Cook - Lakeshore Schools

The purpose of this job description is to communicate the overall purpose, key responsibilities, and duties associated with this position. The Personal Touch company philosophy requires that all employees contribute on a team basis for the purpose of overall company success. While the following information should be considered a comprehensive description of this position, it should be noted that some responsibilities and duties may not be specifically addressed. Personal Touch reserves the right to amend or change this description at any time.

Job Overview:

The Cook establishes and oversees the kitchen work flow at his/her assigned unit to ensure that meals are prepared in an efficient and effective manner. The Cook may be additionally responsible for receiving supplies, verifying delivery quantity and quality, and ensuring all supplies are stored appropriately in accordance with health and safety regulations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities of the Group Leader/Cook

• Responsible for planning and executing overall food preparation including defining the required steps for successful food preparation and delegating responsibilities appropriately to kitchen staff.
• Sample, smell and evaluates food to ensure conformance to recipes and standards of taste and appearance.
• Be knowledgeable of quality standards and required portion sizes and ensure food is served in compliance with both.
• Maintain an awareness of the physical location and productivity of all kitchen staff throughout their shift to ensure each employee stays on task with his/her individual responsibility.
• Ensure appropriate supply levels and maintained through effective ordering and inventory monitoring
• Responsible for inventory control including such things as, ordering food and supplies and effectively utilize food surplus to capitalize on investments made and control costs.
• Complete and maintain accurate daily production records as well as inventory files.
• Monitor all elements of the kitchen environment including the storage temperature of all food products; the temperature of water in dish machine and; and cooler and freezer temperature on a daily basis. Maintain environmental records as necessary.
• Responsible for sanitary conditions in all work areas that meet or exceed health department requirements.
• At the end of shift, check the entire facility for cleanliness of physical plant and all equipment. Verify that all security measures are in tack to guard against theft.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities of All Personal Touch Employees

• The philosophy at Personal Touch includes providing all customers with memorable service. The service provided by every person at our company touches multiple customers both internally and externally. All customers must be treated with courtesy and respect and every effort should be made to ensure customer satisfaction at all times.
• Effective communication is key to customer service. It is the employee’s responsibility to refrain from profanity, harsh words, or derogatory/inappropriate comments and communicate in a business appropriate manner.
• Personnel at Personal Touch are required to maintain a professional appearance at all times. This includes good hygiene; and, dressing in clean, neat, professional clothing or uniforms as required. Specific food service hygiene and dress code requirements are addressed separately in the employee manual.
• Employee reliability is key to exceptional customer service. Productive attendance during your scheduled hours and timeliness are essential. If unable to work your scheduled shift, reporting requirements are outlined in the employee manual.
• Continuous learning is a core requirement at Personal Touch. It is the company’s expectation that all employees are open to and engaged in professional growth opportunities including cross-training for other positions, teambuilding activities, and skills training programs offered by the company.
• The health and safety of our employees is of paramount importance at Personal Touch. Compliance with safety regulations and reporting all on-the-job accidents and injuries as outlined in the employee manual is required.
• The health and safety of our customers is also of paramount importance at Personal Touch. Compliance with health department regulations, sanitation requirements, and food safety training is required.
• Attitude is everything Employees at Personal Touch are expected to maintain a positive “can do” attitude when communicating with internal and external customers. Any concerns regarding your position or problems you may experience in the workplace should be addressed privately with your supervisor.
• All employees should be aware that new or additional responsibilities outside the scope of this job description may be assigned by management as necessary.
• Tastes food prepared to insure proper flavor, texture, consistency and quality control.
• Ensures that all foods are maintained at the proper temperature.
• Cleans and sanitizes utensils and work area before and after use.

Education and/or Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required

• Two to four years Cooking experience in the food service field with one year preferably in a supervisory capacity
• Knowledge of foodstuffs is essential with food production experience necessary
• Must possess basic math skills, ability to calculate production and recipes as required for guest counts
• Must be able to work at a moderate to fast pace

Physical Requirements

The on-the-job minimum physical requirements of the position based upon a typical workday.

• Occasional sitting
• Constant standing
• Frequent walking
• Frequent bending
• Frequent lifting up to 50 lbs
• Frequent carrying with both hands up to 50 lbs

Reaching, Handling, Finger Dexterity and/or Feeling

1. Constant reaching by extending hand(s) or arm(s) in any direction
2. Constant handling by seizing, holding, grasping, turning or otherwise working with the hand or hands, but without finger dexterity
3. Constant finger dexterity required to manipulate objects with fingers rather than whole hand(s) or arm(s); using a keyboard, for example
4. Constant feeling to perceive an object’s size, shape, temperature or texture by means of senses in your skin

Communication

1. Constant communication skills using the spoken word
2. Constant hearing ability

Seeing

1. Constant far vision (clear vision beyond 20 feet or more)
2. Constant close vision (clear vision within 20 inches)
3. Constant color vision (ability to identify and distinguish colors)
4. Constant depth perception
5. Constant ability to adjust focus

Working Conditions

The amount of exposure to the following environmental conditions based upon a typical workday.

• Occasional exposure to marked changes in temperature and humidity or extremes thereof
• Occasional work near moving mechanical parts

Noise Level: Moderate