Job Title: Palmdale Brigaid Chef
Job Status: Full-time Exempt (10 months per year)
Supervisor: Palmdale Program Chef
Location: Palmdale, California
Compensation: $65,000 plus benefits (paid on a 12-month schedule) 

About Brigaid: Founded by former Noma head chef Dan Giusti, Brigaid is a startup that began challenging the school food status quo by putting professional chefs into public schools to cook fresh, wholesome food from scratch. In 2016, we launched our first pilot program with the New London Public School district in New London, Connecticut. Since then, we’ve partnered with school districts around the country and expanded our reach into institutional kitchens of all kinds, equipping chefs to work within the parameters of federally-funded food assistance programs to provide organizations with practical solutions and hands-on training that facilitate improved outcomes for those they serve. We encourage you to learn more about our work by visiting our website, chefsbrigaid.com, and our Instagram, @brigaid. 

About Position: Brigaid has partnered with the Palmdale School District (PSD), a K-8 district that serves more than 18,000 students across 28 schools in Palmdale, California–about 75 minutes north of Los Angeles.   

We’re hiring a 10-month Brigaid Chef to work with our 12-month Palmdale Program Chef to help PSD improve the overall quality of food offerings–and increase the amount of scratch cooking on the menu, maximize the value of current infrastructure, and increase student satisfaction. 

The Brigaid Chef will train teams at each school kitchen on organization, food safety, and basic cooking techniques in order to increase their scratch cooking capability and implement the collaborative vision of PSD and Brigaid.  

Once each school year is complete, the Brigaid Chef would have off approximately two months in the summer and then return to work at the beginning of the new school year. This position is paid on a 12-month schedule.

Job Responsibilities:

• Work with PSD school kitchens to implement best practices and new protocols. Your job will be to set the highest example in quality and safety for PSD employees to uphold every day, then to reinforce these standards and continue to monitor progress and adherence.
• Interface with food service employees, managers, and supervisors from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds in ways above and beyond a strict teaching capacity, including the possibility of engagement with the school and broader community.
• Independently plan, manage, and document school visits, fill out daily chef journals for internal recordkeeping, and participate in a weekly meeting with the Palmdale Program Chef to discuss progress. 
• Assist with any job-related tasks, including but not limited to receiving and storage of food and supplies, kitchen setup and breakdown, recipe scaling, food preparation, packing, serving, cleaning, dishes, and participating in community meals, etc., recognizing that other duties not listed may be required as needed. 
• Follow all Brigaid/PSD protocols and standards of conduct according to the Brigaid and PSD employee handbooks. 
• Adhere to all National School Lunch Program and Department of Health (DOH) guidelines and regulations. 

Job Qualifications:

• At least 3 years of professional cooking experience in non-institutional settings (high volume cooking experience is a plus).
• ServSafe Manager certification, or the ability to take a Brigaid-sponsored 8-hour ServSafe Manager course and pass the exam during the initial training period.
• Strong understanding of good food safety practices.
• Strong cooking ability, with understanding of all basic cooking techniques.
• Strong leadership and teaching skills.
• Ability to lead, direct, and inspire food service teams.
• Ability to use (or learn to use) high volume kitchen equipment. 
• Ability to follow recipes and use basic math to determine preparation quantities.
• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Well versed in National School Lunch Program standards and regulations, or the ability to learn and adhere to these standards.
• Basic computer literacy, including Microsoft and Google programs and Zoom.
• Flexibility in accommodating changes in schedule.
• Ability to work well under pressure and coordinate tasks.
• Ability to work well with others in a team environment.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to travel between various district school kitchens in a timely manner (and the possibility of carrying kitchen/culinary equipment during this travel).
• Ability to lift and carry heavy objects up to 50 pounds.
• Ability to walk around and stand for long periods of time.
• Proof of negative skin prick TB test is required.

To Apply:

To be considered, please submit a resume and complete the secondary application when prompted by Culinary Agents (it is a link to Brigaid's Bamboo hiring portal). This secondary application must be completed for your candidacy to be considered.

The first round of the hiring process will be a Zoom interview, after which qualified candidates will be invited to a three-hour in-person practical interview in Palmdale, CA. To be considered, you must be able to attend this in-person interview and follow the COVID-19 protocols listed below. A travel stipend of $250 will be offered to each candidate living more than 120 miles away from Palmdale, and all candidates participating in the in-person practical interview will receive compensation for their time. Should the final candidate for this position need to move, Brigaid also offers a one time, lump sum of $5,000 in relocation assistance, which is paid as part of the first paycheck and is subject to tax. 

Due to the high volume of applicants, only qualified candidates will be contacted–no phone calls or emails, please. Brigaid is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, socio-economic status, marital status, national or ethnic origin, age, religion or creed, disability, or political or sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic under state or federal law.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities as defined by the ADA to perform the essential functions of the job.

Benefits:

• 100% company-paid health insurance - a gold level plan through Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
• 100% company-paid dental insurance through Guardian
• 100% company-paid vision insurance through Guardian
• 100% company-paid short- and long-term care insurance through Guardian
• 8 days of paid vacation to start
• 13 paid federal holidays
• 6 days of paid sick leave
• 401k with 4% company match

COVID-19 Considerations:

• The initial interview will be conducted virtually, and a mask may be required to be worn at the in-person interview. Depending on the requirements of specific partner organizations, we may ask that you provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.