Culinary Worker
- Job Title
- Culinary Worker
- Job ID
- 27650341
- Location
- Chicago, IL 60619
- Other Location
- Description
-
Reports to: Associate Director of Culinary Arts & Assistant Culinary Manager
Status: Full Time, Hourly, Permanent
Schedule:40 hours per week (typically 8am-4pm through Summer and 12pm-8pm during school year with some adjustments and OT for special events)
Gary Comer Youth Center: Having opened its doors in June 2006, the state-of-the-art Gary Comer Youth Center (GCYC) offers positive extracurricular alternatives in a welcoming and safe environment. The mission is to provide the support for all of our youth to graduate from high school, prepared to pursue college and careers. Located on Chicago’s South Side, the Gary Comer Youth Center draws its primary membership from the youth residing on the South Side of Chicago with a focus on Grand Crossing residents. GCYC is the oldest and largest institution sitting on the Comer Education Campus which includes our organizational partners Gary Comer College Prep High School, the South Shore Drill Team and Gary Comer Middle School. For more information, please visit: www.garycomeryouthcenter.org.
Comer Education Campus: With a comprehensive approach to education and youth development, the Comer Education Campus is devoted to guiding young people to and through college and into adult life. The campus constitutes a unique partnership between Gary Comer Youth Center, Gary Comer College Prep, Gary Comer Middle School, and the college success initiative UtmostU. The campus serves over 2,000 youth from across Chicago’s South Side, offering out-of-school time enrichment, academic enhancement, and college success programs. Working with best-in-class partner organizations, the Comer Education Campus empowers young people with the tools they need for post-secondary and life success. For more information, please visit: http://comereducationcampus.org/
Position Summary
The Culinary Department is looking for a motivated and organized individual to contribute to our team of culinary staff. Our team is composed of both professional cooks and teens and young adults in a yearlong apprentice program. The Culinary Department has 4 key functions: daily free meal services for our members and their families, teen and young adult employment, culinary and nutrition education and enrichment, and special events catering. Our main focus day-to-day is preparing and serving from-scratch meals at no cost to our members and the community.
A Culinary Worker should not only have a background in Culinary Arts, but also have a meaningful care and concern for children. As a youth serving organization, everything we do and every decision we make in the GCYC kitchen comes down to how we can best serve our young people and their families.
GCYC’s main hours of operation are afterschool, in the afternoon and early evening. The Culinary Department also offers catering and special events services that may require occasional weekend or holiday work hours.
Essential Functions and Responsibilities:- Responsible for carrying out certain food service functions like program meal services, catering and special events services, prep work, cleaning, and some administrative duties
- Complete all tasks at or above the standards of the Culinary Manager and/or Assistant Manager
- Recording of inventory and meal service data
- Responsible for all functions related to cleaning and sanitation before, during and after food services
- Work collaboratively in a team setting with members of the culinary department as well as other GCYC employees and members
- Assist with member programming as needed
- Attend all required meetings and trainings
- Support the mission of GCYC; commit to the safety and development of all GCYC members; serve as a role model for the youth and community of GCYC
- Other tasks and duties as assigned
- Abide by the employee handbook and established GCYC policies and procedures
- Support the mission of GCYC and serve as a role model
- Other duties as assigned Miscellaneous:
- Responsible for maintaining a physically and emotionally safe environment to further ensure proper youth supervision and managing conduct issues and incidents.
- Attends required staff meetings and trainings.
- Works with other staff to execute effective outreach, recruitment and retention strategies.
- Responsible for accurate data collection and data entry for grant and program compliance.
- Supports the mission of GCYC.
- Works collaboratively in a team setting serving the needs of youth.
- Is committed to the safety and development of all GCYC members.
- Takes on other duties as needed.
- Serves as a role model for youth and community.
- Abides by the employee handbook and established GCYC policies and procedures. Qualifications
- Basic knowledge of industrial kitchen equipment and utensils
- Ability to follow and scale a recipe to produce a consistent and quality product
- Strong problem solving skills and ability to think on their feet
- Excellent customer service skills
- Passionate about healthy cooking and nutrition
- 2+ years culinary work experience in a professional kitchen
- Ability to consistently follow safe work practices and demonstrate proper hygiene required for food safety
- Ability and willingness to work independently, as directed, with attention to detail
- Availability to work afterschool hours, occasional weekends and holidays; demonstrate a respect for attendance and being on time
- Ability to use Microsoft Office365, Microsoft Suite, and general technology proficiency
- High standards and expectations of yourself, the youth, and your coworkers
- Valid Food Sanitation Certificate
- Must possess genuine care and concern for youth – especially pre-teens and teens.
- Program area management skills that are engaging, non-oppressive and age appropriate.
- Strong project management and organizational skills. Must be able to initiate and finish projects.
- Able to communicate effectively with youth, co-workers, stakeholders and families in a respectful and culturally competent manner via written and verbal communication.
- Must enjoy working with teams but can also work independently.
- Enjoys being the leader but is also confident enough to take directions from others.
- Must be able to take initiative and problem solve. Must be a creative thinker.
- Demonstrates strong accuracy in all areas of work.
- Must possess adaptive vitality.
- Demonstrates understanding of the positive youth development philosophy.
- Demonstrates an understanding of guidance and discipline principles & conflict resolution strategies.
- Must demonstrate cultural competency, dedication to working with youth, families, and community members in our care.
- Must have basic computer literacy skills – including Microsoft Office, independent use of the internet and ability to learn and properly utilize software systems.
Physical Work Requirements & Environment:
The GCYC environment is consistently bustling with youth and community members. The Center’s work is fast paced and varied. Our work is done on site where our youth and families are. Therefore, it is required that team members meet these requirements:- Have the ability to lift up to 25 pounds.
- Possess the ability to walk during field trips and to complete building and program rounds.
- Be able to stand and move with youth during programs, field trips and special events throughout the day.
- Must be able to ride various modes of transportation including school and coach buses, airplanes, cars, vans and public transportation.
- Can operate in crowds or with small groups.
- Able to complete administrative work in a shared office space within a youth center.
- A flexible schedule for evening and some weekend hours is required during school year.
- Extended standing and movement is required daily
- Majority of work is conducted in an industrial kitchen with exposure to hot and cold elements
- Operation of general kitchen equipment is required
- Travel between buildings and to offsite locations may be required with exposure to outside elements