The role

• CDD
• 18 months
• 35h/week
• 5 days/week (schedule self-managed around footfall)
• Joining in approximately 5 weeks before opening, your first month is entirely dedicated to pre-launch: building supplier relationships, designing the operational setup, writing SOPs, and hiring and onboarding a team of 3-4 people.
• From month two onwards, you shift to leading the branch into stable daily operations, with an estimated footfall of 50-100 covers per day.
• The workload is split between 70% administrative and 30% floor supervision tasks.
• Bar work is not part of the role, but floor presence is, for leading by example, maintaining service standards, and supporting the team in real time.

Responsibilities

Pre-launch (first 5 weeks):

• Source and lock in local F&B suppliers, logistical contractors, and any required service providers in Paris.
• Design and document all front- and back-of-house SOPs from scratch.
• Build the full opening menu for a specialty coffee shop serving Parisian and international clienteles.
• Recruit, hire, and onboard a team of 3–4 staff members.

Post-launch (week 7 onwards), in addition to above:

• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for non-French ownership based in a different time zone.
• Manage daily scheduling, staffing, ordering, cash handling, and venue upkeep.
• Coach the team continuously on service standards, product knowledge, and customer experience.
• Optimize workflows and anticipate operational stress during high-footfall periods.
• Track and report on operational performance.

Requirements

1. Past specialty coffee shop experience (across management, or barista, or roastery) is required. Broader F&B management experience in hospitality and/or the luxury sector is a plus.
2. Fluency in French and English (Arabic is a major plus, alternatively, work experience in the GCC or the UAE will be favored).
3. An existing network of suppliers, baristas, and contractors in Paris is highly valued.
4. Hands-on experience setting up a new F&B outlet from the ground up.
5. A highly developed palate and a sharp understanding of specialty coffee and quality-driven menus.
6. Comfort working autonomously with remote, international management.
7. French nationality or valid work authorization in France.
8. Resilience, follow-through, and genuine ownership of the role.

Salary

Competitive, commensurate with experience.

Start date

ASAP

Location

Église de la Madeleine, Paris 8e.

-----------

About

heaf was founded in 2021 as an experiential translation of Emirati humble sophistication and generosity. It also stems from the rapidly emerging high-design Food & Beverage industry in the UAE around the late 2010s.

The word ‘heaf’ takes roots in Arabic and the Bedouin language as it signifies the hospitable ritual of a host’s first sip of coffee before serving it to the guest, to attest the quality and flavors of the beverage.

heaf’s duologic world exist amid two contrasting poles of the Emirati landscape — the desert and the sea. heaf Souq Badr (est. 2021) expresses the former through a ceiling upholstered like that of a bedouin tent (bayt-al-shar), while heaf Marsa Al Arab (est. 2024) captures the concept with a curved wooden ceiling like that of a boat.

Together they create a continuum of ritualistic third-places directly under the metaphors of our local environment. This concept was interpreted and designed by architect Abdalla Al Mulla, winner of the Emerging Talent Award from the Institut de Design du Monde Arabe.

heaf is set to open a new branch in the heart of Paris in Q2 of 2026.