About the position

The Nutrition Group has an open position of District Chef. This position entails overseeing and managing the daily operations for a local K-12 School District Food Service Department, with a strong emphasis on culinary skills. Serving as the District Chef entails oversite of all capacities revolving around food production & service, while assisting the food service directors with overall program success. This includes preparing, and training staff to prepare food, in accordance with the policies and procedures of the USDA, the Department of Education, school district, and The Nutrition Group, within the framework of the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. Is responsible first to each Director of Food & Nutrition to collectively highlight areas for focus and growth within each building, including menus, quality control, paperwork compliance, hourly staff training needs and district catering expectations. Overall responsible to the Regional Manager for the effective operating performance of the school district’s food service operation, in conjunction with the contractual agreement, including financial results and accountability, quality control.

Responsibilities

• Assist with meeting, or exceeding, budgeted results participation & food cost
• Responsible for food cost control and effective training on waste management & production values.
• Assist with accurate inventories for each school and maintains a separate inventory of government commodities.
• Develop financial reports to explain budget variances if they occur.
• Develop special events centered around food, with the goal of increasing program participation.
• Assist in training, developing, motivating, evaluating, and terminating employees in conjunction with school district and The Nutrition Group policies.
• Utilize employee job descriptions and performance standards to help guide and train employees. Provide feedback on performance to food service director, that will be used for formal appraisals, as well as develop plans for future training and/or adjustments to responsibilities.
• Conduct individual employee personnel development program and training programs on a continuing basis. Develop an open-door climate for employees and assures that he/she visits with each one personally on a continuing basis to know their feelings, problems, etc., yet does not become involved beyond the normal duties of sound management practices.
• Assist with annual training of and enforces OSHA regulations to existing staff and for each new hire maintained on The Nutrition Group payroll. Conducts safety education on an ongoing basis to ensure a safe and healthy workplace.
• Establishes a system of regular and continuing personal contact to acquire immediate knowledge and correction of cafeteria employee dissatisfaction, and work with the food service director to address so there are no recurring complaints.
• Make recommendations to FSD on unit work schedules.
• Maintains effective job goal performance, with a high degree of employee morale.
• Treats all employees according to the terms of the established labor agreements and/or school district and The Nutrition Group policies.
• Indoctrinates and trains staff to be personally neat and give cheerful, competent, and efficient service.
• Establishing a formal program of pre-school, in-service and on-the-job training. Coordinating these training sessions as part of the formal “manager” and employee meetings. Encourages employees to participate in team training days.
• Visits buildings during, before and at the end of the day to observe service, productions and employee activity rate.
• Trains all staff in terms of food quality, recipe compliance, & HACCP protocol, with a particular focus on cooks and lead production personnel.
• Constantly evaluates established menus for student satisfaction, production practicality, etc. Maintains and submits to supervision, written corrective, constructive comments.
• Works with staff to establish a reliable system of attendance prediction and relates it to the purchasing program and to actual production to eliminate waste.
• Purchases food and supplies only from approved vendors and ensures proper security of all inventory at all times.
• Supervises all specifications and purchasing procedures of the district, the NSLP and The Nutrition Group
• Purchases only those items authorized by The Nutrition Group’s buyer.
• Understands, communicates and practices the NSLP and The Nutrition Group food standards in each school of the district.
• Maintains an up-to-date and complete recipe file in each unit and insures recipes are used.
• Utilizes all leftovers properly and quickly or stores them for future use.
• Meets or exceeds reimbursable nutritional requirements and maintains detailed, accurate production records in accordance with USDA and Department of Education when in production. Ensuring all staff is following the same procedure and meeting requirements.
• Understands food production practices and constantly upgrades the production standards to all technological developments.
• Keeps and maintains accurate production records in compliance with USDA/CRE regulations and ensure all staff knows how to complete & is completing as well. If there are areas for improvement, provide on the spot training & communicate with FSD.
• Establishes portion control standards Insures all NSLP requirements are met for every meal served in every school.
• Maintains accurate participation records as required.
• Ensuring food quality is a priority. If there are areas that need improvement, correct immediately and provide re-training to ensure quality expectations are met during every service.
• Ensures each school is graded “A” or equivalent by the local and/or state sanitation inspectors and complies with all local and state regulations.
• Insures there are no official complaints from the school district to the Food Service Director, school district personnel, Board members, or The Nutrition Group personnel concerning sanitation and housekeeping.
• Complies with the established operating instructions and policies for sanitation and housekeeping and conducts a periodic formal housekeeping inspection of each school.
• Maintains necessary sanitation certification.
• Provides catering as needed to each client & elevate the expectation that they have for the caterings being provided through The Nutrition Group
• Maintain a catering booklet for the school district, which contains approved menus and prices, and distribute as needed. Develops a special party booking procedure to ensure error-free activities and retains it as a historical record.
• As needed, work with a client to develop a menu that fits the needs for their event.
• Ensure the catering event is priced accordingly and ensure client is aware of cost associated prior to event.
• Staff is scheduled accordingly and ensure their wages are accounted for within the catering event.
• Provide training to staff during the catering event to assist with current and future catering needs.
• Complete the catering invoice, send the invoice to client, and ensure the special function ledge & recaps are kept up to date and accurate.
• Meets regularly with the Youth Advisory Council, acts on customer complaints, suggestions, and requests immediately.
• Communicates with client contact as required. Builds a good working relationship with all people and departments directly and remotely connected with food service and insures proper relations with suppliers. Holds periodic meetings with the total groups(s) to keep them informed and group-directed. Offers to become a part of school district committees, organizations, etc.
• Submits a weekly progress report to Corporate and documents in detail all aspects of the food service operation within the school district.
• Contributes pictures and articles for Board Reports that describe the progress of the food service program.
• Meets with food service director & Regional Manager on a regular basis to discuss status of operation and maintains effective two-way communications.
• Conducts at least one major special promotion event each month in every school district.
• Maintains ongoing information seeking communications such as student suggestion boxes, opinion surveys, etc., with proper follow-up reports.
• Insures that communications upward and downward are effectively maintained.
• Maintains an attitude of management, which provides the motivating force in developing an awareness of, alertness to, and interest in producing the maximum possible results with the minimum expenditure of school district resources. The overall guiding factor in accomplishing a high standard of performance in this area should be the attitude of management, successfully transmitted to the cafeteria staff and eventually to the customer, toward the goal of providing service – cheerfully, willingly, and conscientiously to all parties at all times.

Requirements

• Associates Degree Required
• At least 1-2 years’ Experience in Staff Management
• Food Service Experience
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Must obtain clearances and pass criminal background checks

Nice-to-haves

• Bachelor’s Preferred

Benefits

• Competitive Salary
• Individual Health Coverage, Dental and Vision options
• 401(k) with employer match
• Life Insurance
• PTO and Paid holidays
• Training and Development
• Health and Wellness Programs
• Tuition Reimbursement