When partners grow, Starbucks grows. That’s the idea behind a new initiative designed to strengthen leadership and unlock new career paths in our coffeehouses. 

It starts with a pilot that’s now underway in select coffeehouses in California, Illinois and Texas where 62 partners (employees) stepped into newly created, dedicated full-time coffeehouse coach roles. Of these new hires, 90% are internal hires — shift supervisors and baristas who raised their hands to grow, lead and make a bigger impact as we get Back to Starbucks.  

This isn’t just a staffing update. It’s a meaningful investment in the heart of our business: our coffeehouses and the partners who run them. As I shared at our Leadership Experience in Las Vegas this June, we’re planning a major shift in 2026 — bringing at least one coffeehouse coach to nearly every coffeehouse across the U.S. and Canada. That means thousands of new leadership roles and double the leadership support in our coffeehouses.

Why it matters 

When we have strong, stable leaders throughout our operating hours, everything gets better — partner experience, customer connection and coffeehouse performance. Coffeehouse coaches will give coffeehouse leaders more support to run the business, coach their teams and create great experiences for partners and customers. And when the team feels supported, they thrive.  

Industry data backs this up: Engaged teams are 17% more productive and 21% more profitable. Internally, we’ve seen that coffeehouses with stable leadership deliver stronger results across the board. 

This pilot also creates a clearer career path for our hourly partners. It’s all part of our commitment to hire 90% of retail leadership roles internally, within the next three years. 

What we’re learning 

Early insights from the pilot are helping shape our plans as we look ahead to 2026:  

• Engaged partners, ready to grow: Coffeehouses with high barista and shift supervisor engagement scores saw the strongest interest in coffeehouse coach roles. When partners feel supported, they want to step into leadership opportunities. 

• Leadership stability matters: Coffeehouses with longer-tenured leaders had more “ready-now” talent, reinforcing the link between leadership consistency and career growth. 

• A Hyper-Local Approach: Of the 62 coffeehouse coach hires, 56 were internal. Some districts had 100% internal hires; others ranged from 77–92%. These differences will help us plan a thoughtful, market-based rollout in 2026. 

Looking ahead 

As the pilot wraps in December, we’ll use what we’ve learned — about onboarding, training, scheduling, customer experience, partner engagement and more — to shape our national rollout. 

To every partner who stepped into this new role: congratulations! You’re helping shape the future of coffeehouse leadership as we get Back to Starbucks. 

And to every barista, shift supervisor or external candidate thinking about what’s next: keep an eye out for open coffeehouse coach roles in 2026. We see you. We believe in you.

Together, we’re building a stronger, more resilient Starbucks —one coffeehouse at a time.