Cafeteria Assistant

Cafeteria Assistant

Performs routine service level duties to assist with food preparation, serving, and clean up at a central food production facility and/or various school service kitchens.

The Cafeteria Assistant is the first level in a service-oriented career ladder. Assignments will be at a school site kitchen or central production facility that serves food items. Advancement to Cafeteria Services Specialist is based on need and will work on a more independent basis at a satellite kitchen where duties expand from the Assistant level to include recordkeeping, ordering food items and supplies, and partial leadership over food production.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

The Cafeteria Assistant is capable of performing work at a central food production facility or school site kitchen, and can be assigned to either or both locales.

• Arranges individually packaged and/or portioned food items along a service line so that students can make easy selection. Serves food items according to specified quantities.
• May prepare certain food items such as slicing meats, breads, sandwiches, and salad bar foods. Cuts fruits and vegetables and prepares serving trays. Operates miscellaneous kitchen equipment such as a slicing machine, mixer and warming oven.
• May distribute materials and food items to participants in special events. May assist in merchandising, promotion, and catering efforts that support education and school activities.
• May serve as a cashier, accepting money, operating a computer-aided point-of-sale register, and assisting in compilation of daily receipts.
• Restocks food service supplies and food product to meet demand.
• May assist in receiving, storing, and inventorying supplies and food product items.
• Records food temperatures at regular intervals during storage, heating, and service of food items.
• Washes, sanitizes, and cleans kitchen area surfaces, utensils, trays, serving areas and kitchen equipment (including lidding and sealing machines). May sweep floors.
• Operates a food production station, assembling, sealing, and stacking standardized portions of food items onto transferable food carriers. Maintains pace with acceptable units of production.
• Prepares, counts and stacks lunch orders for shipment to school sites or lunch carts.
• Performs other duties as assigned that support the overall objective of the position.

Minimum Qualifications

Requires a high school diploma or equivalent. Some experience in a cafeteria or similar food service environment desirable.

Supplemental Information

The position requires: Basic knowledge of institutional quantity food preparation and service, utensils, equipment, and weights and measures. Knowledge of safe work methods and kitchen sanitation. Knowledge of modern machines and equipment used in institutional cooking and service lines. Sufficient mathematical skills to compute weights, measures, counts, and portions. Sufficient human relations skills to exhibit positive customer service and work as a productive member of a team.

Requires the ability to: Perform the routine duties of the position under direct supervision. Follow safety and sanitation guidelines. Learn and operate commercial kitchen utensils, equipment and production machines such as, but not limited to, food sealers and slicers. Follow oral and written instructions. Count cash and make correct change by adding and subtracting, using decimals and fractions. Requires the ability to learn cashiering duties and to track student status on a computerized point of sale system. Learn, understand and apply safety and sanitation regulations. Requires the ability to work varying shifts and locations.

The position performs work of an active nature. Requires: general arm, hand, leg, and body coordination to use standard large kitchen equipment and perform repetitive movements; physical ability to stand for extended periods of time; ability to lift, push and pull objects of medium weight; ability to handle hot material and work in an environment dominated by wide temperature extremes that include hot temperatures and cold storage rooms; and sufficient hand-eye coordination to maintain pace in a production setting.

Work is performed indoors or outdoors where significant health and safety considerations exist from physical labor and handling of sharp objects, equipment, and materials in conditions that vary in temperature and stability. Individuals protected by the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) may request accommodation if needed. In order for appropriate arrangements to be made for testing, your request must be received at the time your application is submitted. If special arrangements are not requested at the time the application is submitted, it is understood that no special accommodations are required. Documentation on the need for accommodation must accompany your request.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement: The Simi Valley Unified School District is committed to providing equal opportunity for all applicants for employment. The application, examination, and selection process shall be free from unlawful discrimination, including discrimination against an individual or group based on race, color, ancestry, nationality, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital, pregnancy, or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or genetic information; a perception of one or more of such characteristics; or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.

Benefits

Salary: Five step salary range that provides annual increases of approximately five percent until the fifth step is reached. New hire initial step placement (normally up to Step 3) based on qualifying education and experience as outlined in Merit System Rule 7.20.1. An employee who is promoted to a higher class shall be placed on the step of the new salary range that is at least five percent above the current rate, excluding any differential pay.

Vacation: Earned based on assigned hours. Increased vacation allowance based on years of service with the district. Confidential employees receive an additional 3 days vacation allotment, up to a maximum of 22 days. Management employees receive 22 days of vacation (based on 12-month assignment).

Sick Leave: Earned at the rate of one day (based on the number of assigned hours) per month, and is accumulative from year to year.

Holidays: Fourteen paid holidays per year (based on 12-month assignment).

Insurance and Credit Union: The District offers a competitive Health and Welfare plan for employees and dependents, based upon the number of hours worked; employees who are placed in a regular assignment of 20 hours or more per week are eligible for benefits. The Ventura Schools Federal Credit Union offers a variety of services.

Retirement: Employees are covered by Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) Social Security and Medicare. Contributions are made by both the employee and employer. Click to visit Public Employees Retirement System(CalPERS) website.