Lead Cook

Culinary Staff Lead

Serves as the lead culinary staff member responsible for coordinating daily food production activities, ensuring quality food preparation, maintaining food safety standards, and providing direct leadership and training to cooks and food service workers. Works closely with staff to ensure efficient meal service operations, staffing coordination, inventory management, and regulatory compliance.

Uphold the organization's vision, mission and corporate values. Demonstrate understanding of and compliance with organization's policies, procedures, code of conduct and work rules.

Essential Functions:

• Lead daily food production and meal service operations.
• Assign and coordinate work activities of cooks and food service workers.
• Act as shift leader when the Kitchen Supervisor is not present.
• Ensure recipes, portion sizes, diet textures, and therapeutic diet requirements are followed.
• Monitor food quality, appearance, temperature, and production timelines.
• Assist with training, onboarding, and mentoring of new kitchen staff.
• Monitor sanitation, infection control, and food safety practices.
• Conduct production meetings and huddles prior to meal service.
• Assist with inventory control, ordering recommendations, and waste reduction initiatives.
• Report equipment issues, staffing concerns, and operational problems to supervisors.
• Assist with employee performance coaching, corrective action documentation, and recognition efforts.
• Serve as a resource for cooks and food service workers regarding kitchen procedures and best practices.
• Collaborate to develop, evaluate, and implement seasonal menu cycles, including rotating menu plans designed to enhance variety, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency.
• Assist with planning and execution of holiday, cultural, themed, and special event menus that celebrate community traditions and improve the dining experience.
• Provide input on recipes, food presentation, menu utilization, and service enhancements based on customer feedback, production outcomes, and available resources.
• Coordinate food preparation and menu execution for Board functions, meetings, community events, and other special catering requests.
• Lead efforts to enhance catering presentation standards, including food displays, serving equipment, dishware, and overall guest experience.
• Assist with the development and standardization of cycle menus, recipes, production sheets, and presentation guidelines to promote quality and consistency.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Personal Traits:

All Norton Sound Health Corporation employees are expected to consistently demonstrate the organization's values: integrity, cultural sensitivity and respect for traditional values, continual learning and improving, compassion, teamwork and pride. Employees are expected to demonstrate integrity, professionalism, accountability, cooperation with and consideration of others.

Required Knowledge:

All Norton Sound Health Corporation employees are expected to have general knowledge of typical office technologies such as computers, printers, copiers, fax machines, and typical office software.

Job Specific knowledge is listed below:

• Knowledge of institutional food preparation standards and practices
• Knowledge of menu development, planning, recipe usage and quantities

Required Skills and Abilities:

All Norton Sound Health Corporation employees are expected to have a broad range of skills and abilities centered around a strong patient focus, efficient performance, and teamwork. All employees should have patient/customer service skills, interpersonal skills and good communication skills. All employees should have the ability to manage their time and organize their work to ensure efficient performance. In addition, all employees should have the ability to follow policy, procedure and instructions, actively communicate with their supervisors to ensure understanding and manage their work accordingly. Finally, all employees should have the ability to understand and manage patient/customer confidentiality.

Job specific skills and abilities are listed below:

• Ability to work with food preparation equipment and tools safely
• Ability to foster teamwork among staff
• Demonstrated leadership experience training or directing staff
• Ability to supervise food production in accordance with therapeutic diets and food safety standards

Minimum Requirements:

Education - Degree - Program

HS Diploma or GED required. Associated degree, certificate in Culinary Arts or equivalent formal culinary training preferred. - Nutrition, Culinary Arts, Food Production/Management, Public health or related field

Experience - General (Non-supervisory) - Supervisory

Amount: - 5 years' work in food service required. Preferred experience in healthcare, long term care or institutional food service, leading and training staff, experience with therapeutic diets, modified textures, large scale food production. - 2 (years)in a lead, supervisor or manager role

Type:

Must have both general and supervisory experience if indicated.

Credentials - Licensure, Certification, Etc.

ServSafe Manager Certification required within 6 months of hire, Alaska Food Worker Card

Physical Requirements:

• Use hands and arms to operate office or clinical equipment

Sit less than half the workday

• Stand and/or walk more than half the workday
• Bend, stretch, twist, crouch and/or reach

View electronic monitors for prolonged periods of time

• Use hands and arms for repetitive motion tasks

Lift or carry unaided up to 50 pounds

• Push or pull using up to moderate force

Working Conditions:

• Work is conducted in a standard kitchen environment and could include exposure to latex, biohazard or other harmful substances
• No travel is required

I attest that I do not have any physical, mental or medical impairment or disability that would limit my job performance. Affirmation of understanding of job duties:

Printed Name of Incumbent

Signature of Incumbent Date

Approval of Job Description:

Signature of Hiring Director/Manager