News from 44 North

We are hiring! Job: year-round assistant coffee roaster

We are hiring!  Seeking an immediate assistant coffee roaster Monday - Thursday in our production space.  Could this be you?!  Start time is 7 am until mid-afternoon with additoinal potential day of barista work if desired.  Goal orientated workplace where attention to detail and sensory skills will be used daily, must be able to lift 22+ pounds and clean machines with odd angles.  Experience not necessary but bonus if you love coffee and its nuances.  Join a great team!  Please EMAIL resume and inquires to: coffee@44northcoffee.com.  Do not leave a comment on blog, thanks, we rarely see them!  Job description below:

44 North Coffee Position — Coffee Roasting Assistant

This is a position of strength in a multitude of areas: communication and ability to take direction from lead roaster and your production team - detailed execution of roasting machine warm up, roasting, cool down, and cleaning - ability to calculate daily coffee roasting needs - attention to detail and quality, as well as passion for the quality of our products. Ability and willingness to work as a team player with the rest of production staff, with a mutual goal of meeting daily deadlines.

Duties include:

  • Understanding the safety protocols and requirements when working with a hot roasting machine
  • Understanding the mechanics of a machine with delicate moving parts and high heat
  • Assisting lead roaster where and as needed
  • Assistance with bag collection, writing, and organization
  • Assist with sample roasting new origins
  • Basic arithmetic
  • Production roasting 
  • Ability to follow roast profiles and meet / note temperature and airflow markers without delay
  • Learning and operating the computer system of roast documentation in Cropster
    • Some computer literacy helpful, but not required
  • Reporting of unusual roasts of operator errors to lead roaster
  • Daily / weekly / monthly cleaning of both Diedrich IR12’s
  • Record keeping of cleaning of Diedrich IR12’s
  • Routine maintenance of roasters (greasing, tightening bolts / screws, etc.)
  • Participate in cuppings
  • Developing a palate and language for recognizing coffee flavor and nuance
  • Ability to focus and pay attention to roasting task at hand without getting sidetracked by warehouse distractions, sounds, and chat
  • Good memory, retention and organization
  • Awareness and ability to continue production cycle and maintain roasting flow for optimal productivity
  • Learning and memorizing shorthand notation for clear communication with lead roaster and production staff
  • Capacity to not panic when an error is made, ability to troubleshoot if roast gets away from you
  • Recognizing capacity and volume of a roast day to meet shipping deadlines and staying on schedule
  • An interest and excitement about learning the science and art of coffee roasting a plus
  • Bringing new ideas and concepts to the table as well as constructive suggestions
  • Assist with other Roastery tasks, such as helping on tight deadline days where needed, helping breakdown and put away green bean pallets, etc.

Physical demands:

  • Ability to co-lift 150 bag of green coffee to waist level
  • Ability to carry, walk and lift  22+ pounds of coffee, into hopper overhead, every 20 minutes, throughout the work day
  • Ability to see, hear, taste, and speak and to notice subtle changes/differences in sound and smell
  • Ability to stand most of the day next to the hot roaster and also squat, turn, step up and bend with ease
  • This job is physically demanding and is performed on concrete floors, understanding body ergonomics and smart body mechanics to reduce injury is essential

Leave a comment