Lead Cook

About the role

UMOM New Day Centers serves over 300,000 meals each year to clients experiencing homelessness who are temporarily living in our emergency shelters. The Lead Cook position contributes to UMOM's mission to restore hope, rebuild lives, and end homelessness by cooking and creating meals in the areas of Residential Dining or Helpings Café and Catering.

Responsibilities

• Performs culinary skills at an advanced level, including all cooking methods, baking, pastry cooking, and leading of catering meal cooking.
• Ensures food production at UMOM kitchens maintains food quality, accurate portion control, consistency of recipes, and timely delivery in accordance with established meal schedules/menus.
• Provides training for kitchen staff.
• Collaborates with the kitchen managers to update and organize all training materials, policies and procedures related to kitchen functions.
• Learns different cooking styles from specialized chefs in the kitchen.
• Articulates UMOM to the trainees, community, businesses, and social service organizations.
• Maintains well-organized kitchens reflective of the safety standards established by UMOM and in accordance with all safety and sanitation standards per Maricopa County Health codes/the health department.
• Operates with speed, efficiency and consistent mindfulness towards kitchen organization and sanitation in a fast-paced production-kitchen environment.
• Communicates daily with kitchen staff to gain continuous feedback.
• Understands the importance of data, reporting, and outcomes to running an impactful program.
• Assumes 100% responsibility for quality of products served.
• Attends all scheduled employee meetings and brings suggestions for improvement.

Requirements

• High school diploma or GED equivalent preferred.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in kitchen preparation and cooking in a fast-paced food service environment required.
• Catering and café or barista experience preferred.
• Experience in kitchen training and/or instructing preferred.
• Working knowledge of hospitality operations specifically product and equipment procurement and budget management preferred.
• Proficiency with applications including Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook.
• Current Maricopa Food Handler's card or the ability to obtain one.
• Valid Level One Fingerprint Clearance Card or the ability to obtain one.
• Ability to clear the Central Registry Screening from the Department of Child Safety & Adult Protective Services.
• Ability to comply with and pass all required background check and drug screening requirements, including but not limited to pre-employment and random drug screening as required/requested.

Qualifications and Competencies

• Willingness to embrace and actively support the unique culture and values of UMOM.
• Ability to focus on the tasks and details relevant to the position and the organization, while also switching quickly between tasks.
• Excellent independent judgment and taking ownership of decisions.
• Thinking on a broad, systems-level relative to the scope of the position.
• Working independently and self-managing to achieve goals while being a strong team player.
• Organizing, meeting deadlines, prioritizing and delegating appropriately.
• Coping with and embracing change, risk, and uncertainty.
• Developing strong relationships within a fast-paced, collaborative setting that values diverse opinions; enthusiasm for helping drive change as UMOM becomes a more data-driven organization.

Work Schedule

This position must have flexibility to work days, evenings, weekends, and holidays. This full-time position typically works 5 days each week (40 hours) with 2 consecutive days off. Shifts typically fall between the hours of 5am and 7pm.