Earn free ice cream for a year as Van Leeuwen's lead ice cream tester

If ice cream is your calling, this New York ice cream shop has the role for you. 

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is looking for a Lead Ice Cream Taster (LICT) to help the New York-based brand create new flavors, test pints (shipped straight to their home) for quality control, and taste future flavors in development. The LICT will also have the chance to create their own signature ice cream flavor and be compensated for their work with free ice cream for a year. The promotional job (internship?) is in honor of the brand's 15th anniversary.

“We wanted to do something really special to mark our 15th year anniversary and offer someone a front row seat to experience all the fun that comes along with making ice cream,” said Ben Van Leeuwen, co-founder and CEO. “I can’t count the number of times over the years people have said ‘if you ever need an ice cream taster!’  So now’s your chance. If you’ve ever wanted to eat ice cream every day or had ice cream flavor ideas, this is for you—our customers often have the best ideas so we’re excited to see what the LICT comes up with,”

Interested in applying? Submit a video to the contest online detailing why you should be named Van Leeuwen’s LICT,  why you love ice cream, and what your favorite Van Leeuwen flavor is. You can also post the video to social (and check out the competition) using the hashtag #lictcontest. The best entries will be featured on Van Leeuwen’s social media handles. All entries must be submitted by July 6.

Want to enter in person? On Tuesday, June 27, Van Leeuwen co-founder and CEO Ben Van Leeuwen will host an open casting call at its East Village location, at 48 1/2 East 7th St. Contestants who enter in person will receive a free scoop. Those under 18 years old can enter with a parent. 

The LICT winner will be notified by July 10, and receive a pint of every Van Leeuwen flavor and signature LICT merchandise plus free ice cream for a year. The work starts with a flight to NYC on July 17. On the business trip, the LICT will spend time in R&D, join a production run at the Van Leeuwen factory and do a Scoop Shop Tour with Ben Van Leeuwen. The LICT and a guest will be hosted for a two-night stay at Williamsburg's Wythe Hotel.

On Tuesday, July 18, the LICT will ride with co-founders Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen and Laura O’Neill on the brand's ice cream truck to give out free ice cream at Greene and Prince Street in SoHo, the corner where Van Leeuwen got its start as an ice cream truck in 2008. If you don't get the job, free ice cream will, of course, make everything better.