Cook

Summary: Cook performs various tasks or a sequence of tasks in food service preparation. Tasks consist of several steps that require attention to work operations and follow an established set of steps and sequence of work.  These tasks fall into categories related to food preparation and service, kitchen maintenance, and food storage, and are summarized below.

Salary commensurate with experience ($23.38 per hour)

Duties and Responsibilities:
Food Preparation and Service

• Plan nutritional menus in collaboration with the Child Care Director and prepare all types of meats, poultry, seafood, vegetables, fruit sauces, and gravies for menus.
• Prepare, cook, season, and portion food for all meals by following standardized recipes at different levels of difficulty and plan, regulate, and schedule cooking procedures so that numerous completed food products are ready at the appropriate temperature and time. 
• Prepare menu items using special or difficult recipes that require numerous interrelated steps, many ingredients, lengthy preparation time.  They prepare a variety of menu items using several different and complex methods of preparation such as cool or chill.  
• Designs, implements and maintains necessary specialized menus to ensure all children with allergies are served appropriate food and/or drink alternatives.
• Monitor temperatures and steam pressures, evaluate the condition of food being cooked at frequent intervals, and turn and baste meat to add flavor and to prevent uneven cooking and drying out.
• Modify recipes for ingredient quantities, the number of servings, and the size of the equipment available.

• In accordance with applicable ServSafe Certification regulations, policies and procedures:  regularly and thoroughly cleans serving carts, food preparation areas, cupboards, drawers, and dishwashing areas; set up and operate a mechanical dishwasher; scrapes, soaks, scours, and scrubs the heavier cooking utensils such as mixing bowls and pots; performs heavy-duty cleaning tasks throughout the food service and related areas, such as cleaning ceilings; exhaust hoods; spaces under and behind kitchen equipment, including moving the equipment; washing floors and walls with powered cleaning equipment; cleaning walk-in refrigerators and freezers; and sanitizing garbage room.

• Labels and dates all items in refrigerators and freezers and stores leftovers in accordance with sanitation and health standards.
• Stores canned, boxed, and/or frozen items in food storage area at appropriate temperature.
• Unload food and supplies from delivery trucks.

• Responsible for complying with security, fire and sanitation rules, policies, procedures, and regulations.
• Ensures compliance with U.S. Agriculture (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and all pertaining standards, policies, and regulations.
• Maintains all documentation for the CACFP program.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Knowledge and understanding of food handling techniques, personal hygiene standards, and safe work procedures.
• Thorough knowledge of the full range of food preparation principles including the techniques and procedures necessary to develop new or revise current recipes and to prepare and cook food in large quantities.
• Working knowledge of sanitation standards and procedures to prevent contamination, such as the need to clean equipment previously used for raw food before further use and the need to use a chemical sanitizer or maintain proper water temperature when cleaning dishes.

• Skill to perform tasks involving several procedures to prepare and cook food in large quantities.
• Skill to overcome practical production problems, evaluate final food products, and initiate corrective action when an item does not meet established quality standards.
• Skill to develop standardized recipes for quantity cooking; able to expand and modify recipes according to the capacity of the equipment in the kitchen as well and in response to adjustments in the number of servings required.
• Skill to manage various cooking processes so that food items are served at their peak taste, texture, and appearance with minimum holding periods and so that safe and critical temperature and time control points are met.
• Ability to coordinate a full range of food preparation activities involving quantity food production where a number it items are cooked simultaneously and require varied cooking methods, timing requirements, many ingredients, and numerous interrelated steps.
• Ability to communicate effectively in English, both orally and in writing, and possess strong interpersonal communication skill.

Qualifications:

• Must be 18 years of age or older.
• Must have a high school diploma or GED
• Must participate in continued professional development through enrollment in formal and informal educational courses related to early childhood education/food service.
• Position is subject to special inoculation and immunization requirements as a condition of employment for working with children. Employee is required to obtain appropriate immunization against communicable, which includes the influenza vaccine.
• Must obtain and maintain a valid food handlers’ card.
• Must have 2 years of food service experience.
• Must pass a pre-employment physical, provide evidence of immunization and be free from communicable disease.
• Must pass Federal, State, Child Protective Services Checks, National Sex Offender Registry, and if living out of the State of Virginia in the last 5 years all applicable Out of State checks applicable.
• Must satisfactorily obtain or complete required training certificates and maintain certifications or credentials required by federal, state or National Accreditation institutions as used by the CDC.

Percent of time spent:           Sitting                              _     5         
                                                Standing                                 70       
                                                Walking                                  20       
                                                Running                                            
                                                Stooping/Kneeling                 5         
                                                Climbing                                           

                                                Lifting (Maximum weight)   40        lbs.


Compensation and Benefits:

• Sign-on Bonus: Eligible candidates will receive a $500 sign-on bonus upon hire.
• Retention Bonus: Earn up to $1750 in retention bonuses, distributed over key employment milestones as part of our commitment to employee satisfaction an longevity.

Armed Service YMCA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind.  ASYMCA is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws of regulations in the locations where we operate. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. ASYMCA encourages applicants of all ages.

Armed Services YMCA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. ASYMCA is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. ASYMCA encourages applicants of all ages.