Barista Trainer | Hidden Grounds Chai & Coffee House
Home base: 144 Summit Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07304. This is an in-person, companywide role with planned visits to Hidden Grounds cafes in New Jersey and New York City.
Job type: Full-time, hourly.
Base pay: $18 to $20 per hour, based on demonstrated training, beverage, and multi-store experience. Trainer shifts are untipped. Separately scheduled Barista shifts remain tip-eligible under the Barista tip policy.
Hidden Grounds puts South Asian chai and thoughtful coffee on the same bar. Across our cafes, a great drink should taste right and a guest should feel welcome no matter who is working. That takes good recipes, patient practice, clear feedback, and trainers who know the difference between 'we covered it' and 'they can do it on their own.'
We are hiring a second Barista Trainer to work alongside our current trainer and store teams. You will teach new baristas, help experienced teammates sharpen their skills, and make sure the standards hold up during a real shift. If you enjoy helping different people learn while keeping one clear standard, we would like to meet you.
What you will do
- Lead assigned portions of new-hire training, from the first store walkthrough through supervised station practice and readiness checks. Coordinate each trainee's plan and handoff with the other trainer and store manager.
- Teach current recipes and service routines: espresso, milk texture, brewed coffee, chai, other current drinks, food preparation, POS, guest communication, opening, cleaning, food safety, and closing.
- Watch trainees work independently in real service conditions. Record what they can do consistently, what needs practice, and what support comes next. Attendance alone does not mean someone is ready for a solo station.
- Give direct, respectful feedback. If a method is not clicking, adjust how you teach without changing the approved standard on your own.
- Work on the bar with store teams to coach accuracy, pace, hospitality, safe handling, and clean handoffs during ordinary shifts and rushes.
- Help managers identify recurring training gaps and follow up after a new hire starts regular shifts. Support focused refreshers and approved menu or equipment changes.
- Keep training checklists, recipe cards, and progress notes useful and current. When stores use different methods, confirm the approved one and help the team adopt it.
What will make you strong here
- You can make and explain excellent cafe drinks, and diagnose a drink that tastes or looks wrong.
- You have taught practical skills, formally or informally, and can describe what someone learned to do independently after your coaching.
- You can track several trainees and store visits without losing the details that matter.
- You give feedback with clarity and care, listen when a learner is confused, and welcome correction yourself.
- You take chai, coffee, food safety, cleaning, hospitality, and teamwork seriously. A flawless rosetta does not excuse an unsafe station or a poor guest experience.
- You can work in person across the assigned cafe area and perform the essential responsibilities with or without reasonable accommodation.
- You hold a valid driver's license and have a driving record that permits you to operate the company car for assigned visits between cafes.
Specialty coffee or prior training experience is helpful. A particular certificate, employer brand, or number of years is not the whole story. We will assess both beverage skills and the ability to teach. New York City food protection credentials are preferred where relevant, not required to apply.
Schedule, travel, and benefits
Some openings, closings, and weekends may be scheduled so you can teach and observe real cafe work. There is no night-shift requirement. A company car is provided for assigned visits between cafes; you do not need to use your personal vehicle. Required training and qualifying workday travel between stores are paid time. Eligible employees receive legally required earned leave, a 10% discount on eligible Hidden Grounds products, and one complimentary beverage and one complimentary food item during each assigned shift under current policy.
How to apply
Apply through this listing. We review applications for job-related experience and may invite you to complete our full careers application at https://thehiddengrounds.com/pages/careers. It asks how you teach, assess readiness, and work with another trainer, and includes a resume and short video introduction. Thoughtful content matters more than polished production. If you need help or an accessible way to apply, message us on Poached.