Child Nutrition Cook

Sylvania; Hot Springs (AR); On-site; USD 18,000 - 24,000; Full time

Job summary

Sylvania in Hot Springs, AR, seeks a reliable school cook to prepare and serve nutritious meals for students and staff. You will follow approved menus, portion controls, and safety protocols while maintaining a clean, organized kitchen environment.

Responsibilities include food preparation, inventory management, and collaborating with the kitchen team to ensure timely service and compliance with nutrition guidelines.

Qualifications

• Experience in school nutrition or institutional kitchens preferred.
• Ability to follow standardized recipes and nutrition guidelines.
• Strong attention to detail for portion control and serving.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and serve meals for breakfast and lunch to students and staff.
• Ensure meals meet mandated nutritional standards and portion sizes.
• Maintain sanitary kitchen conditions and proper record-keeping.
• Monitor inventory, rotate stock, and report shortages.
• Assist with receiving deliveries and organizing storage areas.

Skills

Food preparation

Sanitation

Meal planning

Inventory management

Team collaboration

Job description

Purpose Statement

The job of Cook was established for the purpose of providing each school child with food of high nutritious quality; to support the food service activities at assigned location with specific responsibilities for preparing and serving food items to students and/or school personnel in an atmosphere of cheerfulness and personal caring; and maintaining food service facilities in a safe and sanitary condition.

This job reports to Kitchen Managers.

Essential Functions

• Attends staff meetings, in-service training, workshops, etc. for the purpose of gathering information required to perform job functions.
• Estimates food preparation amounts and adjusts recipes if required for the purpose of meeting projected meal requirements and minimizing waste.
• Evaluates prepared food for flavor and appearance for the purpose of providing items that will be accepted by students and staff.
• Inspects food items and/or supplies (e.g. temperature, chemicals, etc.) for the purpose of verifying quantity, quality and specifications of orders and/or complying with mandated health standards.
• Inventories food, condiments and supplies (e.g. ordering groceries, receiving shipments, etc.) for the purpose of ensuring availability of items required for meeting projected menu requirements.
• Maintains equipment, storage, food preparation and serving areas in a sanitary condition for the purpose of complying with current health standards.
• Maintains logs, records and reports (e.g. daily production record, temperature, student lunch balances, collection and reconciliation of all money, etc.) for the purpose of keeping an accurate record of food used and student accounts.
• Monitors kitchen and cafeteria areas for the purpose of ensuring a safe and sanitary working environment.
• Obtains substitutes when absent (e.g. illness, injury, vacation, etc.) for the purpose of ensuring adequate coverage of the kitchen for the preparation of food for students and staff.
• Oversees the preparation, cooking and serving of food (e.g. regular food items, special diets, students with allergies, etc.) for the purpose of providing students and staff with food of high nutritious quality.
• Prepares food and beverage items (e.g. breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc.) for the purpose of meeting mandated nutritional and projected meal requirements.
• Prepares food and beverage items for the purpose of serving them to students and staff in an efficient manner.
• Reports equipment malfunctions to the supervisor for the purpose of repairing and/or replacement.
• Serves a nutritionally balanced meal for the purpose of meeting mandated nutritional requirements and/or requests of students and school personnel.

Other Functions

• Performs functions of other nutritional services positions, as requested by supervisor for the purpose of ensuring adequate staff coverage within site nutritional services operations.
• Performs other related duties as assigned for the purpose of ensuring the efficient and effective functioning of the work unit.