Chef and Kitchen Manager (Senior Assisted Living)

Job Description

Job Description

ABOUT SERENITY VIEW

Serenity View is a 16-resident boutique assisted living and memory care community in Fort Worth, Texas — physician-founded, physician-led, and intentionally small. Our residents receive individualized, dignified care in a home-like environment where every detail matters. That includes the food they eat.

We are not a cafeteria. We are a home. The kitchen is the heart of that home, and the founding culinary team carries a direct and personal responsibility to the residents they feed every day.

We're also a growing community. This is a founding role at a facility that intends to expand over time — and we're looking for someone who wants to build and grow right along with us.

KNOCKOUT REQUIREMENTS

The following requirements are non-negotiable. Candidates who do not meet all of them will not be advanced in the process, regardless of other experience or qualifications.

All must be met to be considered:

• Current, valid Texas Food Handler Certification (must be active at time of hire)
• Current ServSafe Food Manager Certification (must be active at time of hire)
• Comfort with digital documentation tools and meal management platforms

Applications that do not meet all of the above requirements will not be advanced, regardless of other experience.

Note: prior experience in senior living or healthcare foodservice is genuinely helpful but is not a knockout requirement. We're looking first for a strong, hands-on cook and kitchen leader who's ready to learn our residents and grow into this environment.

THE ROLE

The Chef is the executive lead of the Serenity View kitchen program. In this founding phase, you will independently own all 21 meals served to residents each week — breakfast, lunch, and dinner, seven days a week. As Serenity View reaches full census, we will add a Sous Chef to the kitchen team, and you'll play a lead role in hiring, training, and building that expanded team.

Executive Kitchen Management

• Develop and maintain a rotating menu that reflects resident preferences, documented dietary restrictions, allergies, and nutritional requirements
• Maintain accurate resident dietary profiles and coordinate with care staff on any changes, texture needs, or clinical dietary updates
• Manage all kitchen documentation including temperature logs, waste records, dietary change notes, and resident preference tracking — using Serenity View's designated meal management platform
• Oversee inventory management, purchasing, and vendor coordination to ensure consistent supply and cost control
• Maintain full food safety, sanitation, and infection control compliance at all times
• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for the kitchen with community leadership

Cooking and Daily Kitchen Operations

• Prepare and cook all meals with attention to quality, presentation, and individual resident satisfaction
• Perform all cooking, cleaning, and side work associated with daily kitchen operations
• Maintain a clean, organized, and inspection-ready kitchen at all times
• Ensure all meals are plated and served on time, at appropriate temperature, and with consistent presentation

Team and Culture

• Own full kitchen coverage independently during this founding phase, coordinating closely with care staff to keep mealtimes seamless
• Help us plan for, and eventually hire, train, and lead a Sous Chef once Serenity View reaches full census — a role you'll help shape, not simply staff
• Communicate proactively with care staff regarding resident dining preferences, observations, and any concerns
• Contribute to a warm, home-like dining experience that residents and families look forward to every day

COMPENSATION & GROWTH

Compensation increases are structured and milestone-based — not discretionary.

Milestone Based Compensation/Hourly Rate

• Effective on Start date – $25.00/hour
• Effective on 30-day milestone – $26.00/hour
• Effective on 60-day milestone – $27.00/hour
• Effective on 90-day milestone – $28.00/hour

Beyond these milestones, this role is built to grow. As Serenity View reaches full census and adds a Sous Chef, you'll step into leading that team. As we look toward future expansion, we want our Chef to grow with us — this isn't a capped, static position.

WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT

Serenity View is not a large institutional kitchen. You will know your residents by name. You will know what each resident can and cannot eat, what they look forward to, and what brings them comfort. That knowledge is part of the job.

S erenity View is also a 100% smoke-free and tobacco-free campus — indoors, outdoors, and in the parking areas — with no exceptions and no accommodation for tobacco use during a shift. This isn't a general wellness preference: many of our residents have respiratory sensitivities and memory-related conditions that make even trace smoke odor on clothing, hair, or breath genuinely disruptive to their comfort and care. Our team — including kitchen staff who work in close proximity to residents throughout the day — is expected to arrive and remain completely free of tobacco and nicotine products for the full duration of every shift. This standard is treated the same way we treat our infection-control and food-safety standards: as a condition of the job, not a personal preference.

This is a founding role. You will help build the kitchen program from the ground up, working alongside our Medical Director to establish the standards, menus, and dining culture that will define Serenity View for years to come.

Right now, you'll be the sole culinary leader in the kitchen, responsible for all 21 weekly meals. As we grow toward full census, we'll add a Sous Chef — and you'll be central to building and leading that team when the time comes.

This is a high-energy, founding-phase role for someone who wants to build, lead, and take on more responsibility as we grow over the next several years. If you're looking for a steady, lower-intensity role, this likely isn't the right fit — but if you want to help shape something from the ground up, we'd love to hear from you.

GROWING INTO THIS ROLE — WHAT WE'LL BUILD TOGETHER

Serenity View is not a traditional assisted living community, and this is not a traditional culinary role.

Our Medical Director's vision is a community where food is part of care — not separate from it. That means the Chef at Serenity View will be invited into the full life of the community in ways that most culinary professionals have never experienced. We are sharing this transparently so that the right person can recognize themselves in it.

If you join our team, here is what we will develop together:

Resident Dietary Awareness — You will learn to read and interpret each resident's care documentation as it relates to their nutritional needs. Over time, you will develop a working understanding of texture modifications, therapeutic diet categories, aspiration risk, and how those needs change as residents' conditions evolve. This is not something we expect you to know on day one — it is something we will teach you, and something we expect you to commit to learning.

Admission Integration — When a new resident joins Serenity View, you will participate in or receive a summary from the admission conversation that introduces their dietary preferences, cultural food traditions, comfort foods, and any clinical restrictions. This allows you to begin personalizing their experience from the moment they arrive. You will not be expected to conduct clinical assessments — you will be expected to listen, ask good questions, and translate what you learn into the kitchen.

Care Plan Awareness — Our care team meets regularly to review each resident's care plan. You will receive relevant reports from those meetings so that any changes in dietary needs, appetite, weight, or swallowing ability reach you directly and promptly. As you grow in your role, you may be invited to attend portions of those meetings. We will support you in developing the vocabulary and confidence to participate meaningfully.

Mealtime Observation — We ask that our Chef observe mealtimes with residents at least weekly — not to serve, but to watch. To see how residents respond to what is on their plates. To notice when something isn't working. To build the kind of direct relationship with residents that makes the food feel personal, because at Serenity View, it is.

What this means for you as a candidate — None of the above is a hard requirement to apply. We are not expecting a candidate who has already done all of these things — and we are not expecting prior senior living experience, though it's genuinely helpful if you have it. We are looking for someone who reads this section and feels energized by it rather than overwhelmed — someone who sees a kitchen role that is deeply connected to the people being fed and wants to be part of that.

If you are someone who wants to clock in, cook, and clock out without a deeper connection to the community you are serving, this is not the right role. If you are someone who believes that food is one of the most powerful expressions of care — and you want to grow into a role that treats it that way, and grow with us as we expand — we want to hear from you.

A note on development — Serenity View's Medical Director will be an active presence in the community. She will work alongside you, share her clinical perspective as it relates to nutrition and resident wellbeing, and be invested in your growth in this role. This is not a community where you will be left to figure things out alone. It is one where you will be supported, challenged, and developed — and where your growth will directly improve the lives of the people in our care.

Pay: $25.00 – $28.00 per hour

Application Question(s):

• Are you available to work a flexible schedule that may include evenings, weekends, and occasional on-call shifts in addition to your primary scheduled hours?
• Have you used Grove Meals or a similar dietitian-approved meal management platform?
• This is a founding, hands-on role that we expect to grow into a leadership position over the next several years as our community reaches full census and expands. Are you looking to build and grow with a company over that timeframe?

Experience:

• Meal preparation in a senior living community: 1 year (Preferred)
• Managing resident-specific dietary restrictions: 1 year (Preferred)

License/Certification:

• Texas Food Handler Certification (Required)
• ServSafe Food Manager Certification (Required)

Ability to Commute:

• Fort Worth, TX 76126 (Required)