Food Service Executive Chef - Brookline School District

JOB TITLE:FOOD SERVICES EXECUTIVE CHEF

DATE REVISED:February 2024

REPORTS TO:Director of Food Services 

POSITION TYPE: Exempt, Non-Aligned, Salary, 12 months, Full Time

SALARY:$70,000 - $80,000   

QUALIFICATIONS 

•  Degree in Culinary Arts or Nutrition;  or related field with at least three years’ experience in quantity food preparation, personal management and/or business management is desirable; School food service preferred.
• Valid ServSafe Certification required.
• Extensive experience in quantity food service.
• Ability to train others.
• Excellent communication skills.
• At least four years of professional experience working in food production in a commercial kitchen
• At least two years of supervising food production staff in a commercial kitchen
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work in a  multicultural and multilingual work environment
• Ability to efficiently work independently as well as in a close, collaborative environment.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is almost continuously required to sit, talk or hear. The employee is consistently required to walk and stand. The employee may be required to  lift and/or move up to 50 pounds such as milk crates, frozen foods, fruit, canned food etc. The employee is required to reach with hands and continuously repeat the same hand, arm or finger motion many times as in typing. Specific vision abilities required in this job include close vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

POSITION OVERVIEW : 

Under the general direction of the Director of Food Services, maintain & administer the production of meals to provide the best possible quality and nutritious meals with available financial resources. Directly supervises food-service managers in accordance with policies, procedures, applicable laws related to food services & DESE Guidelines.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Menu planning
• Recipe development
• Student taste-testing
• Culinary training
• Catering Operations

• Positive attitude and drive to operate with the highest ethical standards
• Natural leader, who creates an atmosphere of encouragement for staff
• Have a passion and talent for cooking with a minimum of 5 years' culinary experience
• Have a minimum of 2 years’ experience in management, training, and food cost management.
•  National School Breakfast/Lunch Program
• Ordering, production records, HACCP logs, inventory, and menu development.

Essential Functions

• Oversee purchasing, inventory and expenditures; recommends efficiencies to keep costs within established financial guidelines; analyzes costs of materials, equipment, commodities and labor.
• Prepares necessary data for the budget; projects annual food; takes corrective action as necessary to help assure that financial goals are met.
• Creates, develops, and evaluates food and non-food products to assure quality standards, nutritional and environmentally responsible goals are consistently met.
• Develops standard recipes and techniques for food preparation and presentation, with a focus on high quality and minimized costs.
• Creates menus in accordance with applicable guidelines for Early Childhood, grades K-12, Summer School, After School, School Breakfast Program and A la carte.
• Creates culinary training curriculum and provides ongoing culinary training, technical assistance, coaching and feedback to staff.

• Assist in the development and implementation of culinary standards for preparation of meals at each School, while supporting school managers to ensure culinary standards are implemented.
• Oversee meal preparation, develops priorities, assures that appropriate services are provided that achieve well-defined goals; develops staff skills and conducts performance evaluations; meets regularly with staff to discuss and resolve priorities, workload and technical issues; assures the effective allocation and utilization of resources.
• Provides training and professional development opportunities for all culinary staff.
• Assist in the development and implementation of culinary checklist/review process for site visits.
• Assists with recipe testing, data collection and implementation of new recipes
• Collects and acts on feedback received from parents, staff and students regarding food quality and variety.
• Coordinates implementation of assigned programs and/or projects.
• Manages sanitation and food safety functions; enforces operational procedures to identify potential food safety hazards and assure food quality and safety; implements employee safety regulations and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) plans.

• Directs culinary operations and assures compliance with PSB, Child Nutrition program, HACCP, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) procedures, policies and standards.

• Develops policies and procedures to enhance and measure quality; continually updates written policies and procedures to reflect state-of-the-art techniques, equipment and terminology.
• Meets with vendors to evaluate new product offerings and opportunities.
• Motivate the team to implement exceptional food quality while remaining fiscally responsible and following the USDA standards
• Use problem solving skills and abilities to make decisions that are best for the district business and customers
• Performs functions of other nutritional services positions, as needed for the purpose of ensuring adequate staff coverage within site nutritional services;

• Demonstrate culinary skills while providing guidance and management 
• Set up and organize all catering requests.
• Performs other duties assigned by supervisor or administrator.

Supervisory Responsibilities 

• Supervises the district food services managers and school district driver. 

Other Responsibilities and Expectations: 

• Participate in districts meetings and initiatives 
• Actively participate in Farm to School activities 
• Assist the director with administrative duties and projects as needed
• Communicates information timely, frequently, and in a professional manner to the Director, other administrators and department staff.

***All employees must be vaccinated and maintain full vaccination as a condition of employment or work as an on-site vendor/contractor, unless they receive approval for a documented medical or religious exemption in accordance with relevant state and/or federal law. For a full copy of the Covid-19 vaccination policy please click here.

The Public Schools of Brookline is especially interested in qualified candidates who can contribute through their teaching or practice to the diversity and excellence of the PSB community. 

The Public Schools of Brookline is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Members of underrepresented groups and all persons committed to diversity and inclusive excellence are strongly encouraged to apply.