Eastern Roasting Apprentice

Counter Culture Coffee was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Durham, NC, with regional offices in 12 major cities across the country. Counter Culture Coffee has been continuously innovating in the coffee industry and we’re looking for passionate, dynamic, diverse team members to help us expand our efforts.

Counter Culture Coffee is:

• Quality Coffee | We continue to cultivate relationships with growers and organizations around the world in order to build trust, improve quality, and foster transparency.
• Education | We believe the pursuit of coffee perfection includes educating ourselves, our partners, and our customers about the coffee supply chain and the best methods of preparation.
• Sustainability | Our commitment to affecting positive change in every community to which we are connected is driven by our belief that we can–and should–always strive to improve upon the present.
• Transparency | We are committed to sustainability and holding ourselves and our peers accountable for creating a more sustainable future of coffee

Job Overview:

The primary role for this position is to roast coffee at the Durham Roastery. An employee in this position must express a strong interest in coffee, have a healthy level of confidence and demonstrate a willingness to work hard for long periods of time. Additionally, an ideal Roaster will practice good communication skills, be organized, detail oriented, trustworthy and be committed to doing whatever it takes to exceed our customers expectations of coffee quality. This position is crucial to the success of our company and has a great impact on our ability to operate on the guidelines set forth by our vision statement.

• Receiving green coffee shipments and storing in logical, appropriate bays of warehouse.
• Pulling green coffee and loading roasters.
• Roasting coffee to order each day.
• Log data for the roasts produced and document organic purges.
• Work within the structure of Netsuite.
• Understand the quality control regiment as set forth by the Coffee Department.
• Perform as an effective and skilled coffee taster.
• Manage roasting byproducts (chaff, burlap, GrainPro) to maximize reuse or recycling.
• Utilize the function of the silo and cable-vey system for daily roasting needs.
• Assist in organizing and cleaning of roasting and green coffee workspaces. Including maintaining all equipment and tools used in the day to day operation of the roasting department.
• Actings as a position representative of the company during industry functions.

Physical Components of this Job:

The physical activity of this position:

• Climbing. Ascending or descending ladders, stairs, scaffolding, ramps, poles and the like, using feet and legs and/or hands and arms. Body agility is emphasized.
• Balancing. Maintaining body equilibrium to prevent falling and walking, standing or crouching on narrow, slippery, or erratically moving surfaces.
• Stooping. Bending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist.
• Reaching. Extending hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction.
• Standing. Particularly for sustained periods of time.
• Walking. Moving about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another.
• Pushing. Using upper extremities to press against something with steady force in order to thrust forward, downward or outward.
• Pulling. Using upper extremities to exert force in order to draw, haul, or tug objects in a sustained motion.
• Lifting. Raising objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position-to-position.
• Fingering. Picking, pinching, typing or otherwise working, primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand as in handling.
• Grasping. Applying pressure to an object with the fingers and palm.
• Feeling. Perceiving attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature or texture by touching with skin, particularly that of fingertips.
• Talking. Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word; those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other employees accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• Hearing. Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction, and ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discriminations in sound.,
• Repetitive motion. Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.

Physical requirements of this position:

Very heavy work. Exerting in excess of 100 pounds of force occasionally, and/or in excess of 50 pounds of force frequently, and/or in excess of 20 pounds of force constantly to move objects.

Visual acuity requirements (including color, depth perception, and field vision) of this position:

• The employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; visual inspection involving small defects, small parts, and/or operation of machines (including inspection); using measurement devices; and/or assembly or fabrication parts at distances close to the eyes.
• The employee is required to have visual acuity to perform an activity such as: operates machines, such as lathes, drill presses, power saws, and mills where the seeing job is at or within arm's reach; performs mechanical or skilled trades tasks of a non-repetitive nature, such as carpenter, technicians, service people, plumbers, painters, mechanics, etc.,
• The employee is required to have visual acuity to operate motor vehicles and/or heavy equipment.
• The employee is required to have visual acuity to determine the accuracy, neatness, and thoroughness of the work assigned (i.e., custodial, food services, general laborer, etc.) or to make general observations of facilities or structures (i.e., security guard, inspection, etc.).

The conditions the employee will be subject to in this position:

• The employee is subject to environmental conditions. Protection from weather conditions but not necessarily from temperature changes.,
• The employee is subject to extreme cold. Temperatures typically below 32 degrees for periods of more than one hour. Consideration should be given to the effect of other environmental conditions, such as wind and humidity.,
• The employee is subject to extreme heat. Temperatures above 100 degrees for periods of more than one hour. Consideration should be given to the effect of other environmental conditions, such as wind and humidity.,
• The employee is subject to noise. There is sufficient noise to cause the employee to shout in order to be heard above ambient noise level.,
• The employee is subject to hazards. Includes a variety of physical conditions, such as proximity to moving mechanical parts, moving vehicles, electrical current, working on scaffolding and high places, exposure to high heat or exposure to chemicals.

90-Day Goals:

• Be familiar with each coffee that CCC sells.
• Be familiar with blends, and with flavor profile terminology.
• Understand green coffee weight loss and be able to calculate the required amount.
• Be familiar with the company structure, policies, personnel, etc.
• Effectively learn the coffee traffic system, including ICO numbers.
• Signup and attend specific as required coffee training classes. (per the discretion of the supervisor)
• Understands the Agtron machine, what it does, and how to use it.

Benefits: Currently, the offered benefits include: group health (medical, dental and vision), available the first of the month after 30 days of employment; Flexible Spending Accounts for Healthcare and for Dependent Care; short- and long-term disability; life insurance; 401(k) program; paid time off; six company holidays.

Counter Culture Coffee is an Equal Opportunity Employer in both policy and practice.

Counter Culture Coffee assesses candidates for employment based on their knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the job for which they are applying and without regard to any non-job related category as protected by federal, state or local law.

Finalist candidates for employment will be required to pass a reference check process, successfully complete a post-offer/pre-employment criminal background check, and demonstrate USA employment eligibility (per federal and state law, Counter Culture Coffee participates in the federal E-Verify program).