Food Stylist Assistant

This assignment posting is for an Agency Worker opportunity with People Inc. The Agency Worker is paid by a staffing agency employer. Agency Workers will receive a W2 from the staffing agency reporting their earnings for tax purposes.
Food Stylist Assistant
The Food Stylist Assistant assists the Food Styling team with food preparation, kitchen cleanup, and grocery shopping. This position is critical to supporting the studio's ability to meet production commitments in a sustainable way, and is a great entry point to a career in food styling.
The Food Stylist Assistant will check in and organize incoming groceries, prepare recipes as needed per stylist instructions, provide dishwashing and cleaning support for the food stylists, and provide shopping support as needed for the photo studio and also for the test kitchen as directed by the Test Kitchen Coordinator.
The Food Stylist Assistant will also be booked as a stylist on photo sets as needed when they are ready for a bit more challenge. In this capacity they will provide all the food items needed for photo and/or video shoots, prepare the recipes, and style the content within the specific parameters outlined by art and editorial teams. This role needs to be able to take direction from clients and photographers while also providing direction to their assistant and other support staff to ensure they are producing high quality content at a pace that keeps projects on or ahead of deadlines.
In addition to providing food styling services to clients this position may also be asked to develop editorial content and test recipes as needed.
Assignment Details:
16-32 hours a week, average
Start date: 12/1/2026
End date: 6 months with potential to extend
Hourly Rate: $18/hour
Location: On-site. Des Moines, IA - US
Assignment Responsibilities:
● Assist food stylists
● Prepare food for photography, as directed by food stylists.
● Organize ingredients and pantry items in preparation for photo shoots.
● Provide dishwashing and cleaning support for food stylists.
● Select and purchase ingredients and cooking supplies needed for recipe testing and food photography. ● Act as a food stylist, recipe developer, and/or tester.