Manager

Req #: 0000265605 | Full-Time | Day shift | RWJBH Community Health Project | Located at 46 Halsey St, Newark, NJ 07102 (Harvest A Farm To Community Center). Salaried position.

About the role

Culinary Manager The Culinary Manager leads daily culinary operations at the HARVEST Food Hub, overseeing the industrial kitchen incubator facility that serves food entrepreneurs, community partners, and Urban Agriculture Cooperative processing operations. This role supports a safe, efficient, compliant, and collaborative commercial kitchen environment while advancing culinary entrepreneurship, workforce development, food security, and local food system initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Managing daily operations of the industrial kitchen incubator, including facility scheduling, space utilization, equipment readiness, and compliance with applicable health department regulations and HACCP requirements.
• Supporting food entrepreneurs and kitchen incubator members through technical assistance and mentorship, including recipe scaling, production planning, food safety practices, food processing, and business development.
• Developing, implementing, and maintaining kitchen policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), training programs, and operational guidelines for facility users.
• Overseeing commercial kitchen equipment management, including procurement, specification, installation coordination, preventive maintenance, troubleshooting, and vendor relationships.
• Maintaining a safe, organized, and fully operational shared-use commercial kitchen that meets established food safety, sanitation, and regulatory standards.
• Coordinating with registered dietitians and other partners to support nutrition-focused programming and medically tailored food production initiatives.
• Overseeing food safety certification programs and ensuring facility users maintain required certifications and comply with applicable FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), HACCP, and health department requirements.
• Developing and supporting revenue-generating culinary programs, including workforce development initiatives, cooking classes, catering services, and other community-based culinary programming.
• Collaborating with the Harvest Food Hub Director on facility scheduling, user onboarding, program coordination, and optimization of kitchen space and resources.
• Managing inventory systems for shared equipment, kitchen supplies, food products, and other operational resources.
• Leading culinary workforce development programs in partnership with community organizations, educational institutions, and other stakeholders.
• Supporting food manufacturing, co-packing, and small-scale food processing activities while ensuring appropriate food safety and operational standards are maintained.
• Working collaboratively with entrepreneurs, farmers, healthcare professionals, community organizations, educators, and other stakeholders to advance local food system development.
• Following established policies, procedures, food safety practices, regulatory requirements, and workplace safety standards to maintain a high level of service and professionalism.
• Demonstrating strong communication, organization, accountability, adaptability, cultural awareness, and professionalism in a dynamic community-based culinary environment.
• Supporting initiatives related to sustainable agriculture, food access, food security, economic development, and culinary entrepreneurship.
• Participating in continuing education, professional development, and industry training to maintain and expand culinary, technical, regulatory, and management knowledge.
• Successfully completing organizational onboarding,