High-Volume Production Cook – Day Shift

Location: Atlanta, GA • Temporary contract with potential for extension and possible longer-term opportunities • Start date: ASAP

About the role

Focus People is seeking an experienced Production Cook for a large, fast-paced dining operation in Atlanta. This is a hands-on cooking and food-preparation position supporting peak-volume food production on the Monday–Friday evening shift. Candidates must be comfortable working under pressure, preparing large quantities of food, and maintaining quality, consistency, and sanitation standards throughout the shift.

The strongest candidates will have professional restaurant, banquet, catering, hotel, healthcare, university dining, or other high-volume kitchen experience. Formal culinary education is welcome but not required.

Responsibilities

• Prepare food in large batches using standardized recipes, preparation sheets, and production schedules
• Fabricate, trim, portion, season, and prepare chicken and other proteins
• Wash, peel, chop, slice, and dice vegetables and fruit in high volumes
• Demonstrate strong, safe, and efficient professional knife skills
• Operate commercial batch ovens and other large-scale kitchen equipment
• Prepare food using methods such as roasting, grilling, steaming, frying, and sautéing
• Accurately follow weights, measurements, recipes, portioning requirements, and presentation standards
• Maintain food quality and consistency during high-volume production
• Monitor food temperatures and follow proper cooking, holding, cooling, and storage procedures
• Prevent cross-contamination and follow established food-safety and sanitation requirements
• Maintain clean, organized, and sanitized workstations, utensils, and equipment
• Follow FIFO inventory practices and proper food-labeling, dating, and storage guidelines
• Complete food-production, service, waste, and leftover records as required
• Monitor food and supply levels and notify management of shortages
• Participate in required food-safety and workplace training
• Assist with training new team members when requested
• Work in front- or back-of-house operations as assigned
• Interact professionally with culinary team members, managers, and customers
• Perform other related culinary and food-production duties as assigned

Requirements

• High school diploma, GED, or vocational school diploma
• Two to three years of related professional cooking experience
• Previous Cook, Production Cook, Banquet Cook, Line Cook, Prep Cook, Lead Cook, or Sous Chef experience
• Strong professional knife skills
• Hands-on experience preparing and portioning proteins, including chicken
• Experience completing high-volume vegetable and fruit preparation
• Experience preparing food in large batches
• Experience with commercial batch ovens or comparable high-volume cooking equipment
• Background in a restaurant, banquet, catering, hotel, healthcare, university dining, commissary, or institutional kitchen
• Knowledge of food safety, sanitation, temperature control, cross-contamination prevention, FIFO, labeling, and storage requirements
• Ability to read and follow recipes, prep sheets, and production schedules
• Ability to maintain a high degree of pace and intensity for an extended period
• Ability to work effectively in a high-pressure kitchen environment
• Dependable attendance and availability for the entire scheduled shift
• ServSafe or another recognized food-safety certification preferred
• Ability to successfully complete required pre-employment screening

Schedule

• Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–3:45 p.m.
• Immediate start; candidates must be available to begin work as soon as the onboarding process is completed
• Temporary contract assignment supporting a current peak-volume need, expected to continue for at least several weeks and could be extended based on business needs and job performance
• Strong employees may be considered for future assignments or longer-term opportunities; continued employment is not guaranteed
• Additional daytime, overnight, and weekend opportunities may become available

About Focus People

Focus People is an Atlanta-based staffing and search firm connecting qualified professionals with temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct-hire opportunities. The identity of our client will be shared with qualified candidates during the recruitment process.