Food Service Lead (PCN 20-4191)

Food Service Lead Position

The Department of Corrections, Division of Institutions, is recruiting for a Food Service Lead position at the Fairbanks Correctional Center (FCC) located in Fairbanks, Alaska.

This position supervises and trains an inmate work crew in preparing and serving meals for approximately 300 prisoners each day. They ensure all food preparation, sanitation, safety practices, and equipment use meet state and departmental standards. Oversees preparation of regular and special diets, bakery production, and proper portioning of all meals. They receive, inspect, store, and rotate food stock while maintaining accurate records. The role also enforces security protocols, including controlling access to sharps and monitoring inmate workers.

The Department of Corrections is committed to operating safe, secure institutions while providing essential services that support the health and well being of those in custody. The Food Service Lead directly supports this mission by ensuring safe, sanitary, and nutritionally appropriate meals for the prisoner population, including those with medical or special dietary needs. By training and supervising inmate workers in a structured, safety focused kitchen environment, this position contributes to institutional security, rehabilitation, and daily operational stability.

There are strong opportunities for career advancement and professional enrichment within our facility, across the department, and throughout other state agencies. Staff gain valuable experience that supports both personal and career growth in a structured, team oriented environment. We offer a competitive compensation package that includes regular pay increases, comprehensive insurance benefits, and paid time off. This role also provides the meaningful experience of serving your community by supporting the daily operations and well being of those in custody. Joining our team means contributing to a mission driven workplace where your work truly matters.

This position is located inside a pre-trial correctional facility and involves daily contact with prisoners, regular supervision of inmate workers, and responsibility for maintaining safety and security while performing assigned food service duties. Work is performed in a highly structured, secure environment with strict controls on movement, tools, and equipment, and does not require travel.

We are interested in candidates who possess some or all of the following position specific competencies:

• Decision Making: Makes sound, well-informed, and objective decisions; perceives the impact and implications of decisions; commits to action, even in uncertain situations, to accomplish organizational goals; causes change.
• Integrity/Honesty: Contributes to maintaining the integrity of the organization; displays high standards of ethical conduct and understands the impact of violating these standards on an organization, self, and others; is trustworthy.
• Manages and Organizes Information: Identifies a need; gathers, organizes, and maintains information; determines its importance and accuracy, and communicates it by a variety of methods.

Minimum Qualifications

Any combination of training and/or progressively responsible experience that provides the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform journey-level work in planning, preparing, and serving food and drink as well as directing and reviewing the tasks assigned to lower-level food service staff.

Essential Core Competencies:

Knowledge of food terminology, measuring devices, kitchen equipment, and serving information; and personal hygiene, general sanitation, and safe work standards to safely use and clean kitchen, food service equipment, and dining area.

Applicable skill in weighing, measuring, and assembling ingredients to prepare beverages and foods for cooking or serving; and serving beverages and foods in the proper portions, manner and sequence, and with proper table setting techniques.

The ability to communicate effectively with staff and customers, which may include the requirement to read, speak, write, and understand English; keep records and complete forms following procedures; recognize produce and food products which do or do not meet quality standards; meet quality/quantity control, safety, and sanitation standards; perform tasks in logical sequence; select guidelines, standards, or procedures appropriate to the task; do simple arithmetic calculations and record appropriately; assist in preparing foodstuffs which meet the standards of taste, temperature, appearance, texture, and diet requirements, if applicable to the work assignment; demonstrate a customer service orientation, and display sensitivity and interest in customer concerns, needs, and limitations; and adapt to changing conditions, schedules, or meal requirements on short notice.

Position-Specific Competencies:

The lead worker will be required to assign, monitor, train, and evaluate daily tasks; make decisions and set and balance priorities; coordinate tasks of others and work efficiently; ensure adherence to work schedules, quality standards, safety and security rules; give clear instructions; recommend appropriate solutions to difficult situations; and motivate others.

Additionally:

Applicable skill in preparing and modifying menus and recipes according to volume and dietary needs, or special requirements of emergency crews; and researching recipes and preparing complex foods and yeast pastries such baking and decorating layer cakes and preparing ethnic specialties for special occasions.

Ability to assign, monitor, train, and/or evaluate daily tasks of kitchen help which may include institutional residents and inmates or emergency fire fighter crew.