Job Summary:

The Executive Chef oversees all components of Lifelong’s Medically Tailored Meals Program. The Executive Chef leads a team of Sous Chefs, Cooks, Prep Cooks, and Dish Washers in the planning and production of frozen prepared medically tailored meals (MTMs) catering to the diverse medical and cultural needs of our clients. This position is responsible for the efficiency, economy, and sustainability of kitchen operations and for positioning the kitchen for continued expansion and growth of the scale and variety offered by the meal program. This is a full-time, regular, exempt, non-union, position.

Essential Duties:

Organizational Leadership:

• Takes responsibility for leading committee work to further the organization’s strategic goals.
• Attends team and all-staff meetings, trainings, and events.
• Participates on at least one interdepartmental committee. 
• Participates in Lifelong’s leadership development process and builds awareness and understanding of Lifelong’s mission, vision, and values. 
• Assists with coordination, recruitment, and appreciation of volunteers. 
• Participates in Lifelong’s Employee Performance Management Process.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commitment:

• Takes responsibility for recognizing, creating, and implementing agency plans to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within the organization and within CSB.
• Demonstrates a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through continuous development, modeling inclusive behaviors, and proactively managing bias both personally and on their team.
• Supports the Leadership Team in partnership with Human Resources in ensuring equitable experiences, strengthening inclusion initiatives, and promoting a culture of inclusivity and belonging that embraces the contributions and experiences of all team members and clients.

Staff and Volunteer Supervision:

• Participates in the development of new staff and volunteer positions including recruitment, interviewing, onboarding, and retention of new staff and volunteers. 
• Engage with temp staffing firms as needed to meet labor needs (in response to changes in staffing and workloads)
• Ensures that staff and volunteers receive relevant levels of ongoing training and are professional and responsive.
• Manages employee and volunteer performance by providing clear and concise job expectations, training, coaching and timely feedback to staff and volunteers, including via annual job performance evaluations for staff.
• Creates positive and collaborative team morale and culture by developing a sense of belonging, celebrating successes, fostering open dialogue, and promoting inclusion, defining success in terms of whole team, and empowering staff and volunteers to take full responsibility for their work.
• Ensures staff and volunteers adhere to policies and procedures, mediates conflicts, and addresses client grievances in a timely manner.
• Creates performance improvement plans, scheduling corrective training support and consultation and working with the HR department as needed.

Team Management:

• Manages meal production, overseeing all food production efforts including ordering, prep, cooking, packaging, quality control, inventory management, and food safety.
• Leads menu development, developing and implementing cultural meals, wholesale meal production, and breakfast.
• Leads culinary offerings at community events for Lifelong as a whole, including meal tasting events, fundraising opportunities, and volunteer appreciation events.
• Works with the Facilities Director and Senior Manager of CSB Operations to ensure preventative maintenance is scheduled for refrigerators, freezers, HVAC, hoods, and other kitchen equipment.
• Sources culturally relevant and nutrient dense foods.
• Engages with national Food Is Medicine Coalition (FIMC) workgroups related to operations, food safety, kitchen, and nutrition.
• Establishes and nurtures vendor relationships, works with account reps to ensure proper products are delivered to meet our nutritional standards, contract, and client needs. Initiate market baskets with current and prospective vendors annually. Manage Navigator/Foodbuy accounts to realize cost savings and rebates.
• Meets with nutrition team on a regular basis to review recipes, update standards, participate in and assist with meal audits and review.
• Works with the Director of Food and Nutrition to initiate, develop and maintain ongoing partnerships with community partners, vendors, and donors
• Takes responsibility for supporting the development and implementation of relevant trainings in response to staff and departmental needs.
• Performs other similar duties as needed to ensure quality food and nutrition services to Lifelong clients, and compliance with funder requirements.
• Represent CSB and Lifelong at external partner meetings including at the Meals Partnership Coalition and Bulk Buy committee.

Contract Maintenance:

• Takes responsibility for obtaining, negotiating, maintaining, and evaluating all contracts necessary to operate CSB’s meal program.
• Leads reporting efforts for the kitchen and meal related contracts. 

Outreach and Community Collaboration:

• Maintains effective, timely, and thorough communication in all directions to ensure staff, partners, community stakeholders, clients, funders, and senior management are well-informed and knowledgeable of the status of the program and related issues and projects.
• Develops and maintain successful relationships with key strategic community partners.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Oversees kitchen safety, cleanliness, and organization.
• Ensures that needs are properly prioritized and addressed to meet client needs, staff safety, and programmatic objectives.

• Complies with federal, state, and local requirements, ensuring adherence to requirements, and advising management on needed support. Complies with federal, state, and local warehousing, material handling, and shipping requirements, enforcing adherence to requirements, advising management on needed actions.

Core Competencies:

• Familiarity with individuals who experience health disparities, including complex chronic health conditions, behavioral health barriers, chemical dependency, poverty, and stigma-induced isolation a plus.
• Comfort in working with individuals along the entire continuum of diversity, including but not limited to varying abilities, race, class, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
• Demonstrated strong supervisory and leadership skills.
• Proven excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated outstanding interpersonal and customer service skills.
• Demonstrated strong organizational skills and careful attention to detail.
• Proven excellent time management skills with the ability to consistently meet deadlines.
• Proven ability to prioritize tasks and delegate them when appropriate.
• Demonstrated ability to function well in a high-paced and at times stressful environment, including emotionally charged situations, exercising crisis management and de-escalation skills.
• Demonstrated flexibility and adaptability.
• Proven clear understanding of professional boundaries.
• Demonstrated skills and working knowledge of Microsoft Office suite of applications, including Excel, Word, Teams.
• Proven ability to work independently and in a collaborative team environment.
• Well-developed ability to build strong working relationships with internal and external providers and partner agencies.

• Education and Experience: 

   

• Culinary degree or the equivalent in years of experience is required.

• Three to five or more years with high volume production   
• Proven experience leading in environments with culturally diverse populations.
• Current Food Safety Manager accreditation or ability to become certified.
• Experience driving and/or maintaining large vehicles including cargo vans and box trucks is a plus.

EEO Statement:

Lifelong is committed to creating an accessible, supportive environment and experience that recognizes diversity and cultural competence as integral components of what we do. 

We are an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and as such, we do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

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DISCLAIMER: INTENT AND FUNCTION OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Job descriptions are not intended as and do not create employment contracts. The organization maintains its status as an at-will employer. Employees can be terminated for any reason not prohibited by law.
 

Job descriptions assist organizations in ensuring that the hiring process is fairly administered and that qualified employees are selected.  They are an integral part of a compensation system, effective performance review system, related promotion, transfer, layoff, etc. decisions.

All descriptions have been reviewed to illustrate the job functions and basic duties, in addition to peripheral tasks or that could generally be considered as “other duties as assigned”.

In no instance, however, should the duties, responsibilities, and requirements be interpreted as all-inclusive. Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by supervisors as deemed appropriate. Requirements, skills, and abilities included have been determined to illustrate the minimal standards required to successfully perform the positions.