Prep Cook - Full Time - Full-time

ABOUT US

Channing House is a leading not-for-profit Life Care Community in Palo Alto, founded in 1960. We believe that older adults thrive in a vibrant setting that supports active, engaged and healthy living. We provide a sustainable, innovative community that promotes this lifestyle, while embracing respect and dignity for all who live and work here. Our team of 170 staff members, from Front-Line to Leadership, drive the mission of Channing House, providing services to the 265 highly engaged residents who call Channing House their home.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Prep Cook works primarily in the kitchen supporting the preparation and production of food products, cleaning, including assistance of dishwashing and basic maintenance of the kitchen. Together with the entire team at Channing House, your role contributes to promoting a healthy and vibrant home for our residents.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

This position will be responsible for, but not limited to the following essential duties and responsibilities:

Food Preparation and Storage – 85% of job duties

• Assist in all aspects of food production and preparation, as needed and as assigned.
• Properly measure and assemble ingredients required for preparing standard recipes.
• Prepare and cook to order foods that may require short preparation time. Prepare foods under direct supervision or instruction.
• Assist in receiving and storing ingredients; accepting/rejecting based on quality and quantity.
• Clean, organize, and maintain walk-in refrigerator, dry storage area and overall kitchen space according to FIFO (First In, First Out).
• Understand and comply with food safety and temperature standards.
• Keep records and requisition for supplies/equipment as needed.
• Communicate with management throughout the shift regarding inventory and availability of product
• Provide the highest quality of service to customers at all times.
• Work to ensure consistency in quality, portions and presentation
• Ability to perform tasks within provided timelines and production schedule
• Cleaning; including dishwashing and basic maintenance of the kitchen
• All other duties as assigned

Training and Policy Adherence – 15% of job duties:

• Ensure compliance with various licensing and regulatory agencies, including but not limited to: Santa Clara County Department of Health, CDPH, CDSS, CalOSHA, etc.
• Attend all allergy and food-borne illness in-service training.
• Report all accidents and injuries in a timely manner.
• Participate in regular safety meetings, safety training and hazard assessments.
• Attend training programs (classroom and virtual) as designated.

Upholding Company Standards:

Consistent commitment to:

• Establish and maintain effective team relationships with fellow staff; apply effective communication and listening skills
• Demonstrate professionalism in all interactions with all residents, colleagues, clients, vendors, and members of the public
• Provide a supportive and caring environment to meet the needs of residents as individuals and as members of a shared community
• Adhere to all company policies, procedures, safety, and compliance practices, and business ethics codes

JOB REQUIREMENTS / QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, a person must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.

Years of Related Professional Experience:

• No experience necessary, 1 year of related work experience preferred.

Educational/Position Requirements:

• High School diploma, GED or equivalent experience preferred.

Computer/Software/Technical Applications:

• Ability to use a computer.

Languages:

• Ability to speak and comprehend English the primary language used in the workplace; ability to speak and/or comprehend other languages utilized by clients is a plus.

Required Licenses/ Certifications/ Background:

• Must possess or be able to obtain a California Food Handler’s Card before starting employment
• ServSafe certification preferred

Travel Required:

• 0%

Skills:

• Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking — Use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Customer Service — Manages difficult or emotional situations involving residents, resident families, and/or staff; responds promptly to needs of residents, resident families, and/or staff; responds to requests for service and assistance.
• Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
• Professionalism — Presents self in a highly professional manner to others and communicate with co-workers and other departments with professionalism and respect. Maintains a professional relationship with all coworkers, vendor representatives, supervisors, managers, residents, and resident families.
• Quality Management — Looks for ways to improve and promote quality.
• Safety and Security — Observes and ensures staff compliance with safety and security procedures; determines appropriate action beyond guidelines; reports potentially unsafe conditions; uses equipment and materials properly.
• Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Cultural Awareness - Demonstrates knowledge of EEO policy; shows respect and sensitivity for cultural differences; promotes a harassment-free environment.
• Culinary — Good working knowledge of food preparation and technical skills. Familiarity with kitchen equipment, cooking and presentation.

Abilities:

• Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Learning — Willingness to be open to learning and growing.
• Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Ethics — Treats people with respect; inspires the trust of others; works with integrity and ethically; upholds organizational values.
• Positivity — Ability to maintain a positive attitude.
• Presentability — Maintains high standards for work areas and appearance. Upholds dress code requirements.
• Quality — Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; looks for ways to improve and promote quality; applies feedback to improve performance.
• Attendance/Punctuality — Consistently at work and on time.
• Dependability — Follows instructions, responds to management direction; takes responsibility for own actions; keeps commitments.

Reporting Relationships:

• Number of Direct Reports (if applicable): 0

Work Environment:

• Generally in an indoor setting.
• Supervise activities and events outdoors. May be exposed to heat/cold during support of outside activities.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to loud.
• Some exposure to smoke, steam, high temperatures and humidity
• Position requires ability to work nights, weekends and some holidays.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to:

• Stand on your feet throughout work period. Significant walking or other means of mobility.
• Repetitive use of hands and fingers using tools such as knives, peelers and other kitchen instruments
• Prolonged periods using hot stove/oven and industrial kitchen equipment
• Possess multi-limb and eye-hand coordination
• Able to reach, bend, stoop, push and/or pull, and frequently lift/move up to 40 pounds.
• Utilize specific vision abilities for viewing work related processes and materials handling.
• Occasionally must be able to distinguish flavor profile when completing preparation lists
• Talk or hear during face-to-face communications in a noisy commercial kitchen work area

Channing House Diversity Statement:

Channing House is an equal opportunity employer. Channing House is committed to providing a work environment free of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and disrespectful or other unprofessional conduct based on actual or perceived race (including traits historically associated with race, such as natural hair, hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles), color, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, immigration status, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, reproductive health decision making, disability (including sensory disability and use of a service animal by a person with a disability), HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C status, a legally protected medical condition, genetic information or data credit history, genetic information, status as a victim or domestic or sexual violence (including harassment, sexual assault, or stalking), expunged juvenile record, arrest or conviction records (except as legally required), use or non-use of lawful products off of Company premises during non-working hours, performance of duty in a uniformed service military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by local, state and/or federal law. Channing House also prohibits discrimination, harassment, disrespectful, or unprofessional conduct based on the perception that anyone has any of those characteristics, or is associated with a person who has or is perceived as having any of those characteristics.