Coffee Grader - Quality Control

Description
TORQ Commodities is a physical commodities trading and supply chain management company with vertically integrated operations across Asia, Africa, and Europe. With a focus on procurement, shipping, and logistics, the company works closely across origin and supply chain operations to maintain quality, consistency, and traceability.
This role is focused on safeguarding coffee quality through disciplined grading, sensory evaluation, and cross-functional coordination. As Coffee Grader - Quality Control, you will play an important part in ensuring that supplier samples, assembled lots, and pre-shipment approvals meet agreed specifications while supporting reliable quality decisions across origin operations.
Responsibilities
Conduct physical coffee grading, cupping, sensory evaluation, moisture analysis, and defect analysis.
Assess supplier samples, assemble lots, approve pre-shipment samples, and verify origin traceability.
Coordinate with procurement teams, suppliers, processing facilities, and warehouses to maintain agreed quality standards.
Apply the relevant origin-specific technical focus and grading standards for the coffees handled in the assigned posting.
Requirements
5-7 years of experience in coffee grading and quality control, including at least 3 years in Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Uganda, or Vietnam.
3-5 years of on-ground or direct B2B coffee sourcing experience, with 3-5 years of direct coordination with procurement teams, suppliers, processing facilities, and warehouses within coffee sourcing or origin operations.
Active Q Arabica Grader and Q Robusta Grader licences.
Strong knowledge of SCA/CQI physical and sensory evaluation protocols.
Hands-on ability to independently run cupping lab workflows, including sample roasting, grinding, brewing, sensory evaluation, and scoring.
Hands-on experience performing physical coffee grading, including moisture measurement, screen sizing, green coffee defect identification and counting, representative lot sampling, sample labelling, retention, and traceability.
Experience assessing consistency and assembling lots against specifications, aligning lot specifications, and communicating quality findings to procurement teams and suppliers.
Experience managing pre-shipment sample evaluations and approvals, ensuring dispatched lots match approved samples.
Experience resolving quality discrepancies using cupping results, defect analysis, and supporting records, including coordinating corrective actions such as sorting, reprocessing, or lot segregation.
Experience maintaining cupping scores, grading reports, and moisture and defect records in Excel, along with documentation of quality decisions and escalation of unresolved disputes.
Knowledge of regional processing methods, grading frameworks, and the ability to apply the relevant origin-specific grading standards.
Willingness to work in the assigned country and travel to sourcing locations.