Part-Time Production & Service Prep Assistant

We are a small cafe & ice cream shop hiring a Part-Time Production & Service Prep Assistant for 15-20 hours a week to support our kitchen production make sure the shop is fully prepared for daily service. This is a behind-the-scenes role focused on ice cream production, prep, organization, and consistency — perfect for someone who enjoys calm, focused kitchen work.

You'll help get the shop ready for service each day, prepare and churn ice cream, make doughs and baked components, prepare sauces, toppings, and mix-ins, and make sure you have the ingredients and supplies needed to complete your production.

An important part of this position is making sure all service stations are fully stocked, organized, clean, and ready for service by 12 PM each day.

We're looking for someone who genuinely enjoys organized, methodical work and is comfortable working independently. This is a great fit for someone who likes having a consistent routine, takes pride in doing things correctly, and doesn't need constant supervision to stay productive.

Schedule

This position has a consistent Wednesday–Friday morning schedule of approximately 5 hours per day (15 hours/week), with the possibility of Saturday morning shifts but not a requirement. Our anticipated schedule is approximately:

• Wednesday: 6–11 AM
• Thursday: 6–11 AM
• Friday: 6–11 AM
• Saturday: occasional morning shifts as needed

Some flexibility in exact morning start time may be possible, but this is an early-morning position. All assigned production and service setup must be completed in time for the shop to be fully ready for service by 12 PM.

This Position Is Best Suited for Someone Who:

• Is extremely detail-oriented and follows recipes and instructions exactly
• Cares about making consistently high-quality products
• Enjoys organized, methodical, and repetitive work
• Is comfortable working independently
• Can prioritize tasks and manage their time without constant supervision
• Takes initiative and ownership of assigned production and prep
• Understands the importance of completing time-sensitive opening tasks by a deadline
• Is dependable and able to maintain a consistent weekly schedule
• Takes pride in keeping their workspace clean and organized
• Enjoys early-morning work and getting things ready for the day

Duties

• Setting up the shop, kitchen, and service stations for daily service
• Ensuring assigned service stations are fully stocked, organized, clean, and ready for service by 12 PM
• Checking ice cream, ingredient, and prep inventory to determine what needs to be replenished
• Working from daily and weekly production lists and prioritizing tasks appropriately
• Churning and producing ice cream according to our recipes and production needs
• Following written recipes, measurements, temperatures, and production instructions exactly
• Accurately weighing, measuring, and portioning ingredients
• Preparing ingredients needed for ice cream and kitchen production
• Making doughs, batters, and other baked components according to written recipes
• Baking cookies, cakes, crumbles, and other components used in our menu items
• Monitoring baking times and temperatures and properly cooling and storing finished products
• Prepping produce for sauces, ice cream, and other components
• Preparing toppings and mix-ins such as crumbles, candies, cookies, and other additions
• Making components such as fruit sauces, curds, hot fudge, syrups, and other ice cream additions
• Labeling, dating, storing, and organizing finished products and ingredients
• Maintaining appropriate prep and ingredient levels for upcoming service and production
• Keeping refrigerators, freezers, dry storage, and production areas organized
• Communicating when ingredients, supplies, or prepared items are running low or need to be reordered
• Dishwashing and end-of-shift kitchen cleanup
• Picking up ingredients, supplies, groceries, and vendor orders needed for production

Local Pickups & Transportation

A reliable vehicle is REQUIRED for this position.

Part of the role includes making local pickups of ingredients, supplies, groceries, and vendor orders needed for production. Pickups will generally be within approximately 10 miles of the shop.

You should be comfortable independently getting the items needed to complete your assigned prep and production rather than arriving to a kitchen where everything has already been gathered for you.

Mileage for required work-related driving will be reimbursed.

Requirements

• Must be 18
• Must have a valid driver's license
• Must have consistent access to a reliable vehicle
• Must be comfortable using your vehicle for local work-related pickups
• Must have or be willing to obtain an Oregon Food Handler Card
• Must be able to consistently work Wednesday–Friday mornings
• Must be comfortable working independently and managing a production and prep list
• Must be able to accurately follow detailed written recipes, measurements, and production instructions
• Must have previous experience working in a commercial kitchen, bakery, food production environment, or similar professional food-prep role
• Must be comfortable with basic kitchen production tasks such as weighing ingredients, scaling recipes, making doughs or batters, baking, and safely operating standard kitchen equipment

We're looking for someone who already has a solid foundation in professional kitchen or food production work and can become comfortable working independently after training. Previous ice cream production experience is not required. We will train you on our specific recipes, equipment, and production systems.

Job Type: Part-time

Pay: $18.00 per hour

Application Question(s):

• A personal vehicle is required for this position. Please DO NOT APPLY if you do not have consistent access to a reliable vehicle that you can personally drive during your work shifts.

This position requires you to make work-related pickups of groceries, ingredients, supplies, and vendor orders within approximately 10 miles of the shop.

Do you have a valid driver's license AND consistent access to a reliable vehicle that you can personally use for these pickups during every scheduled shift?

Please answer YES only if you meet BOTH requirements. Having another form of transportation to and from work (public transit, biking, rides from others, rideshare, etc.) does not meet this requirement.

• Are you consistently available to work Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings for approximately 5 hours per day?

Our anticipated schedule is approximately 6–11 AM, with some flexibility in the exact start time. Please tell us your earliest available start time and your ideal 5-hour shift.

• Previous professional food, kitchen, baking, or production experience is expected for this position. We're looking for someone who already has a foundation in food preparation and can become comfortable working independently after training.

Please describe your relevant experience, including the types of prep or production you were personally responsible for. We're especially interested in experience with baking, making doughs or batters, following and scaling recipes, weighing ingredients, and production prep.

If you do NOT have professional food experience, please explain specifically why you believe you would be a strong candidate for this role and why you would be the right person for us to invest the additional time in training.

• If the role feels like a good fit for both of us, are you looking for a longer-term position (approximately one year or more), or something more short-term?

Work Location: In person

Salary : $18