Careers
Current Openings
Dairy Goat Milker
Do you love animals? Want to work outside with a lovely herd of dairy goats? We want your help!
Description: Our small, family owned goat dairy is looking for a hard working individual to help us during our 2024 kidding and milking seasons. Kidding lasts from mid-March through April and our milking season runs from March through November. We will be milking our extremely friendly and adorable herd of 40-45 Lamancha goats twice a day and are expecting about 125 kids in 2024. If you love animals, working outdoors and are looking for a job that is self-guided and dynamic, this could be the right fit for you.
- 24-40 hrs/week depending on the season and employee preference.
- Starting wage $16.50, higher starting wage negotiable with direct experience.
- Shift hours are generally either 7am-3:30pm or 10:30am-7pm to include either a morning or an afternoon milking shift. A mix of both shifts should be expected.
Commitment: Mid-March through November 2024.
Requirements: The right candidate must love animals, have a positive attitude, be hard working and extremely reliable. They must be able to lift 75 pounds and be able to work both independently and as a team. They must be able to work early mornings and evenings and have reliable transportation. They must be able to handle the ups and downs of animal husbandry. Due to the nature of animal husbandry we have a firm schedule and do not have the flexibility to offer time off during the kidding season once committed, any time off during this extremely busy period (March-May) must be negotiated during the interview. During the milking season we have a little more flexibility for shift coverage but there is a limit and we ask that whenever possible time off that spans for more than a couple days is taken during the off-season (December-February).
Experience: No experience required. Animal handling / husbandry experience preferred. Must have a good attitude and be able to work hard with demonstrated efficiency.
Schedule: 4-8 hour shifts (morning, evening, weekend and holiday availability required).
Duties include:
- Feeding animals (goats, livestock guardian dogs)
- Perform milking shifts as scheduled adhering to highest standards of hygiene and sanitation
- Safe and responsible use of chemicals for the sanitation and cleaning of the milking line and related equipment
- Monitor herd health and communicate updates to manager
- Weekly deep clean of the milking parlor
- Ability to access email regularly to ensure you have the latest information before each shift worked
- Occasional bottle-feeding of goat kids
- Maintain a high level of awareness to ensure herd health, personal safety, and product quality
- Help the goat team with miscellaneous tasks as needed
- Great communication skills
- Cleaning/mucking pens, working in dusty environments
- Loading bales of hay in the back of an RTV
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Occasionally feed/care for other animals on the farm (pigs, cows, cats, fish)
About our farm: Stepladder Ranch & Creamery is a small farmstead goat dairy and creamery located in the hills of Cambria, California. We specialize in small-scale, handmade cheeses with milk from our pasture-raised herd of Lamancha goats. We also make artisan cow's milk and mixed milk cheeses using milk from a local herd of Holstein and Jersey cows. All the goat milk used to make our cheeses comes exclusively from our herd on the property.
To apply: Please email sophie@stepladdercreamery.com with a resume, your availability, and a cover letter telling us why you think you would be a good fit, what your goals are for this position, why you are seeking this unique opportunity and an accomplishment you are proud of.
Farmers Market Sales Associate - San Luis Obispo County, part-time
Want to learn more about sales? Sell award winning artisan cheese! Learn management with a growing team? Come work for Stepladder Creamery!
Job Description:
Manage all of Stepladder Ranch & Creamery farmers market programs in San Luis Obispo County. Pick up products from the creamery and distribute wholesale orders across the county. Maintain San Luis Obispo Warehouse. Attend each farmers market: Cambria (Friday), Templeton (Saturday), & San Luis Obispo (Thursday) with the potential to add more markets and responsibilities.
*Represent Stepladder Ranch and Creamery with a positive attitude, enthusiasm about our products and excellent customer service
*Manage inventory
*Pick up inventory from Creamery
*Deliver orders across county
*Maintain company vehicle
*Maintain San Luis Obispo Warehouse
*Set up your market stand with appropriate merchandising
*Strive to increase sales with innovative strategies and customer engagement
*Maintain positive relationships with customers, market managers, and other vendors
*Educate customers on cheese
*Engage in continual improvement of our operations. This includes giving constructive feedback, always looking to improve systems, implementation of new protocols with attention to detail
*Employ excellent cash handling skills including properly using the Square device for credit card transactions
*Potential to grow with company; add more markets, outside sales, help with offsite and onsite events as needed
Estimated Hours: 30 per week
Compensation: $16-18 DOE
Days: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday (with room to add more days / hours)
REQUIREMENTS
*Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
*Weekends before holidays
*Previous management is a plus!
*Reliable to drive company vehicle
*Previous experience working in the food industry a plus!
*Minimum 6-month commitment
*Valid driver's license with clean driving record
*Ability to lift 50+ lbs
*Ability to stand for prolonged periods of time
Want to learn more and apply? Email: Michelle@stepladdercreamery.com.
Farmer's Market Operations Manager - Based in San Diego, full-time
We are searching for a marketeer for our San Diego Market program. Starting out, we should have Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday shifts with plans to add in a Wednesday shift.
This is an hourly position that starts at $20/hr + commission + trade at each market as well as 401k match after 1 year of full time employment - this works out to ~$28+/hr equivalent.
Ideal candidates will be highly motivated, positive, team oriented, and love the energy of the farmers market scene. Sales and farmers market experience a plus. Must have dependable transport and a can-do attitude. Please email Jack@stepladdercreamery.com with a resume and a brief note describing your interest.
Farmer's Market Operations Manager - Based in Los Angeles, full-time
We're currently seeking someone to manage our farmer's market locations and crew in Los Angeles. This is a full-time position.
If you're interested in joining our team, feel free to submit your resume and brief explanation about why you want the position to jack@stepladdercreamery.com.
Farmer's Market Sales Associate - Based in Los Angeles, part-time
We're currently seeking someone to work at some of our LA-area farmer's markets. This is a part-time position that might require weekend work.
If you're interested in joining our team, feel free to submit your resume and brief explanation about why you want the position to jack@stepladdercreamery.com.
Farmer's Market Sales Associate - Based in San Leandro, California, part-time
We're currently seeking someone to work weekend farmer's markets in the Bay Area selling a variety of cheese, meat, fruit, and honey. This is a part-time role with shifts each Saturday and Sunday. The job is based in San Leandro and involves starting and ending your shifts there with a farmers market in between. Our markets are all less than one hour from San Leandro.
Read the full job description here.
If you're interested in joining our team, feel free to submit your resume and brief explanation about why you want the position to info@stepladdercreamery.com.
Creamery/Production Crew - Based in Cambria, California
We're always looking to add experienced and passionate people to our crew. If you are interested in working in the creamery, email us at info@stepladdercreamery.com.
Freelance Opportunities
Are you a photographer or graphic designer looking to grow your portfolio? We're always looking for talented artists and professionals to work with in sharing our story and cheese with hungry customers on social media and other marketing channels. Send us your resume and portfolio to info@stepladdercreamery.com and we will be in touch.