Lead, Kitchen

Kitchen Lead

A Kitchen Lead oversees daily kitchen operations, leading volunteers, ensuring food quality, maintaining hygiene, controlling inventory, and fostering a positive team environment to deliver excellent customer service, balancing hands-on cooking with leadership, training, and adherence to safety standards for smooth, efficient service. The Kitchen Lead ensures smooth service and maintains a high level of standards for a great guest experience. They handle everything from prep and cooking to problem-solving and keeping the back of the house clean and organized. This role involves skilled food preparation in large volumes and a commitment to food safety and the our mission.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Exemplifies the desired culture and philosophies of Feeding Tampa Bay
• Guide, motivate, and oversee kitchen volunteers, promoting teamwork and a positive experience
• Demonstrates ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing. Excellent verbal and interpersonal skills. Ability to work constructively with individuals (the public and volunteers) from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds in culturally diverse work environments.
• Trains volunteers to ensure food is prepared, cooked, and plated to standard, ensuring consistency in taste and presentation.
• Prepares daily meals for our cafe locations, including catering events, and contracted meals as needed.
• Puts together production plans to prepare high-volume meals, strictly adhering to safe food handling practices.
• Serves on the line at our Trinity Cafe locations and Bistro, following all food safety guidelines.
• Enforce strict food safety, hygiene, and health & safety regulations (HACCP, cleaning checklists, temperature checks, complete temperature logs).
• Maintain kitchen equipment cleanliness and promptly report maintenance issues. Cleans and sanitizes workstations, equipment, and utensils, maintaining a hygienic kitchen environment.
• Ensures that ingredients are handled and stored properly to prevent contamination. Check the quality of ingredients, ensuring they are fresh. Properly labels and dates all prepared items, facilitating inventory management and food safety. Follow FIFO. Packs, stores and labels leftover food items appropriately.
• Manages and monitors stock levels, rotates stocks, checks in orders and compares to manifest, orders supplies, minimizes waste, and controls food costs, and finds ways to repurpose food when appropriate. Utilize systems such as Concur for expense reporting.
• Will be responsible to visit other Cafe locations and help and assist with service, and maintaining cleanliness.
• Ensure smooth shift running, proper equipment use, and efficient workflow, often coordinating with front-of-house.
• Foster positive relationships with donors, volunteers, and community partners.
• Work with kitchen leadership to develop healthy, culturally appropriate menus that follow dietary restrictions.
• Stay current on food safety regulations and best practices.
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements:

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Exemplifies the desired culture and philosophies of Feeding Tampa Bay.
• Excel working in a fast-paced, evolving environment and demonstrate the ability to embrace the FTB's commitment to treat all people with equity and respect in pursuit of our mission to feed people in need and mobilize our community to eliminate hunger
• A minimum of 2 years of experience in a professional kitchen, with supervisory experience. Experience with guiding and directing teams.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent volume cooking, presentation, and organizational skills.
• Proficiency in various kitchen computer software applications. (Word, Excel, G-Suite, Zoom, Paylocity, Concur, Galley)
• Excellent time management and prioritization skills.
• Self-starter who can handle multiple tasks simultaneously
• This position is regularly required to stand, walk, reach with arms and hands, climb or balance, and to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. Ability to lift up to 50lbs.
• A valid ServSafe Manager Certification is required, or ability to pass within 90 days of hire
• Schedule must be flexible with the ability to work some nights, weekends & holidays
• At least 18 years old with a valid driver's license and able to meet company driving guidelines
• Willing to actively participate in mission-driven programs, such as food distribution initiatives and disaster relief operations as needed.
• All internal candidates must be in good standing with no corrective actions within the last 90 days.

Feeding Tampa Bay