WORK SCHEDULE: Monday-Friday (In-person), 8am-5 pm * On-site / Field-Based
Position Description:
The Culinary Director provides strategic and hands-on leadership for Crossroads’ Culinary Medicine and Food-as-Medicine initiatives. This on-site role oversees the preparation and distribution of medically appropriate prepared meals and meal kits across our Main Community Market on Cockrell Hill Rd., the Nutrition Pharmacy at The Shops at RedBird, and the Community Market at the Esperanza Community Center, while managing culinary programming, logistics, and evaluation. The position integrates kitchen operations with participant recruitment, volunteer coordination, and program oversight to advance nutrition stability among underserved households.
As a Crossroads employee, the Culinary Director collaborates closely with clinical and research partners at Tufts University and UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) to support coordinated planning, data collection, and evaluation.
Key Responsibilities:
Grant & Program Leadership
Serve as operational lead for the 4-year federally funded program, ensuring alignment with approved scope, timelines, and deliverables. Collaborate with Crossroads leadership with Tufts University research partners and UTSW clinicians to support implementation, financial oversight, reporting, and compliance.
Culinary Operations & Distribution
Oversee preparation and multi-site distribution of medically appropriate meals and meal kits as part of study implementation. Apply food-as-medicine principles to menu planning in coordination with clinical and research partners. Ensure food safety, quality control, and regulatory compliance. Perform regular routine general inspections, including pest control, hood and vent cleaning, grease trap cleaning, refrigeration, freezers, dishwashers, and other durable kitchen equipment. Identify maintenance issues to address and resolve. In collaboration with the VP of Operations, negotiate and oversee food service maintenance and repair.
Procurement & Logistics
Manage food sourcing through Crossroads inventory, retail purchases, and approved vendors. Oversee study inventory control, shrinkage monitoring, meal kit assembly, packaging, and cross-site distribution logistics. Procure and maintain inventory for all kitchen programming.
Culinary Medicine Programming
Manage class scheduling and kitchen utilization; schedule study participants in coordination with Community Market and Nutrition Pharmacy teams. Recruit, train, and supervise culinary volunteers, ensuring safe and efficient support for meal preparation, packaging, and classes. Procure supplies and oversee set-up for each CM class. In collaboration with the Culinary Medicine culinary instructor, facilitate all CM class implementation.
Evaluation & Data Management
Partner with Tufts University and Crossroads’ Data Research & Resources Coordinator to track participation, monitor outcomes, and document program impact through CRM systems and required reporting.
Job Requirements
- Work on-site across multiple locations
- Reliable personal transportation is required, and mileage reimbursement is available
- Manage commercial kitchen operations and large-scale meal production
- Serve as sous-chef for all community cooking classes, including Culinary Medicine operations
- Ensure compliance with food safety and operational standards
- Oversee grant-funded program implementation and reporting
- Engage respectfully with underserved communities, including people managing chronic health conditions
- Utilize data systems and CRM platforms to track participation and outcomes
- Commitment to testing and evaluating new ideas, function as a proactive team player, with a willingness to support larger organizational goals.
- Adaptability in a fast-paced environment with a flexible approach to changing priorities
Qualifications: Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts, Nutrition, Public Health, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- 5+ years in culinary operations, food systems, or community-based nutrition programs
- Experience managing grant-funded initiatives
- Relevant certifications (e.g., ServSafe Manager)
- 1-2 years supervisory experience (employees, volunteers)
- Strong knowledge of commercial kitchen operations and food safety practices
- Spanish speaking strongly preferred
GRANT FUNDING DISCLOSURE
This position is grant-funded and contingent upon continued funding availability. The Culinary Director plays a critical role in ensuring program quality, compliance, and impact throughout the grant period.
WORKING CONDITIONS
Employee may be required to assist market team operations which may impact normal work hours for this role. Work involves moving boxes and employee must lift, bend, stoop, pick up, and move objects up to 50 pounds. Work involves using manual pallet jacks and therefore requires an ability to push and pull pallets over 2,000 pounds. Some travel is required to attend meetings and manage site distributions locally. Regular workday and workweek are established with some planned early morning or evening hours, and Saturday shifts.
MENTAL DEMANDS
The employee in this position needs to adapt well in the face of workplace stressors such as volunteer or Market shopper complaints, concerns from corporate sponsors or community partners, compliance offenses, and competing priorities of reasonable or high significance to the successful function of the department. The employee must be able to effectively interpret data and make critical decisions that may significantly impact the team and organization.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
The employee is expected to make decisions, engage with volunteers, read, write, speak publicly, and interpret information and data. May be seated for periods of time and occasionally may have to lift boxes or other materials that weigh up to 50 lbs, and operate a pallet jack.
Pay: From $75,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Experience:
- culinary operations or systems community nutrition programs: 5 years (Required)
Work Location: In person
