Cook

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Prepares nutritious meals and snacks according to the standardized recipes provided by the PDM Coordinator and approved by Registered Dietitian.
• Makes sure temperature of hot and cold foods is monitored to meet established goals and logs them.
• Prepares meals and snacks for children with food allergies or special diets as approved by Registered Dietitian.
• Maintains hygiene and safety standards in the kitchen by cleaning and sanitizing daily and monitoring kitchen equipment.
• Requests and purchases food and program supplies, and develops nutritional activities with the approval of the PDM Coordinator.
• Maintains adequate stock levels of food, rotates items, and labels with expiration dates.
• Aids center staff with supervision, tooth brushing, and classroom preparation.
• Supports classroom staff with documenting Non Federal Share for volunteers and donations.
• Attends field trips when meals are served away from the center.
• Maintains cost control budget and inventory systems based on CACFP procedures, including records of food production, service, and meal counts.
• Inputs family contacts, nutritional data, referrals, and goal progress into CAPTAIN at least weekly.
• Attends all required training and meetings and seeks out staff development opportunities.
• Works as a team member with all staff while maintaining a positive work ethic.
• Ensures compliance with all health, safety, and sanitation regulations, including conformance with Department of Health dress code, hair net, and plastic glove requirements.
• Performs all duties in a manner consistent with the mission and goals of the Joint Council for Economic Opportunity, Inc.
• Performs all other related duties as assigned.

Education and Experience

• High school diploma or general education degree (GED).
• Six months of related experience and/or training, or an equivalent combination of education and experience working in a pre-school setting is preferred.

Other Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of the regulations of the Head Start Performance Standards, the CACFP regulations, U.S. Department of Health, and the NYS Department of Social Services as they pertain to food service.
• Knowledge of all current food sanitization practices.

Physical Demands

• 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 regularly required to stand; walk; use hands and arms, reach with hands and arms; talk or hear; and taste or smell.
• The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and ability to adjust focus.