management experience, ideally in a café, restaurant, or retail setting

• 2+ years specialty coffee experience, with strong technical knowledge in dialing espresso and brew ratios; familiarity with Q-grading/cupping is a big plus

• Proven ability to build schedules and manage inventory systems

• A natural communicator who builds camaraderie rather than just enforcing rules

• Self-starter who spots problems and fixes them without being told

• Comfortable with POS and inventory software

What Makes This Role Different

Real ownership over how the team operates and how the space feels day to day, with room to grow as the business grows.