Child Care Cook

Give Me A Break Childcare; Hamilton; Hybrid; CAD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Founding-team role

Brand-new kitchen

Small team

Predictable full-time weekday hours

Job summary

Give Me A Break Childcare on Hamilton Mountain opens late fall 2026 and seeks a dedicated cook to plan monthly menus, prepare meals for toddlers to kindergarteners, and ensure allergy-aware preparation in a brand-new kitchen.

As part of the founding team, you will manage deliveries, inventory and the food-service budget while maintaining health standards with Hamilton Public Health. You will help shape routines and culture from day one.

Qualifications

• Food Handler Certification required or completed before start date.
• Solid knowledge of safe food handling, storage, temperature control, sanitation and allergen-aware preparation.
• Ability to read and follow menus, recipes, ingredient labels, dietary instructions and individualized plans.
• Experience cooking for children or in institutional, school or commercial food service preferred.

Responsibilities

• Plan monthly menus and grocery lists.
• Prepare and serve meals and snacks for children in age-appropriate portions and textures.
• Manage allergies, anaphylaxis plans and dietary restrictions with cross-contact controls.
• Maintain kitchen inspection readiness per Ontario food-premises and local health standards.
• Receive deliveries, manage inventory and work within the food-service budget.
• Provide supervised support in a program room when required.

Skills

Food Handler Certification

Allergen-aware preparation

Menu planning

Cooking for children

Job description

Give Me A Break Childcare is a new licensed centre opening late fall 2026 at 976 Stone Church Rd E on Hamilton Mountain. We offer full-time, part-time and on-demand care for children 18 months to 6 years, with hours that run into the evening and across the weekend, so families with real-life schedules have somewhere to turn.

Our program is grounded in Ontario's How Does Learning Happen? and inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. You would be joining the founding team, helping shape the rooms, the routines and the culture from day one.

Our cook is a core member of the team, not a contractor. You plan the menus, run the kitchen and feed every child in the building, working around documented allergies and dietary needs with the care that young children require. The kitchen is new and you will be the first person to cook in it.

Hours

• Full-time, 35 to 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday.
• Those are paid hours. The daily meal break is unpaid, and you are free to leave the site.
• Built around meal and snack service, including an evening dinner service.

What you will do

• Plan monthly menus and grocery lists that meet nutrition guidance and children's documented needs, and review them with the Supervisor a month ahead
• Prepare and serve meals and snacks for toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarten-age children, in age-appropriate portions and textures
• Manage allergies, anaphylaxis plans and dietary and cultural restrictions with strict cross-contact controls
• Keep the kitchen inspection-ready to Ontario food-premises and Hamilton Public Health standards, with temperature and sanitation records
• Receive deliveries, manage inventory and work within the food-service budget
• Occasionally provide brief, supervised support in a program room when the Supervisor asks

What you bring

• Food Handler Certification, current or completed before your start date
• Solid knowledge of safe food handling, storage, temperature control, sanitation and allergen-aware preparation
• Ability to read and follow menus, recipes, ingredient labels, dietary instructions and individualized plans
• Experience cooking for children, or in institutional, school or commercial food service, is preferred

Nice to have

• Experience in a child care or school kitchen
• Menu planning and purchasing experience
• Standard First Aid with infant and child CPR, needed if you help in a program room

Conditions of employment

• A Vulnerable Sector Check completed before your start date, with ongoing offence declarations as required under the Child Care and Early Years Act
• Health and immunization documentation as required by Hamilton Public Health
• Completion of GMAB's orientation, including our policies, program statement, allergy and anaphylaxis procedures and emergency plans

What we offer

• A founding-team role, joining before the doors open
• A brand-new kitchen, and menus you plan yourself rather than inherit
• A small team, working directly with the Supervisor
• Predictable full-time weekday hours

Start dates are set with each successful candidate ahead of our late fall 2026 opening. The Supervisor starts first and helps build the rest of the team.

Give Me A Break Childcare is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applications from people of every background, and accommodations are available on request at every stage of the recruitment process.