Lead Barista

Lead Barista

Under the direction of the Head of Food & Beverage, the Lead Barista oversees the day-to-day operations of the Honolulu Museum of Art Coffee Bar and leads the barista team in delivering exceptional coffee, beverages, food, and guest service. The Lead Barista maintains high standards for product quality, cleanliness, efficiency, and hospitality while supporting staff training, scheduling, menu development, and special events.

The ideal candidate has strong coffee knowledge, excellent customer service skills, a hands-on leadership style, and the ability to remain organized and composed in a fast-paced environment.

Essential Duties:

• Lead the daily operations of the Coffee Bar, ensuring consistent service, product quality, cleanliness, and efficiency.
• Prepare and serve high-quality coffee, beverages, and food while maintaining HoMA standards for presentation and execution.
• Provide warm, knowledgeable, and responsive customer service; anticipate guest needs and make appropriate menu recommendations.
• Lead and support barista training, including coffee preparation, equipment use, service standards, recipes, and operating procedures.
• Delegate daily production, stocking, cleaning, and other operational tasks to baristas as needed.
• Maintain appropriate inventory and stock levels and communicate supply needs to management
• Assist with beverage development, including seasonal specials, themed events, and menu updates.
• Support staffing needs, special events, exhibition openings, and catered functions as required.
• Complete daily sales reporting, cash deposits, and tip pool calculations accurately.
• Maintain a clean, organized, safe, and welcoming Coffee Bar environment.
• Demonstrate initiative, sound judgment, accountability, and the ability to work independently without close supervision.
• Support HoMA's mission and values and contribute to a respectful, inclusive, and collaborative workplace.
• Demonstrates a commitment to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion through respectful communication and cooperation with others at all times, continuous training and modeling inclusive behaviors.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Minimum 2 years of prior experience as a barista in a cafe or restaurant.
• Knowledge of coffee brewing methods, extraction fundamentals, milk science, and bar efficiency.
• Ability to prepare and develop beverage specials and maintain consistent recipe execution.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills, with the ability to remain calm and professional under pressure.
• Experience using a restaurant point-of-sale (POS) system.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a current Blue Card from the Honolulu Liquor Commission and an ANSI-accredited Food Handler Safety certificate.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, reliability, and follow-through.
• Ability to lead, train, and support a diverse team.
• Ability to work effectively with a diverse community of visitors, artists, volunteers, and employees.
• Basic math skills, including whole numbers, fractions, and decimals.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Demonstrated honesty, integrity, enthusiasm, and strong work ethic.
• Honesty, integrity, enthusiasm, perspective, and a strong work ethic supported by commitment and follow-through.
• Ability to work within and support a diverse community of visitors, artists, and employees.
• Ability to build, lead, and develop a driven, diverse team of employees and volunteers.

Desired Qualifications:

• 1–2 years of supervisory or leadership experience in a café or restaurant.
• Associate degree or higher in hospitality management or a related field.
• Basic to intermediate knowledge of wine, beer, and responsible alcohol service.

Compensation:

HoMA is committed to practicing salary transparency. The pay range for this position is $20.00 per hour, plus tips with final compensation based on experience, education, market date, and internal equity.

Benefits Include:

• Employer paid medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 12 paid holidays
• Vacation: 15 days in Year 1, increasing to 20 days in Year 2
• 15 days of annual sick leave
• Retirement plan with employer matching after Year 1
• Employee discounts (Museum, Shop, Café, and Art School discounts)
• Onsite parking provided.

Working Conditions and Atmosphere:

Coffee Bar Hours:

• Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday 9:00am – 6:00pm.
• Friday & Saturday 9:00am – 6:00pm.
• Additional hours at the coffee bar or for events as needed.

The Lead Barista is generally scheduled for 30-35 hours per week.

Must be able to stand and walk for up to 10 hours (with a break) and be able to maneuver around and between chairs and tables. Able to bend, stoop, and kneel. Must be able to use fingers, hands, and arms to hold utensils, plates, glasses, and cups. Must be able to lift, hold and carry up to 25 pounds and occasionally up to 50 pounds. Must be able to reach outward and overhead. Noise level can be louder than normal due to conversation in the coffee bar area and machinery used in the museum. Able to hear and understand normal conversation to take food orders. Ability to speak clearly and audibly. Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, to keep up with orders, service, and customer needs. Ability to work in open air in all types of weather including heat, sun, wind, light rain and chill.

The employee must be able to fulfil all Essential Duties with or without a reasonable accommodation. This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of all activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

EEOC Statement:

HoMA welcomes people from all backgrounds and walks of life, and this is reflected in our diverse community of employees. We encourage applications from candidates across a wide variety of backgrounds, including, but not limited to, people of all races and ethnicities, people with disabilities, women, veterans, and all members of the LGBTQ community.

HoMA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. HoMA recruits, hires, trains, promotes, compensates, and administers all personnel actions and benefit programs without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, including pregnancy and gender identity and expression, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, reproductive health decisions, marital status, arrest and court record, citizenship, credit history, military and veteran service, victim of domestic violence or sexual abuse victim status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law.