Hanford Program Chef

Job Title:Hanford Program Chef
Job Status: Full-time Exempt
Supervisor: Brigaid Regional Chef
Location: Hanford, CA
Compensation: $85,000 plus full benefits

About Brigaid: Founded by former Noma head chef Dan Giusti, Brigaid is a startup that began challenging the school food status quo by putting professional chefs into public schools to cook fresh, wholesome food from scratch. In 2016, we launched our first pilot program with the New London Public School district in New London, Connecticut. Since then, we’ve partnered with school districts around the country and expanded our reach into institutional kitchens of all kinds, equipping chefs to work within the parameters of federally-funded food assistance programs to provide organizations with practical solutions and hands-on training that facilitate improved outcomes for those they serve. We encourage you to learn more about our work by visiting our website, chefsbrigaid.com, and our Instagram, @brigaid. 

About Position: Brigaid has partnered with the Hanford Elementary School District (HESD), a K-8 district in Hanford, California–about 45 minutes south of Fresno. The district serves over 5,600 students across 11 schools–8 elementary, two junior high schools, and one K-8 magnet school. 

We’re hiring a Program Chef to help HESD improve the overall quality of food offerings, increase the amount of scratch cooking in the district, and improve student satisfaction. The Program Chef would serve as a long-term fixture in the district, working closely year-round with both district leadership and kitchen teams to plan, implement, and train in service of these goals. The Program Chef would also work on the ground to train teams at the school kitchens on organization, food safety, and basic cooking techniques in order to increase their scratch cooking capability.   

Job Responsibilities:

• Work with district kitchen teams to implement best practices and new protocols. Your job will be to set the highest example in quality and food safety for district employees to uphold every day, then to reinforce these standards and continue to monitor progress and adherence. 
• Interface with food service employees, managers, and supervisors from a wide variety of backgrounds in ways above and beyond a strict teaching capacity, including the possibility of engagement with the school and broader community. 
• Independently plan, manage, and document visits to district kitchens, fill out daily chef journals for internal recordkeeping, and participate in regularly scheduled Zoom calls to discuss progress. 
• Assist with any job-related tasks, including, but not limited to, receiving and storage of food and supplies, kitchen setup and breakdown, recipe scaling, food preparation, packing, serving, cleaning, dishes, etc., recognizing that other duties not listed may be required as needed.
• Follow all Brigaid/school district protocols and standards of conduct according to the Brigaid and school district employee handbooks. 
• Adhere to all United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Health (DOH) guidelines and regulations. 

Job Qualifications:

• At least 5 years of professional cooking experience in a non-institutional setting, including at least 2 years in a kitchen supervisory role (high volume cooking experience is a plus).

• ServSafe Manager certified, or the ability to take a Brigaid-sponsored 8-hour ServSafe Manager course and pass the exam during the initial training period.
• Strong understanding of proper food safety practices.
• Strong cooking ability, with understanding of all basic cooking techniques.
• Strong leadership and teaching skills.
• Ability to lead, direct, and inspire food service teams.
• Ability to use high volume kitchen equipment.
• Ability to follow recipes and use basic math to determine preparation quantities.
• Good verbal and communication skills.
• Well versed in USDA National School Lunch Program (NSLP) standards and regulations, or the ability to learn and adhere to these standards.
• Basic computer literacy, including Microsoft and Google programs and Zoom.
• Flexibility in accommodating emergencies or changes in schedule.
• Ability to work well under pressure and coordinate tasks.
• Ability to work well with others in a team environment.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to travel between various district school kitchens in a timely manner (and the possibility of carrying kitchen/culinary equipment during this travel).
• Ability to lift and carry heavy objects up to 50 pounds.
• Ability to walk around and stand for long periods of time.
• Proof of negative skin prick TB test is required.

To Apply:

To be considered, please submit a resume and complete the secondary application when prompted by Culinary Agents (it is a link to Brigaid's Bamboo hiring portal). This secondary application must be completed for your candidacy to be considered.

The first round of the hiring process will be a Zoom interview, after which qualified candidates will be invited to a three-hour in-person practical interview in Hanford, CA. To be considered, you must be able to attend this in-person interview. A travel stipend of $250 will be offered to each candidate living more than 120 miles away from Hanford, and all candidates participating in the in-person practical interview will receive compensation for their time. Should the final candidate for this position need to move, Brigaid also offers a one time, lump sum of $5,000 in relocation assistance, which is paid as part of the first paycheck and is subject to tax. 

Due to the high volume of applicants, only qualified candidates will be contacted–no phone calls or emails, please. Brigaid is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, socio-economic status, marital status, national or ethnic origin, age, religion or creed, disability, or political or sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic under state or federal law.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities as defined by the ADA to perform the essential functions of the job.

Benefits:

• 100% company-paid health insurance - a gold level plan through Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
• 100% company-paid dental insurance through Guardian
• 100% company-paid vision insurance through Guardian
• 100% company-paid short- and long-term care insurance through Guardian
• 10 days of paid vacation to start
• 14 paid federal holidays
• 6 days of paid sick leave
• 401k with 4% company match

COVID-19 Consideration:

• Depending on the requirements of specific partner organizations, we may ask that you provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.