Title: Community Café Chef
Reports To: Operations and Volunteer Manager
Hours: 40 hours a week; Monday-Thursday 8am-6pm
Description of Organization: Neighbors Together is a dynamic soup kitchen and social service center committed to ending hunger and poverty in the Ocean Hill, Brownsville and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods of Brooklyn, three of the lowest-income areas in New York City. We serve 100,000 meals annually through our Community Café, connect hundreds of individuals and families to vital resources beyond food (such as housing and job training), and provide community organizing and leadership development to empower our members to advocate for hunger-ending public policies.
Position Description: Neighbors Together seeks a Community Café Chef to join our Café’s team and ensure the efficient, clean and respectful operation of Neighbors Together’s daily soup kitchen. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, preparing ingredients for meals served to our guests in an atmosphere of dignity and respect, maintaining inventory, janitorial duties, and supervising volunteers who are critical team members in the day-to-day operations of the Café.
Key Responsibilities: The essential Community Café Chef functions include but are not limited to:
- Prepare delicious and nutritious lunch and dinner meals for Community Café guests, with a focus on high quality flavor and diverse seasoning of meats, fish, vegetables, grains and other healthy
- Work with Café Cooks to prep all ingredients for the next day’s meals
- Ability to creatively utilize fresh produce and other ingredients to deliver delicious
- Maintain consistency and excellence to ensure that all lunch and dinner meals are of high
- Create a weekly menu within input from Café Cooks that is both nutritious and delicious for lunch and dinner.
- Work with supervisor to train, supervise and delegate tasks to volunteers to ensure smooth and efficient operations.
- Set an example of excellent customer
- Assist with maintaining cleanliness and organization of kitchen, dining room, storage areas, restroom, and basement.
- Maintain New York City Department of Health food safety
- Work with supervisor to maintain food and supply
- Receive, label and store weekly food deliveries according to DOH policies
- Ensure that all stations remain stocked before and during the meal
- Actively participate as a member of the Neighbors Together 13-person staff by attending staff meetings when scheduling allows, Community Café group supervision meetings, individual supervision sessions and all-staff retreat days.
- Perform all other duties as assigned to ensure the high quality functioning of the Community Café and Neighbors Together as a whole.
Skills, Knowledge and Abilities:
- Excellent customer service and communication
- Deep respect for low-income people and special interest in social justice
- Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously
- Ability to plan ahead while managing day-to-day operations
- Desire to work hard as part of a team and to improve on the job
- Ability to work collaboratively and participate in a dynamic team environment
- Positive, proactive, reliable and personable team
Experience & Qualifications:
- Previous experience working as a cook and/or line cook in the food industry
- Certified Food Handler’s Certificate from the NYC Department of Health
- ServSafe Certified
- Ability to lift 50 pounds on a daily basis
- Reading/writing skills
Benefits:
Neighbors Together offers a generous benefits package, including health, dental, vision, and life insurance.
Employees receive 15 days of vacation in the first year of employment and 20 days of vacation annually thereafter, 10 sick/personal days, paid federal holidays, and religious observance days.
Additionally, the organization closes for one paid week in the summer as well as two paid weeks around the winter holiday season.
Neighbors Together offers professional development and service hours for all our employees.
To apply, please email your resume and cover letter to:
Nathalie Smythe, Director of Programs and HR nathalie@neighborstogether.org
Please include “Community Café Chef” in the subject line.
