Head Chef – Assisted Living Facility
Job Type: Full-Time (7a-5:30pm with rotating weekends)
Department: Dining Services
Reports To: Administrator
Position Summary
We are seeking an experienced and dependable Head Chef to oversee the daily food service operations of our assisted living facility. The Head Chef will be responsible for preparing and presenting high-quality, nutritious meals while ensuring all meals meet residents’ individual dietary requirements and preferences.
This position requires strong leadership, organization, food-safety knowledge, and the ability to manage ordering, inventory, food costs, budgets, kitchen cleanliness, and staff while maintaining a welcoming dining experience for our residents.
Key Responsibilities
- Plan, prepare, and oversee daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner service.
- Follow all resident diet orders, food allergies, texture modifications, and special dietary requirements accurately.
- Ensure meals are nutritious, appealing, properly portioned, and appropriate for the residents being served.
- Maintain high standards of plate presentation, food quality, flavor, temperature, and portion control.
- Create and follow menus while accommodating therapeutic diets, special requests, and resident preferences when appropriate.
- Complete daily food temperature logs and ensure safe food-handling procedures are followed.
- Monitor refrigerator, freezer, hot-holding, and food-service temperatures as required.
- Maintain proper sanitation and comply with all applicable health department, food-safety, and assisted-living regulations.
- Perform and oversee daily kitchen cleaning, including work surfaces, equipment, floors, storage areas, and food-preparation areas.
- Ensure proper dishwashing, sanitizing, and overall kitchen cleanliness.
- Order food, beverages, kitchen supplies, and other necessary inventory while maintaining appropriate stock levels.
- Receive deliveries and inspect products for quality, quantity, freshness, and proper temperatures.
- Maintain accurate inventory records and conduct routine inventory counts.
- Monitor food usage, waste, spoilage, and portion sizes to control food costs.
- Work within the facility's food-service budget and make cost-conscious purchasing decisions.
- Maintain organized food storage using proper labeling, dating, rotation, and FIFO procedures.
- Supervise, train, schedule, and provide direction to kitchen staff as needed.
- Ensure kitchen staff follow recipes, sanitation procedures, diet orders, and facility policies.
- Communicate effectively with nursing and other departments regarding resident dietary needs and changes.
- Respond professionally to resident feedback and work to provide a positive dining experience.
- Maintain required kitchen records, including temperature logs, cleaning logs, inventory records, ordering records, and other documentation.
- Ensure the kitchen is prepared for inspections and that deficiencies are promptly corrected.
- Help maintain a safe, organized, efficient, and respectful kitchen environment.
- Perform other duties related to dining services as assigned.
Qualifications
- Previous experience as a Head Chef, Executive Chef, Sous Chef, Kitchen Manager, or similar leadership position preferred.
- Experience working in assisted living, senior living, healthcare, or long-term care is strongly preferred.
- Knowledge of food safety, sanitation, food handling, and temperature-control requirements.
- Understanding of special and therapeutic diets is preferred.
- Strong organizational and time-management skills.
- Ability to manage food ordering, inventory, food costs, and budgets.
- Ability to lead and work effectively with kitchen and dining-service staff.
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to cleanliness.
- Ability to stand for extended periods and safely lift and move food, supplies, and kitchen equipment as required.
- Food Handler certification and/or ServSafe certification preferred or required according to applicable regulations.
What We’re Looking For
The ideal candidate is a hands-on culinary leader who takes pride in serving seniors. You should be dependable, organized, clean, creative, and comfortable balancing the responsibilities of cooking, managing staff, controlling costs, maintaining records, and ensuring residents receive safe, attractive, and enjoyable meals every day.
If you are passionate about food and take pride in creating a positive dining experience for residents, we would love to hear from you!
Pay: From $19.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
