Roastery Operations Assistant

Hi there, so glad you found us…! Allow us to introduce ourselves…

North Star is a coffee company and family united by a love for great coffee and a desire to protect all it supports. We were founded with the aim of proving that a quality and impact-led approach creates viable business models across our supply chain to ultimately build an industry that works for everyone. This is our guiding star and our basis for decision making around further growth, helping to build impact into all that we do.

Our Story

Our love for coffee began at source, wandering the coffee trees of Nyeri in Kenya, talking shop over hot tea and donuts…

In pursuit of research to support our final year dissertation, we spent a few months amongst smallholder coffee farming communities in rural Kenya to ask them about their experiences of Fairtrade. This opportunity changed our lives. It showed us how deeply emotive coffee is but also how deep seated issues in this global supply chain have placed a serious question mark over the industry’s future.

Fast forward to 2013, we took the plunge on a 5kg second hand roasting machine working out of a small industrial unit in Meanwood, Leeds. A decade later with a wholesale customer base of over 120 national partnerships, two of our own coffee shops and a team of 30 across our business we are so proud to have built a brand and business that brings joy to so many.

B Corp, what is it?

In 2022, North Star (roastery + coffee shops) became a certified B Corp. In simple terms, we are assessed for the overall ethics and sustainability of our business across 5 areas.

• How the business is governed (how decisions are made/core mission/values etc)
• Employee experiences
• Environmental practices
• How customers are treated
• How supply partnerships are formed and nurtured.
  

The idea is that not only are businesses verified to be having the impact they say they are having, but they become a part of a movement focused on constant improvement, sharing practices and ideas to challenge the ‘normal’ way of doing business.

As a Certified B Corporation and a leader of this emerging economy, we believe:

• That we must be the change we seek in the world
• That all business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered
• That, through our products, practices, and profits, we should aspire to do no harm and benefit all
• To do so requires that we act with the understanding that we are each dependent upon another and thus responsible for each other and future generations.
  

Our Values

Be a Star - we celebrate being genuinely kind and thoughtful with a can-do attitude. We are in the business of hospitality and we go out of our way to find a ‘yes’ for someone be they a customer, supplier or fellow team member.

Be bold, be proud - We take pride in a job well done and we own our mistakes. We are accountable and responsible for the role we play in this business knowing that we have the capacity to spark change. We do not take the easiest route, we understand our goal of building an industry that works for everyone and we do not shy away from acting boldly and standing out for the right reasons. Ever curious, we enjoy constant learning to add value to ourselves and to the business.

Be resourceful - Our business was established from the desire to positively impact the world around us. We want our environmental impact to be minimal, we want our social impact to be positive. We want to be resourceful and efficient with our time, our money and our energy.

The Role

As we enter our tenth year of operating, we are so excited to be growing our team with the addition of full-time and part-time Roastery Operations Assistants based at our Roastery site in Armley.

The roles will involve packing our wonderful coffee, dispatching to wholesale and retail customers, delivering across Yorkshire in our van and will run over 3 consecutive shifts (part-time) and 5 consecutive shifts (full-time) between Monday and Friday 9:00-17:30.

Experience in the coffee industry or a warehouse environment would be advantageous, but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Help us to prepare all orders both for online and wholesale customers - this will involve the use of semi-automatic coffee packing machinery and grinders.
• Work to meet our production and dispatch schedule and postal deadlines.
• Prepare labels for our bags and boxes.
• Help with general maintenance of equipment.
• Assist with keeping the roastery clean and tidy.
• Perform general admin for our online shop and wholesale customers.
• Deliver to local wholesale customers in our work van.

Requirements

• A full clean UK driving licence.
• Be able to comfortably lift a 16kg box.
• Strong organisational skills, the ability to prioritise and meet deadlines.
• Self awareness placing importance on personal integrity - have a natural inclination to be accountable for doing the right thing with honesty and good judgement.
• Be genuinely kind and thoughtful with a can-do attitude.
• Energetic, personable, and outgoing.
• Have an inherent desire to look after people – be someone who goes above and beyond to find a ‘yes’ and to treat others as you would want to be treated.
• Obsessive attention to detail, an eye for creativity and the skill to jump between projects quickly and efficiently.
• You have a growth mindset, you own your mistakes and look for opportunities to learn wherever possible.
  

Benefits

• £10.90 Per Hour
• Private healthcare package.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Free coffee (to drink + 1x250g retail bag per week)
• 20% discount in our coffee shops.
• Professional and personal development – ‘Stay Curious’ fund of £150/year to be put towards developing an interest or hobby.
• An environment in which you are encouraged to feedback and help us do better.
• The chance to genuinely have positive impact on the lives of others.