Associate Chef, On-Call

On Call Associate Chef

The Associate Chef supports the smooth operation of kitchen shifts, ensures efficient and organized meal production, and maintains quality standards and food safety. As an Associate Chef this position is a shift lead for volunteers, and models a supportive site culture that positively engages adult and youth volunteers, ensuring that volunteer hours are maximized and work on those shifts is meaningful. S/he/they is expected to uphold and model Ceres' culture, values, and mission at all times when interacting with staff, volunteers, and the community at large. On Call Associate Chefs are called upon to cover a variety of shifts, from kitchen Adult or Youth shifts, and bagging and packaging shifts.

This role requires a finger print background check.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Leads production on adult and/or youth volunteer shifts; point person for volunteer questions and issues on shift; ensures volunteers are leveraged as fully as possible.
• Follows the daily cooking plan and production schedule, adjusting and pivoting as directed by the Lead Production Chef.
• Ensures consistency across all shifts in food safety and sanitation practices, cooking techniques, and food quality; maintains all documentation of time/temperature cooling logs, refrigeration logs, all other HACCP documentation.
• Keeps kitchen neat and orderly during shifts and provides a clean handoff to the incoming chef with accuracy and good organization, including assisting with dish washing, mopping, and laundry needs. Conducts deep cleaning and organizational tasks.
• Oversees volunteers and production details closely to ensure that all meals leaving the kitchen are beautiful, delicious, and maintaining Medically Tailored Meal (MTM) standards. Follows SOPs, recipe guidelines, portioning and cooking plans as outlined.
• Works under guidance of Kitchen Manager and Lead Chef to maximize food going to clients and minimize food waste.
• Assists with shorthanded shifts and covers for chef absences as needed.

Additional Tasks as a Culinary Team Member:

• Follows food safety protocols include but are not limited to: documentation of time/temperature cooling logs, refrigeration logs, all other HACCP documentation; properly rotating food to avoid waste; as keep the kitchen neat and orderly during and between shifts; conducts deep cleaning tasks.
• Oversees volunteers and production details closely to ensure that all meals leaving the kitchen are beautiful, delicious, and maintain Medically Tailored Meal (MTM) standards.
• Regular, reliable, predictable attendance is required for all shifts.
• Other duties as required and requested.

Adult and Youth Volunteer Program Responsibilities:

• Ensure new adult volunteers and youth receive a warm welcome and are oriented to kitchen workflows and that all volunteers are engaged in meaningful work throughout the course of each shift
• Teach volunteers new skills related to the work of the kitchen
• Ensure volunteers are communicated with respectfully and with appreciation
• Develops and maintains positive working relationships with adult and youth volunteers; provides appropriate support, training, acknowledgement, and gratitude, every day and on every shift.
• Models Ceres' culture and values; maintains an atmosphere of non-judgement and respect for diverse value sets.
• Documents accurate volunteer attendance on shifts.
• Holds Adult volunteer circles regularly on each shift, so that volunteers understand the plan and flow of each shift.
• Maintains "Positive Youth Development" environment at all times, follows principles of youth development and Ceres' youth program standards.
• Facilitates youth curriculum circles and engages teen leaders in helping to manage tasks
• Attends Youth Program staff meetings and trainings.
• Holds check-in conversations with teens modeling youth development best practices.

Qualifications:

• At least 3 years of professional production cooking experience, preferably in the whole food arena.
• Active food handler's certification (manager's preferred).
• Ability to provide overall management to a fast-paced shift of staff and volunteers.
• Youth and volunteer management experience strongly preferred.
• Strong capacity for teaching kitchen skills.
• Ability to stay calm and keep a sense of humor in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to perform basic computer functions using Microsoft Office.
• Ability to work well in a team.
• Excellent communication skills; ability to communicate warmly and clearly.
• Demonstrates a good awareness of self and ability to self-assess.
• Ability and desire to be in a work environment that values working as a team, relationships and giving and receiving honest feedback.
• A commitment to Ceres Community Project mission and operating principles.

Physical Demands / Work Environment:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand in a kitchen; use hands and fingers to operate various kitchen utensils and equipment; talk and hear to communicate with coworkers.
• The job requires regular chopping, lifting, cooking, and sorting.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements to ensure food safety standards.
• Moderate lifting of up to 50 pounds, bending, stooping, and climbing a ladder is occasionally required.
• The work environment is primarily indoors with occasional loud noise in kitchen area. (ie. pots/pans banging, water running, multiple people talking at once, some music).
• Occasionally the employee is required to work out-of-doors representing Ceres at events.

Operating Principles:

• Heart Centered & Love Guided - We are committed to expressing love, trust, respect and integrity in our lives, work, and organization.
• Everything Matters - Nothing is left out. We work to have every action and choice lead to the greatest positive impact.
• Young People are the Future - Young People are intelligent, responsible, capable, creative, and caring, and must be central participants in shaping our collective future.
• Equitable, Diverse, and Inclusive - We commit to championing policies and practices of social equity that build a diverse, inclusive, and healthy workplace and food system.

Ceres Organization:

Founded in 2007, Ceres Community Project works to build healthy communities by restoring whole, organic and locally grown food to its place as the foundation of health, empowering youth, and connecting people in heart-centered ways to others and the earth.

Ceres Community Project's main program, Healing Meals for Healthy Communities, provides free and low-cost nourishing organic meals, nutrition education and caring support to people facing serious illness. All of the meals are prepared by teens that learn about growing, cooking and eating healthy whole foods and the connection between diet and health, develop life and work-ready skills, and discover their power to make a difference. The Healing Meals Program improves healthy eating behaviors among clients, teens and adult volunteers and educates the whole community about the link between healthy eating and the health of both people and planet. It also strengthens the social fabric of the community, another factor that is at the root of health. In times of disaster, Ceres is an emergency nutrition provider for our community.

In addition to operating three program sites in Marin and Sonoma counties, Ceres has trained 13 communities nationally to replicate our model. We are also active at the state and national level in advocating for policies that support equitable access to healthy food and health care, including reimbursement for medically tailored meals by insurers. For more information, please visit

Ceres Community Project is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions at Ceres are made without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin/ancestry, age, disability, marital & veteran status or any other status protected by laws or regulations.