Cook

Food Service Lead

Strongly preferred: A candidate that has lots of experience with scratch cooking, and who can read and follow recipes. This job position will be a 90% scratch kitchen.

Location: UCHealth CeDAR - Aurora, CO

Work Schedule: Full Time, 80.00 hours per pay period (2 weeks)

Shift: Day and Evening Rotation

Pay: $19.67 - $25.57 / hour. Pay is dependent on applicant's relevant experience

This position is an onsite role and does not offer a hybrid or remote option

Job Summary: The Food Service Lead plays a key leadership role in supporting safe, high-quality, and patient-centered food service operations within the hospital. This position oversees daily kitchen activities, provides hands-on guidance to food service staff, and ensures meals are prepared and served in accordance with hospital standards, food safety regulations, and therapeutic diet requirements. The ideal candidate brings strong culinary fundamentals, extensive experience in scratch cooking, and the ability to accurately read, follow, and execute standardized recipes in a high-volume healthcare environment. This role supports a kitchen operation that is approximately 90% scratch-prepared, emphasizing fresh ingredients, consistency, and nutritional integrity.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and coordinate daily food production and service activities to ensure timely, accurate, and high-quality meal preparation for patients, staff, and visitors.
• Prepare and cook menu items primarily from scratch, following standardized recipes, production sheets, and portion control guidelines.
• Read, interpret, and execute recipes with precision, adjusting for batch size, dietary modifications, and special patient needs as required.
• Support compliance with therapeutic diets, allergen management, and modified textures in collaboration with clinical nutrition staff.
• Provide direction, training, and on-the-job coaching to food service employees, promoting proper cooking techniques, food safety practices, and kitchen efficiency.
• Monitor food quality, taste, temperature, and presentation to ensure consistency and adherence to hospital and regulatory standards.
• Enforce food safety, sanitation, and infection control procedures in compliance with local, state, and federal regulations.
• Assist with inventory control, proper storage, and rotation of ingredients to support scratch cooking operations and minimize waste.
• Maintain a clean, organized, and safe kitchen environment while modeling professionalism and teamwork.
• Act as a resource and point of contact during assigned shifts, addressing operational issues and escalating concerns as needed.

Requirements:

• Minimum Required Education: None required.
• Required Licensure/Certification: None required.
• Minimum Experience: 1 year of experience.

UCHealth promotes a culture that invests in professional success and personal well-being through a comprehensive total rewards program.

Recognition:

• Performance bonus: UCHealth offers a 3-Year Incentive Bonus to recognize employee contributions to our success in quality, patient experience, organizational growth, financial goals and tenure. The bonus accumulates annually each October and is paid out in October during the third year of employment.
• Performance-based pay increase: The Annual Merit Pay Increase recognizes work performance that meets or consistently exceeds performance standards documented through UCHealth's established evaluation process and accounts for increased experience, skills and cost of living.
• Market reviews: All UCHealth positions are reviewed annually to ensure UCHealth base pay aligns with market standards. Base pay rates are adjusted as needed to stay market competitive.

Health and well-being:

• Medical, dental and vision coverage.
• Access to 24/7 mental health and well-being support for employees and dependents.
• Discounted gym memberships and fitness resources.
• Free Care.com membership.
• Voluntary benefits such as accident insurance, critical illness insurance, group legal plan, identity theft protection, pet insurance, auto and home insurance, and employee discount programs.
• Time away from work: Paid time off (PTO), paid family and medical leave (inclusive of Colorado FAMLI), leaves of absence.
• New employees receive an initial PTO load with first paycheck.
• Employer-provided basic life and accidental death and dismemberment coverage with buy-up coverage options.
• Employer-provided short-term disability and long-term disability with a buy-up coverage option.

Retirement and savings:

• 403(b) plan with employer matching contribution.
• Additional 457(b) plan may be available.
• Flexible spending accounts for health care and dependent day care; health savings account available when enrolled in high-deductible (HD) medical plan.

Education and career growth:

• UCHealth provides access to academic degrees and certificate programs to promote professional and personal growth.
• Up to 100% of tuition, books and fees paid for by UCHealth for specific educational degrees.
• Other programs may qualify for up to $10,000/year pre-paid by UCHealth or up to $5,250/year in the form of tuition reimbursement.
• Access to LinkedIn Learning, which offers thousands of virtual courses and seminars, and internal professional development opportunities.
• Employees have access to free assistance navigating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and submitting their federal student loans for forgiveness.

* Eligibility for some programs is based on an employee's scheduled work hours.

We improve lives. In big ways through learning, healing, and discovery. In small, personal ways through human connection. But in all ways, we improve lives.

UCHealth always welcomes talent. This position will be open for a minimum of three days and until a top applicant is identified.

UCHealth recognizes and appreciates the rich array of talents and perspectives that equal employment and diversity can offer our institution. As an equal opportunity employer, UCHealth is committed to making all employment decisions based on valid requirements. No applicant shall be discriminated against in any terms, conditions or privileges of employment or otherwise be discriminated against because of the individual's race, color, national origin, language, culture, ethnicity, age, religion, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender, veteran status, socioeconomic status, or any other characteristic prohibited by federal, state, or local law. UCHealth does not discriminate against any qualified applicant with a disability as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act and will make reasonable accommodations, when the do not impose an undue hardship on the organization.