Production Lead | Coffee Roastery

Pay: $23.00 - $25.00 per hour based on experience
Hours: Approximately 35-40 hours per week
Schedule: Weekdays
Location: Cherry Coffee Roasters — Gretna, LA
Position Type: Full-time

Job Description

Cherry Coffee Roasters is seeking a dependable, organized, and self-motivated Production Lead to take ownership of day-to-day production in our Gretna roastery.

The Production Lead is responsible for ensuring that coffee orders, café retail coffee, cold brew, chai, and other production needs are completed accurately and on time. This is a hands-on position—the Production Lead will personally complete production work while also organizing the workflow and directing support from the Production Assistant as needed.

We are looking for someone who can look at the week's orders and production needs, determine what needs to be accomplished, prioritize the work, and keep production moving without constant direction.

Key Responsibilities Coffee Bagging & Order Fulfillment

• Take primary ownership of bagging and packaging roasted coffee for wholesale, café, retail, and online orders
• Review order sheet and determine daily and weekly production priorities
• Ensure café retail coffee orders are fully bagged, labeled, and ready for delivery on schedule
• Prepare wholesale coffee orders accurately and efficiently
• Weigh, bag, seal, and label coffee according to Cherry Coffee Roasters standards
• Verify orders for accuracy and presentation before they leave the roastery
• Ensure Tuesday orders are completed and ready to go out on schedule
• Ensure Friday café and wholesale needs are completed by Thursday whenever possible
• Communicate proactively if an order, inventory shortage, or production issue could affect a deadline

Beverage Production

• Own the production of cold brew coffee and chai concentrate according to established recipes and standards
• Determine production quantities based on inventory, upcoming orders, and anticipated demand
• Brew, bottle, label, date, and organize cold brew and chai products
• Maintain consistency through accurate measuring, brewing, bottling, and adherence to recipes
• Monitor finished product levels and proactively produce what is needed rather than waiting to be directed
• Maintain quality and food-safety standards throughout production

Production Leadership & Workflow

• Take ownership of the overall production workflow and ensure weekly production is completed on time
• Prioritize work based on order deadlines, café needs, wholesale orders, and available inventory
• Coordinate with the roasting team to ensure the correct coffees and quantities are available for packaging
• Direct the Production Assistant toward specific production tasks as needed, such as brewing cold brew, labeling bottles, bagging coffee, or preparing packaging
• Follow up on assigned production tasks to ensure they are completed accurately and on schedule
• Adjust priorities when orders or production needs change
• Identify bottlenecks or unfinished work before they create delays for the roasting or café teams
• Step into any area of production necessary to ensure the work gets completed

Production Space Ownership

• Take ownership of the cleanliness, organization, and functionality of the production area
• Keep coffee packaging stations, brewing equipment, kegs, production tools, work surfaces, shelving, and storage areas clean and organized
• Clean and sanitize cold brew kegs, brewing equipment, and production tools according to food-safety standards
• Maintain an efficient workflow so coffee, ingredients, packaging materials, and finished products are properly stored and easy to locate
• Notice problems before they become larger issues and either resolve them or communicate them promptly
• Look for opportunities to improve organization, efficiency, cleanliness, and production processes

Inventory Management

• Monitor inventory of coffee bags, labels, bottles, chai ingredients, cold brew supplies, packaging materials, and other production supplies
• Communicate upcoming inventory needs before supplies run out
• Receive, organize, and properly store production supplies
• Monitor finished-product inventory and anticipate upcoming production needs
• Communicate with the roasting team about coffee inventory or production needs that could affect upcoming orders

What We're Looking For

The right person for this position is a self-starter who takes ownership of getting the job done.

This is not a position where someone will provide a task list throughout the day. The Production Lead should be able to review what needs to go out, assess what needs to be produced, organize the workload, and make sure everything is completed.

You should be someone who:

• Is dependable and consistently shows up ready to work
• Takes initiative and looks for what needs to be done next
• Can prioritize multiple production needs and deadlines
• Works well independently and manages time effectively
• Is comfortable directing another production team member when needed
• Takes pride in keeping a clean and organized workspace
• Pays close attention to weights, recipes, labels, order quantities, and product quality
• Communicates proactively about inventory shortages, production issues, equipment concerns, and potential delays
• Doesn't leave unfinished production for another team member when it can reasonably be completed during the scheduled production week
• Can identify inefficiencies and suggest better ways of doing things
• Is willing to jump into any production task necessary to get orders completed
• Can lift and carry up to 75 pounds regularly
• Has reliable transportation to our Gretna production facility
• Is available weekday mornings and afternoons

Previous coffee, food production, beverage production, manufacturing, warehouse, or kitchen experience is preferred but not required. Reliability, initiative, organization, and responsibility are more important to us than direct coffee experience.

About Cherry Coffee Roasters

At Cherry Coffee Roasters, we believe great coffee starts with the people who grow it. Our mission is to spark curiosity in coffee by connecting our community to the producers, stories, and craftsmanship behind every cup.

We roast coffee in small batches, prioritize quality and consistency, and strive to create products we're proud to share with our customers and wholesale partners.

This position is a great fit for someone who enjoys hands-on work, likes having responsibility for their own area, and takes satisfaction in keeping a production operation organized and running smoothly.

Work Location: In person

Pay: $23.00 - $25.00 per hour

Expected hours: 35.0 – 40.0 per week

Benefits:

• Employee discount
• On-the-job training

Work Location: In person

Salary : $23 - $25