Lead Cook

The Culinary Team at HCZ works to transform how the community engages with food—through improving our nutrition environment and thinking more sustainably about what we eat through hands-on nutrition education in the garden and the kitchen, in the classroom and the boardroom.

Transforming what we eat is crucial to HCZ’s larger missions—in the classroom, the future and beyond. The better we eat, the better we learn and the better we live. So, join us as we create a community of educated eaters.

Position Summary: The Lead Cook at the Harlem Childrens Zone is supervisor role overseeing the culinary team working alongside to the Lead Server. Responsible for cooking and preparing food according to recipes and production guidelines; while adhering to food safety, food handling, and sanitation procedures. The individual should culinary knowledge including equipment usage. The Lead Cook will responsible for oversight or delegation of responsibilities within the culinary operation.

• Minimum of three years large volume cooking experience along with two years experience managing staff of 8 or more in a food service environment
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Ability to work in a team environment and demonstrate excellent customer service
• Must have the ability to lead and support the kitchen staff
• Minimum 3 years experience in the food service industry as a cook
• Must be able to understand verbal and written instructions
• Attended a Culinary training program or degree from a Culinary Arts School
• Holds a valid NYC DOH Food Protection Certificate
• Must be knowledgeable and able to manage and comply with Health Department and other governmental agency regulations.
• Must have extensive knowledge of food preparation and production for volume restaurant and banquet facility
• Individual is responsible for achieving on site certifications provided by employer

Principal Responsibilities:

• Following and supporting standards set in place for the kitchen and ensure the team is able to follow.
• Attend training sessions, on site and off site.
• Responsible for overseeing preparation and execution of daily menus, ensuring production of desired quality and necessary quantity of food.
• Create daily individual work plans for staff members for each shift
• Work with staff to ensure menu items are displayed in a presentable manner
• Work with Lead Server to ensure staff members provide excellent level of customer service at all time
• Provide additional training as needed to ensure high level customer service
• The Lead Cook may be responsible for oversight or delegation of responsibilities within the kitchen if management team is unavailable.
• Communicate with the management team to maintain the level of food quality that is expected
• Liaison between culinary team and management.   
• Ensure daily communication between the cooks and servers regarding menu changes and allergens.
• Communicate any issues to the staff which could affect the service before each meal period; menu changes, allergens, ingredients changes, etc...
• Knowledge of food product, identification, and acceptable level of food quality
• Must know methods of food preparation, cooking times, and portion sizes to insure food is prepared in prescribed manner
• Evaluate food quality and preparedness by tasting everything.
• Ensure food is stored at the appropriate temperature for the appropriate length of time and follows all food safety standards
• Sets up/Breaks down kitchen
• Maintains a clean, safe and sanitary work station, equipment, and utensils
• Maintain production records (food usage, overages, shortages, customer counts, etc.)
• Maintain established logs (food temperatures, cooling temperatures, cooler & freezer temperatures, etc.)
• Communicate with management regarding food product that needs to be ordered for upcoming production
• Report safety hazards discovered in the location to management immediately additional job functions
• Completion of additional tasks requested by a management team.
• Able to provide outstanding customer service and get along with coworkers, HCZ community, and management team.  
• Responsible for receiving deliveries and proper storage of all items.

Physical Requirements/Working Environment

• Ability to stand for long periods of time, bend, kneel, and reach to store/retrieve supplies
• Ability to lift, carry, and push supplies and boxes up to 50 pounds
• Occasional environment exposures to cold, heat and water.

Hours: M-F 5:30am – 1:30PM

As a member of the Harlem Children's Zone team, you will join a supportive and inclusive community dedicated to helping children, families — and our staff — thrive. We offer highly competitive salaries, a comprehensive benefits package, and opportunities for growth.

Our exceptional full-time benefits include: 

• Highly competitive base salaries
• Paid time off 
• Employee referral bonus 
• Career Advancement
• No-cost health insurance
• Life Insurance
• Short-and long-term disability
• Additional voluntary benefits
• Wellness discounts
• Commuter benefits
• Financial wellness perks
• Additional Benefits (Discounts on flights, hotels, theme parks, concert tickets, and more.)

The salary range for this position is $54,000 - $56,000 per year. To be considered, interested applicants should apply directly through the posting. No telephone inquiries or recruiters, please. Replies will only be sent to qualified applicants. Harlem Children's Zone is an Equal Opportunity Employer.