Community Kitchen Assistant

Title: Community Kitchen Assistant

Hours: 30 hours/week considered Full-Time, Regular position with benefits.

Schedule 11am-7pm Mondays, 9am-7pm Tuesdays, 9am-3pm Wednesdays & Thursdays. Some seasonal flexibility for summer programming needed. 3-5 events annually require weekend work; will adjust schedule accordingly.

Salary Range for Position: $32,500-$37,700 ($34,400-$39,500 if fluent English/Spanish speakers)

Close Date: Position will remain open until filled. First application review March 1st, 2024

Start Date: Mid-Late March 2024

Reports to: Community Kitchen Supervisor

About The Hunger Coalition (THC)

The Hunger Coalition builds a healthy community through access to good food and addresses the root causes of food insecurity in collaboration with key partners. We envision a community where everyone has access to good food regardless of economic circumstances, where human connections grow, and all are empowered to speak up and be heard.

Why Work Here?

THC builds leaders who embrace a growth mindset, who are self-motivated and self-disciplined, who are committed to learning and development, and who thoughtfully and creatively risk-take to innovate solutions to our community’s deepest gaps. We operate in a ground-up style of leadership. Employees are encouraged to dream big and bring ideas to the table. Our community’s diverse and rich experiences are centered. Managers act as coaches and advocates to help make those dreams come to life. We craft our benefits and our personnel policies to our staff and our mission – see job description for more info!

The Opportunity – A Snapshot (see more in full job description below)

Our community building philosophy is directly linked to our mission and vision. As part of our dedication to good food for all, we value the many ways food nourishes, connects, engages, and deeply represents people. We strive to build meaningful relationships and steward engaged and well-fed participants and volunteers so we can better address the root causes of hunger, together. This position is ideal for someone who is passionate about food and food justice, a natural educator who wants to foster a sense of belonging where natural connections grow a resilient, diverse community.

This person would ideally have ties to our community with a commitment to grow with us.

JOB SUMMARY:

The Community Kitchen Assistant (CKA) will support community kitchen program reflecting the interests and needs of community members, partners, volunteers and The Hunger Coalition. The CKA will focus on strengthening community and inclusivity to address root causes of food insecurity. The CKA will support kitchen teams to ensure food safety and efficiency in food prep and commercial kitchen operations. This position is ideal for someone who is passionate about food and food justice, a natural educator who wants to foster a sense of belonging where natural connections grow a resilient, diverse community.  The CKA reports directly to the Community Kitchen Supervisor.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE:

• Has introductory level experience in a commercial kitchen, community organizing and/or community education or has a strong desire to move into this field with a strong demonstration of ability to learn quickly.
• Is fluently bilingual in Spanish and English, with the ability to communicate clearly in both languages.
• Works well with persons of varied sexual orientation, gender identity, racial, ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic backgrounds, and with individuals who are differently-abled.
• Has personal experience with food insecurity or a commitment to social justice and/or community service through previous employment and/or volunteer experience.
• Is willing to embrace and work to improve a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion, which is central to the work we do.
• Is personable, flexible and sees themselves as a mentor for safety and community building.
• Has the ability to maintain a calm, creative, problem-solving mentality in a busy environment with many moving parts and a variety of interactions with people.
• Is highly organized with excellent communication skills.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Maintain an organized calendar of commercial kitchen use. Communicate and coordinate with all staff regarding scheduling.
• Coordinate all staff to receive orientation and training to kitchen building use, food and kitchen safety at appropriate levels. Maintain safety policies and protocols.
• Ensure maintenance of all equipment, supplies, shared central food items and cleaning and safety items in the kitchen space and pantries.
• Collaborate with leadership to maintain a cost of goods system.
• Potential to pursue additional creative outcomes for the kitchen, including revenue streams, incubator/entrepreneurial opportunities, and more.
• Provide support to occasional kitchen rental situations, including managing schedule, managing equipment wear and tear, and inventory system.

Program Support

• Support Community Meals program, with initial focus on food preparation, service and clean-up.
• Support education initiatives in the kitchen.
• Oversee and coordinate volunteers in the kitchen, including scheduling, waivers, education, safety parameters and tracking hours.

Benefits:

The Hunger Coalition offers an attractive compensation and benefits package including competitive wages, a higher than average matched retirement savings, and abundant time off. We uphold a flexible, balanced culture of wellness so you can live your best life and also bring your A-game to work.

Full-Time Employee Benefits include

• Flexible, fun working environment
• Group health, vision, and dental insurance. We currently (and have for several years) pay 100% of vision and health insurance premiums for staff. Staff pay the affordable dental insurance premiums. Subject to change given prices, but we will strive to remain competitive w/ coverage/costs.
• 6% matched retirement savings
• Generous paid time off
• Employee Assistance Program
• Paid time to represent leadership positions in the community
• Access to case management and grocery services
• Paid staff lunches seasonally
• Occasional access to fresh produce from our growing spaces and hot meals from our Community Kitchen

Training & Development: The Hunger Coalition has an internal leadership development program. We uphold a coaching culture centered on goal-setting and growing your unique leadership skills in-line with our mission. Performance management is integrated into this model and is focused on regular weekly one-on-one meetings for real-time communication regarding expectations and accountability. We have a minimal focus on bi-annual or annual evaluations. Staff have access to a $250-$500 annual professional development stipend to support development.

Apply for this Role

We celebrate our inclusive work environment and welcome members of all backgrounds and perspectives to apply. If you are doubting that you have all of the skills and qualifications outlined within this posting, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may have skills or experience that are relevant that we didn’t previously consider.

In our commitment to being an equal opportunity employer, we are happy to provide reasonable accommodations for the role and within the interview process. If you require any accommodations during this process, please don’t hesitate to reach out. rshinn@thehungercoalition.org 208-788-0121. The Hunger Coalition is an equal opportunity employer and service provider.