Cook

Cook

The Cook is responsible for preparing nutritious family style meals for up to 50 adults and children residing at FESCO's emergency and transitional housing programs. FESCO is seeking a Cook that is available to work Thursday through Monday from 12:30pm until 6:00 pm. Duties will include assisting the Meal Services Coordinator with menu planning, food preparation, cooking of meals, grocery shopping and Food Bank pickups, transporting meals, adherence to food safe regulations, and regular cleaning of the kitchen equipment and area.

This role will uphold and champion the agency's mission, vision, and values and contribute to a collaborative and inclusive work culture.

Essential Job Functions And Responsibilities:

• Prepare and serve breakfast and dinner as scheduled at the Banyan central kitchen
• Grocery shop and food bank pick ups
• Deliver meals ready for family style service and suitable for children's age and development to the FESCO emergency shelter site
• Set up dining room and food preparation area
• Maintain kitchen area as specified on shift checklist
• Maintain a safe and sanitary kitchen.
• Responsible for kitchen clean up and dish washing.
• Direct staff, volunteers and residents regarding food service
• Maintain/create a warm and welcoming environment

Administrative Duties:

• Keeps records required by the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
• Assists with menu planning, ordering, and shopping as assigned
• Take inventory of new orders/donations as they come in, and put items away
• Check off meals in the roster and ensure that residents sign up for meals and save plates.

Other:

• Attend trainings and participate in events relevant to key responsibilities.
• Track and regularly report on key metrics for the responsible function areas.
• Leads and collaborates on projects supporting Agency objectives.

Core Competencies:

Leading the self:

• Demonstrates ethics and integrity
• Displays drive and purpose
• Manages self and adapts to change
• Exhibiting leadership stature
• Practice self-awareness and continuous learning

Inclusion, Respect, And Collaboration:

• Practices cultural humility and cultural responsiveness when engaging with individuals from diverse backgrounds and life experiences, while practicing appropriate boundaries.
• Develop relationships with their teams and across the organization to foster cultural humility and cultural responsiveness, teamwork, and collaboration, ensuring positive outcomes for the organization both internally and externally.
• Utilize effective communication skills to listen and respond with empathy, while adopting a proactive and collaborative approach to drive innovative change. This approach should be sensitive to the organization's culture and its role within the community.

Qualifications

Qualifications & Experience:

• High school diploma or GED required
• Must possess a current ServSafe food safety certification, demonstrating knowledge of food safety, proper handling, sanitation, and compliance with health regulations.
• Experience in prep/cooking in a food services setting, culinary training preferred
• Experience working in supportive housing or similar environment would be an asset
• Basic knowledge of food hygiene and safe kitchen practices including the use of commercial equipment and tools
• Spanish Bilingual Preferred

• CPR and First Aid certification (can be provided by La Familia)
• Clear Tuberculosis (TB) test from within the last 60 days required within first 30 days of employment

• Experience in non-profit and community-based organizations preferred.
• Demonstrates and models excellent "customer service" orientation and ability to work with diverse populations.
• Exercises extreme discretion with the ability to hold, balance, and transmit public and confidential information needed by various parties.
• Proficient in MS Office and Google Workspace products.
• Valid CA Driver's license required.

Other Responsibilities:

• Demonstrates cultural awareness and provides respectful, client-centered care.
• Maintains knowledge of community resources for client referrals
• Attend work regularly, adhering to policies on absences and tardiness.
• Understands and applies legal requirements, including confidentiality and risk management.

Timekeeping & Attendance Responsibilities:

• Accurately record work hours each day by clocking in/out at scheduled start, break, lunch, and end times.
• Take all required meal and rest breaks in compliance with state, federal, and agency policies.
• Review and submit timesheets by established deadlines to ensure timely payroll processing.
• Notify supervisor promptly of any scheduling conflicts, absences, tardiness, or timekeeping issues.
• Maintain consistent and reliable attendance to support team and program operations.
• Follow organizational policies and procedures related to overtime, schedule changes, and paid/unpaid leave.
• Correct and/or report any timekeeping discrepancies immediately to the supervisor for resolution.

Team Commitment:

• Viewed by others as an effective team member who is flexible, cooperative, and willing to assist others, and acts as a resource to team members and clients, where appropriate.
• Handles difficult or conflict situations constructively and seeks appropriate assistance.
• Accepts accountability and constructive feedback.
• Attends all mandatory meetings and staff meetings as required, and actively participates in other departmental professional development, including providing training and consultation.
• Develops and maintains cooperative and courteous relationships with fellow employees, supervisors, managers in other departments, senior management, executive staff, and community stakeholders.
• Handles requests, suggestions, and complaints from other departments and individuals in a tactful and effective manner to maintain goodwill within the agency.

Working Conditions And Job Setting:

• Ability to occasionally or frequently stand, walk, sit, and reach with hands and arms above the shoulders
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is routinely required to sit, walk, talk, and hear, use hands to keyboard, fingers, handle, and feel, stoop, kneel, crouch, twist, crawl, reach, and stretch.
• The employee is occasionally required to move around the office
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus
• May require travel, dependent on agency needs
• Can work under deadlines
• Performing general physical activities such as picking up, moving, and using objects, tools, or controls
• The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to safely operate a motor vehicle
• Ability to push, pull, and lift up to 50 pounds frequently.
• Ability to stand and move from one location to another daily.
• Ability to sit for prolonged periods of time
• Ability to visually focus on near and far items, and to be able to switch between them.
• Ability to reliably report to work on time and perform the position's required tasks as scheduled
• Ability to grasp and carry items
• Ability to hear and effectively communicate with co-workers, clients, and the public
• Ability to identify potential issues within the workplace, determine an appropriate means of avoiding and/or resolving the issues, work with others to address the issues, and carry out organized strategies for resolving and preventing similar issues in the future
• Ability to process information and data for use within the organization

Benefits:

• Employee Assistance Plan to support you and your family's well-being and finances
• Pet Plan Benefit:
• PetPlus Product and Prescription Discounts, Pet Assure Veterinary Discounts, AskVet 24/7 Pet Telehealth, and ThePetTag Lost Pet Recovery Service
• 403(b) retirement plan
• Work-life wellbeing & excellent work hours