We are looking for someone to join our team to help us produce our high-quality artisan cheeses and yogurt at our farm in Little Compton, Rhode Island. If you are a friendly, hardworking person with the ability to learn quickly and follow instructions, and don’t mind spending much of your time dishwashing, this job could be for you! This is a job in our dairy plant. Experience is a plus but not required. You will learn everything from our experienced cheesemakers. You will start by shadowing our cheesemakers, quickly moving on to working independently, and making cheese on your own by the end of the first year. In the second year, you will be knowledgeable enough to contribute to the development of new cheeses and recipes. From there, cheesemaking skills can continue to advance over a lifetime of learning and experimentation. We are here to help you explore as far as you want to go.

This job starts early mornings and includes at least one weekend day. Tasting cheese on a regular basis is a great part of the job.
 

Responsibilities include:

• Cleaning and sanitizing all cheesemaking and cheese aging equipment
• More cleaning. Most of our time is spent cleaning. You can’t make high quality cheese and yogurt with dirty equipment or facilities.
• Following established checklists for pasteurizing and processing milk
• Adhering to food safety protocols
• Following recipes to produce a variety of cheeses and yogurt
• Maintaining records of production, cleaning and inventory
• Assisting with aging work in our cheese cave
• Wrapping cheeses and boxing yogurt for our deliveries and farmers markets
• Occasional outdoor work including assisting milking cows and basic pasture work possibly 1-2 days a week.
• Farmer’s market assistance required, depending on schedule.

Who we are looking for:

• A friendly and positive attitude is a must! We are a small group of great people and work closely together.
• Someone with stamina. Cheesemaking is a hot, steamy and very physical job. You’ll be on your feet all day and need to be able to comfortably lift heavy racks of cheese. You will be very fit, no matter how much cheese you have to taste.
• Detail and process-oriented person who can follow instructions.
• Good communication skills.
• Someone who is curious and passionate about food.

Additional qualifications:

• You must be able to lift 50 pounds.
• Experience with professional and sanitary food preparation is valued.
• No experience farming or cheesemaking is required, although that would be a big plus!
• A passion for food and sustainable agriculture is important.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to arrive at work early (6:30 am).

Timing and Schedule: This position is available immediately, but we are open to hiring the right person any time before March 2020. We make cheese and yogurt while our cows are being milked, which is from March through December. In January and February we do not have milk to process into cheese or yogurt, but we will keep you busy over those months preparing for the next season. Ideally, we can train you this fall, so that in March you will hit the ground running when our cows start producing milk again, and we start making cheese again.

The position is for 4-5 days a week (including a weekend day), about 35-45 hours per week total, depending on how many hours you are interested in working. 

Starting salary: $15/hour