Operating Partner — Executive Leadership & Equity Path.

Caffa Coffee Importers Ltd. is a Canadian company building a direct-trade platform connecting Ethiopian coffee origins with roasters, cafés, distributors and commercial buyers across North America.

Caffa has progressed beyond the concept stage. The company is legally established, has developed its brand and commercial platform, and is building relationships across the Canadian and North American coffee industry.

The company is supported by a direct and closely connected Ethiopian origin network composed of two established partners with complementary capabilities across the coffee value chain. This network provides Caffa with capabilities extending well beyond the basic purchase of green coffee, including:

• Access to multiple recognized Ethiopian coffee-producing regions
• The ability to source different grades, processing methods, quality levels and flavour profiles
• Access to both distinctive specialty lots and commercially scalable volumes
• Flexibility to structure mixed-origin shipments according to buyer requirements
• Experience in coffee preparation, processing, export coordination, documentation and packaging
• Origin-side quality and specification follow-up before shipment
• Coordination with producers, processing stations, warehouses and export-related parties
• Capacity to support recurring and long-term supply programs rather than isolated transactions
• Potential to expand into processing, storage, packaging, logistics and other parts of the coffee value chain
• Direct relationships that support faster communication, greater transparency, continuity of supply and effective problem-solving

This foundation enables Caffa to serve specialty roasters seeking distinctive and traceable coffees, as well as commercial buyers requiring dependable volumes and consistent specifications. It also reduces dependence on a single production area or sourcing channel and gives the company greater flexibility to respond to changes in availability, buyer demand, quality requirements and market conditions.

Caffa is also developing a broader commercial ecosystem around traceability, origin knowledge, brand storytelling and long-term value-chain infrastructure.

We want to be fully transparent about the company's present position.

The business has origin access, supply capabilities, commercial infrastructure, industry relationships and active buyer conversations. The next step is to convert these assets into documented buyer commitments, executable financing and a successfully completed first commercial cycle.

Caffa is not beginning from a blank page. However, it remains at a stage where disciplined leadership, capital formation and commercial execution are essential. The foundation is real. The operating bridge must now be completed.

Caffa is seeking an experienced Operating Partner who can join the company through a formal partnership agreement and lead its transition into active commercial operations.

This is not a conventional consulting engagement.

The selected candidate will enter Caffa as an Operating Partner upon execution of the definitive agreements. Those agreements will establish the candidate's responsibilities, authority, performance milestones, equity rights and pathway toward long-term executive leadership.

The objective is to identify an individual who can first complete the company's immediate commercial mandate and then, subject to demonstrated performance and mutual alignment, assume responsibility for the day-to-day executive management of Caffa.

For the right operator, this is a genuine opportunity to enter as a partner at the stage where their contribution can directly shape the company's commercial success, executive structure and long-term value.

The initial mandate will be defined by results rather than by a fixed period. The Operating Partner will be expected to lead Caffa toward:

• A credible and executable working-capital structure
• Verified first-cycle landed costs, margins, cash requirements and break-even assumptions
• Documented commitments from qualified buyers
• A commercially supported and financeable first import cycle
• An appropriate freight, customs, insurance, warehousing and distribution structure
• A lender- and investor-ready commercial and financial package
• Clear operating controls, reporting systems and decision-making responsibilities
• A realistic pathway from the first shipment to recurring sales and sustainable operations

The mandate will be considered successfully completed when Caffa has moved from commercial readiness into a financeable, executable and buyer-supported first import cycle.

The Operating Partner will work directly with the Founder to:

• Assess Caffa's financial, commercial and operational readiness
• Determine the actual working-capital requirement for the first import cycle
• Validate supplier pricing, landed costs, wholesale pricing, contribution margins and cash-flow assumptions
• Develop and lead an appropriate financing strategy
• Explore bank lending, inventory finance, purchase-order finance, buyer-backed financing, private capital and strategic investment
• Prepare materials for lenders, investors and institutional partners
• Convert qualified buyer interest into letters of intent, purchase orders, deposits, supply agreements or other credible commercial commitments
• Coordinate origin partners, freight forwarders, customs brokers, insurers, warehouses and distribution providers
• Establish an efficient warehousing or third-party logistics solution without creating unnecessary fixed overhead
• Build operating dashboards covering cash, buyers, samples, contracts, inventory, financing, risks and milestones
• Establish clear decision rights, reporting discipline and executive accountability
• Develop commercial policies, controls and performance standards
• Recruit and manage future finance, operations, logistics and sales resources
• Prepare Caffa for repeat shipments, expanded warehousing, roasting, packaging and broader distribution
• Build an operating model capable of supporting disciplined and sustainable growth

The selected candidate will enter Caffa as a formal Operating Partner upon signing the final agreements. The relationship will therefore begin as a genuine operating partnership rather than as an external advisory assignment.

The agreements are expected to include:

• Formal appointment as Operating Partner
• Clearly defined executive responsibilities and authority
• Measurable commercial, financing and operational milestones
• A documented equity allocation and earning structure
• Governance, confidentiality and conflict-of-interest provisions
• A pathway toward full day-to-day executive leadership
• A future executive salary once the company reaches the financial and operating capacity required to support it

The candidate will become a partner from the outset, while the right to earn and retain the full equity allocation will depend on achieving the agreed milestones and maintaining an active executive contribution.

Upon successful delivery of the mandate and continued mutual alignment, the Operating Partner may assume the full day-to-day executive leadership of Caffa. Depending on the final governance structure and the candidate's capabilities, the long-term position may become: President and Chief Operating Officer, Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer, or another equivalent executive role agreed by the parties.

The transition is not automatic. It will depend on demonstrated results, trust, leadership compatibility, governance requirements and mutual agreement.

Caffa is currently before full commercial operations and cannot support a conventional senior executive salary from the beginning. Candidates should apply with a clear understanding of this reality.

The compensation structure may include:

• Limited milestone-based compensation, subject to agreement and available resources
• Reimbursement of approved business expenses
• Performance-based compensation tied to measurable outcomes
• A transition to an appropriate executive salary when financing, revenue and operating capacity can support it sustainably
• Meaningful equity linked to achievement, continuity and long-term executive responsibility

This is not a request for indefinite unpaid full-time work. The economic structure, expectations and responsibilities will be documented before substantive work begins.

We are seeking an experienced, practical and commercially grounded leader with strength in several of the following areas:

Direct coffee experience is an advantage but is not mandatory. The ability to understand the business quickly, accept genuine responsibility and convert existing assets into measurable results is more important.

You may be a strong fit if you:

• Want to build and eventually lead a company
• Think like an owner and operator rather than a detached advisor
• Understand how lenders and investors evaluate early-stage businesses
• Can distinguish promising discussions from bankable commitments
• Are comfortable joining before the company has complete infrastructure
• Can connect finance, sales, supply chain and operations
• Know how to protect cash while building growth
• Are prepared to be measured by outcomes
• Respect Ethiopian origin relationships and responsible trade
• Can work closely, candidly and consistently with the Founder
• Are prepared to attend regular in-person working sessions in Windsor
• View equity as a long-term responsibility rather than an immediate entitlement
• Are prepared to move from building the operating foundation into leading the company

Caffa is based in Windsor, Ontario. The role is hybrid. A substantial portion of the work may be completed remotely, but regular in-person working sessions with the Founder are required.

Strong preference will be given to candidates based in Ontario, particularly: Windsor–Essex, Southwestern Ontario, London, Kitchener–Waterloo, Hamilton, and the Greater Toronto Area.

The ability to meet face-to-face, review financial and commercial documents together, engage with local partners and participate in operational visits is an important part of the role.

• A guaranteed salaried executive position from the first day
• A passive advisory or board title
• A commission-only fundraising role
• A request for indefinite unpaid full-time work
• An automatic grant of unrestricted equity
• A mandate to prepare another general business plan
• A guaranteed appointment as Chief Executive Officer
• A role for someone seeking prestige without accountability
• A conventional corporate position with established systems and a large operating budget

This is an entrepreneurial operating partnership involving meaningful responsibility, real execution risk and substantial long-term potential.

Caffa already possesses several important assets: a legally established Canadian company; a direct and deeply connected Ethiopian origin network; access to multiple producing regions, grades, processing methods and quality profiles; supply capacity capable of serving both specialty and commercial market segments; origin-side export, documentation, preparation and coordination capabilities; relationships capable of supporting recurring and scalable supply programs; a defined North American commercial strategy; brand and digital infrastructure; a growing coffee-industry network; participation in selected business-support initiatives; and a Founder committed to building a long-term institution.

What Caffa currently lacks is not vision, supply access or market potential. It requires the working capital, buyer conversion and executive operating capacity needed to transform those assets into recurring commercial activity.

The right Operating Partner will enter at a stage where their contribution can materially shape the company's direction, value, governance and ownership.