Production Cook / Kitchen Team Leader

Clean Eats Australia; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 34,000 - 44,000; Part time

Job summary

Clean Eats Australia in Tullamarine, Victoria, is seeking an experienced cook to lead by example in our daily meal production. This casual, Monday-to-Friday role starts at 5:00 am and offers hands-on cooking, clear team leadership, strict adherence to food safety, and the potential to progress to permanent full-time as we grow.

You will prepare meals to established recipes, monitor quality, coordinate daily kitchen tasks, and actively contribute ideas to improve recipes and processes.

Qualifications

• Commercial kitchen cooking experience.
• Strong practical food knowledge and ability to follow recipes.
• Experience with batch production.
• Experience leading a team.
• Ability to delegate and organise workloads.
• Calm, practical approach during busy shifts.
• Understanding of food safety, hygiene, temperature control and allergens.
• Able to read recipes in English and maintain production records.
• Reliable and punctual.
• Available Mon-Fri with 5:00 am starts.
• Full Australian working rights.
• Driver's license and reliable transport.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and cook meal components in line with approved recipes and food safety procedures.
• Organise preparation and cooking tasks to meet daily production schedule.
• Allocate work and give team clear instructions and priorities.
• Lead by example with practical support and clear communication.
• Monitor flavour, texture and yield during cooking.
• Coordinate with pre-prep room and QA to meet production schedule.
• Follow HACCP and complete production and food safety records.
• Maintain correct ingredient storage, labeling and stock rotation.
• Oversee kitchen cleaning and sanitation tasks.
• Identify shortages or faults and raise issues promptly.
• Suggest improvements to recipes, workflow and consistency while reducing waste.
• Receive onsite training and maintain monitoring records.

Skills

Cook experience

Team leadership

Recipe following

Batch production

Delegation

Calm under pressure

English reading

Reliability

Punctuality

Availability Mon-Fri 5am

Australian working rights

Driver's license

Education

Commercial cookery qualification

Food handling certificate

Job description

Clean Eats Australia | [Tullamarine, Victoria]

Casual | Monday to Friday | 5:00 am starts

Clean Eats Australia is looking for an experiencedcookwho can lead by example and help keep our daily mealproductionrunning smoothly.

Clean Eats Australia | [Tullamarine, Victoria]

Casual | Monday to Friday | 5:00 am starts

Clean Eats Australia is looking for an experiencedcookwho can lead by example and help keep our daily mealproductionrunning smoothly.

About Clean Eats

Clean Eats Australia produces fresh, ready-made meals designed to make eating well easier. Our range includes individual meals and family favourites, with a focus on flavour, quality and consistency.

We’re looking for someone who shares that focus and can combine practicalcooking skills with clear direction, good organisation, able to follow food safety procedures and processes as well as someone with a strong sense of responsibility.

About the role

This is a hands-oncooking position with day-to-day team leadership responsibilities in the kitchen area of our foodproductionfacility.

You’ll prepare andcookmeals to established recipes, complete monitoring checks, organise daily kitchen tasks and support the team in meetingproductionrequirements. You’ll stay actively involved in thecooking while helping others work safely, efficiently and consistently.

You’ll also have the opportunity to suggest improvements to recipes and kitchen processes, with changes reviewed and approved before being introduced intoproduction.

The role is casual with the opportunity to progress to permanent full time.

What you’ll be doing

• Preparing andcooking meal components in line with approved recipes,productionquantities and food safety procedures.

• Organising preparation andcooking tasks to meet the dailyproductionschedule.

• Allocating work and giving team members clear instructions and priorities.

• Leading by example through practical support, clear communication and consistent standards.

• Monitoring flavour, texture, appearance and yield throughoutcooking using company sensory and physical evaluations.

• Coordinating with the pre-prep room.

• Working with the QA team to meet the production schedule.

• Following and reinforcing food safety, hygiene, allergen and safe equipment procedures according to the HACCP food safety program.

• Completing requiredproductionand food safety records, including temperature checks.

• Maintaining correct ingredient storage, labelling and stock rotation.

• Overseeing kitchen cleaning and contributing directly to cleaning and sanitising tasks.

• Identifying shortages, delays, equipment faults or quality issues and raising them promptly.

• Suggesting practical ways to improve recipes, workflow and consistency while reducing waste.

• Receiving onsite and ongoing training.

• Complete and maintain monitoring records.

What we’re looking for

• Demonstratedcooking experience in a commercial kitchen, catering operation or foodproductionenvironment.

• Strong practical food knowledge and the ability to follow recipes accurately.

• Experience preparing food in larger quantities, or the ability to adapt confidently to batchproduction.

• Previous experience leading a team, supervising a section or coordinating kitchen staff.

• The ability to delegate clearly, organise workloads and keep the team focused.

• A calm, practical approach whenproductionis busy or priorities change.

• A sound understanding of food safety, hygiene, temperature control and allergen management.

• The ability to read recipes and procedures in English, completeproductionrecords and communicate instructions clearly.

• A reliable, punctual approach and willingness to take ownership of your work.

• Availability Monday to Friday, with 5:00 am starts.

• Full Australian working rights.

• A current driver’s licence and reliable transport to and from work.

• Ability to perform well under pressure.

• Ability to meet KPIs and quality standards.

Commercialcookery qualifications, a food handling certificate and experience in ready-made mealproductionwould be well regarded.

Why join Clean Eats?

• A weekdayproductionschedule with early starts.

• A role combining hands-oncooking with practical team leadership.

• The opportunity to contribute ideas and help improve the way we work.

• The satisfaction of producing quality meals enjoyed by customers every week.