Commonfolk Coffee Company | Partnerships Manager
Love coffee? Care about ethical sourcing? Great with people? We're looking for a passionate partnerships manager to help us grow and support our coffee community. In this role, you'll build strong relationships with our partners, ensure they have top-notch products, and share our love for an ethical coffee industry.
About the Role
The Partnerships Manager is responsible for building and maintaining strong, long-term relationships with our wholesale partners. This role is all about being a trusted, capable presence in our partners' businesses, supporting them day to day and helping them grow alongside Commonfolk.
You'll work closely with cafe owners and their teams to increase volume with existing partners, deliver meaningful training, and provide calm, practical support when things go wrong. That includes hands-on coffee equipment troubleshooting and basic maintenance, barista training, logistics support when partners need coffee delivered, and being a steady, experienced sounding board for cafe owners navigating the realities of hospitality.
Each partner will be immersed in Commonfolk's coffee culture, with a clear focus on deepening their understanding of coffee quality, equipment, training, and the long-term producer and importer relationships that underpin everything we do. You'll also help bring to life our broader impact work, including our local and international charity partnerships, in a way that feels genuine and relevant to each business.
You'll ensure our partners are supported with industry-leading coffee, equipment, training, and service, while helping maintain existing volume and supporting the growth of future Commonfolk Group brands (including Kua, Mana, and others) and our wholesale and retail training programs.
The Partnerships Manager is the first point of contact for our wholesale partners and supports the sales team with prospective accounts when required. While you'll have regular touch points at Commonfolk's Progress Street base to assist with production and deliveries, the role is largely autonomous, working remotely and in-market to represent Commonfolk in front of both existing and prospective partners.
Key Responsibilities
* Build and maintain strong, trusted relationships with wholesale partners
* Deliver barista training and coffee education tailored to each partner's needs
* Provide practical coffee equipment support, including troubleshooting, and basic espresso machine and grinder maintenance
* Act as a calm, reliable support person for cafe owners and managers, offering guidance through operational challenges
* Coordinate and assist with coffee deliveries and logistics when partners need support
* Ensure partners have the right coffee, equipment, and systems to succeed
* Support partner retention and measured growth in volume and engagement
* Represent Commonfolk's values, producer relationships, and impact work with clarity and authenticity
Success will be benchmarked by partner retention, quality and consistency of training, proactive equipment support, and sustained partner satisfaction, alongside steady internal and account-level growth.
About you
You'll need a driver's licence (manual preferred) and a solid driving record, barista experience with a strong understanding of commercial espresso equipment, and a genuine passion for quality coffee. Previous coffee account management or wholesale experience is preferred but not essential.
Attributes that will help you kick goals
Communication
* Your local barista describes you as 'super friendly' to their colleagues (you're chatty … and a coffee drinker).
* You inspire trust across all relationships by reflecting our core values in decisions and actions.
* You actively listen to verbal (and non-verbal) cues from workplace partners to encourage open feedback.
Accountability
* You take ownership of your role by delivering on commitments and being open and transparent when things don't go to plan.
* You're comfortable in a fast-moving, hands-on environment and approach the unexpected with calm, self-direction, and a positive mindset.
Attention to detail
* You're a fan of a neatly organised kitchen cutlery drawer (you're detail-oriented).
* You approach work methodically, breaking tasks into clear steps and seeking support or resources when needed.
* You identify and address issues early, staying in close communication with your team and maintaining systems that prevent small problems from becoming big ones.
Sound like you?
Please apply with your cover letter (attached as a PDF) outlining how you deliver on the above attributes, alongside a copy of your current resume.
If writing isn't your strongest suit, a voice recording or a video is also fine