The Kitchen Coordinator is responsible for serving balanced and nutritious meals for small children according to planned menus and food sanitation guidelines, and for managing all kitchen duties, including food and milk deliveries, charting temperatures, keeping inventory and ordering food monthly.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
Prepares food in amounts and sizes adequate for all children and classroom staff; serves breakfast, lunch and a snack daily; ensures infants and toddlers are served developmentally appropriate food, which may differ from food served to preschoolers.
Sets up meal carts with all needed items (plates, bottles, silverware, etc.), delivers carts to each classroom for each meal and retrieves carts from the classrooms; upon retrieving carts, cleans and sanitizes all carts and dishes.
Assists in the preparation of menus for toddlers and preschoolers that incorporate familiar foods, including ethnic dishes, and introduce children to new foods or food prepared in new ways on a regular basis.
Ensures that fresh, wholesome, minimally processed food is served.
Completes monthly food inventory and submits it to Program Manager for review.
Prepares weekly food order for review by Program Manager and places approved orders with suppliers.
Checks in deliveries of milk and food, making sure to verify the temperature before accepting the delivery; signs required paperwork upon acceptance of deliveries, and submits paperwork to Program Manager.
Prepares and implements a regular schedule for maintaining the cleanliness and sanitation of refrigerators, freezers, stove and other food preparation equipment; notifies Program Manager of needed repairs; completes the cleaning and sanitizing chart, and submits it to the Program Manager weekly.
Adheres to and enforces all USDA guidelines and Food Sanitation standards, including those pertaining to dress, shoes and hair nets for both the Kitchen Coordinator and any assistants; enforces the “no eating” rule in the kitchen, and ensures only food preparation staff are in the kitchen during meal preparation times.
Maintains a list of known food allergies for children enrolled in the program, and monitors the serving of appropriate alternate meals to those children when necessary; also maintains a list of children with specific food differences or other religious or cultural food practices requested by their parents or guardians.
Collaborates with the Nutritionist, Program Manager and ELC staff to oversee the nutritional program and ensure compliance with USDA standards.
Assists teachers with monthly food experiences completed in the classrooms.
Completes 15 clock hours of professional development training during each program year; attends the agency’s quarterly All Staff Meetings.
Maintains a food and temperature log; adheres to HAACP guidelines for food safety.
Makes suggestions for new kitchen equipment as needed.
Participates in Children’s Place quality assurance initiatives as needed and appropriate to improve service quality and ensure compliance with licensing, accreditation and contractual standards.
Performs other duties as necessary to meet new funding requirements or as assigned by the Program Manager.
Other Expectations
Employees shall respect the diversity of all individuals (e.g., clients, co-workers, stakeholders) and refrain from any form of discrimination and/or harassment based on religious, marital, ethnic, racial, gender, sexual orientation or other differences. Employees share the responsibility of creating and maintaining a welcoming and supportive work environment.
Supervisory Responsibilities
No supervisory responsibilities.
Qualifications
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
EDUCATION, SKILLS, And/or EXPERIENCE
High school diploma or GED required.
Certified Foodservice Manager license issued by the City of Chicago Department of Public Health and Food Service Sanitation license issued by the Illinois Department of Public Health required. Both certifications are required for licensing by the city of Chicago.
Professional experience as a Cook or completion of culinary arts classes required.
Certifications in Basic First Aid and Pediatric CPR required.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to climb.
The employee must frequently lift up to 40 pounds and be able to safely handle large pots full of hot food. Specific vision requirements for this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.
The employee must be able to use cleaning products to clean equipment and to wash and sanitize dishes. The employee must be able to read and write English at a level to fill out food orders, read catalogs and maintain temperature logs.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment described here is representative of that an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate but may become loud at times. As appropriate to the job, the work environment may include any or all of the following: working with others, verbal contact with others and face-to-face contact; working inside.
DISCLAIMER
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and/or skills required of all employees so classified.
Seniority level
Entry level
Employment type
Full-time
Job function
Management and Manufacturing
Industries
Civic and Social Organizations
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