Cook

Pine Castle; Jacksonville (FL); On-site; USD 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Pine Castle, Inc. is seeking a Cook to support the kitchen and café team, ensuring high standards of food safety and quality. You will assist in cooking and preparing meals, train and schedule staff, manage inventory, and collaborate with the Chef to maintain the menu and smooth service.

This role requires basic knife skills, ability to follow safety rules, and strong communication. You will perform daily inspections, help with sanitation, and contribute to timely service during shifts from 7:00

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED; 3 years’ culinary/kitchen ops experience.
• Culinary school certification/degree preferred.

Responsibilities

• Follow safety policies and sanitation standards.
• Assist in cooking, food prep, and plating.
• Train and schedule culinary staff.
• Manage inventory to ensure ingredients are stocked.
• Coordinate with Chef to maintain and update the menu.
• Inspect finished dishes for quality and portion control.
• Assist with kitchen/café cleanliness and equipment maintenance.

Skills

Food safety

Staff training

Scheduling

Quality control

Inventory management

Cooking and prep

Menu development collaboration

Communication

Education

High school diploma or GED

Culinary certificate/degree (preferred)

Job description

Pine Castle, Inc.

Job Description

JOB TITLE: Cook

EXEMPT: No

SHIFT: 7:00 am to 3:00 pm

Monday-Friday

DEPARTMENT: Culinary

LOCATION: Cafeteria, LEC, off-site events

REPORTS TO: Chef

DATE: 5/20/2025

SUMMARY:

Pine Castle’s Cook is in charge of assisting the kitchen and café staff according to food safety standards. The Cook’s duties include assisting in cooking/preparing food, training and scheduling staff, performing quality control on food leaving the kitchen and ordering inventory to keep up with demand.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Follow instructions and listen to management direction.
• Assist kitchen/café participants engaged in preparing food, cooking food and serving food.
• Managing inventory so that all necessary ingredients are stocked for service.
• Assist in hiring new participants and providing training to facilitate quick acclimation.
• Streamlining the kitchen processes to maintain prompt service times.
• Working with the Chef to develop and maintain the menu.
• Prepares ingredients by following methods; slicing, cutting, chopping, mincing, stirring, whipping, and mixing ingredients; adding seasonings; verifying taste; and plating meals.
• Cook and prepare meals.
• Assist with regular cleaning standards for the kitchen/cafe and verifying that participants are maintaining sanitation levels.
• Help create schedules for all culinary participants.
• Inspects completed work for conformance to quality, specifications, and standards.
• Suggests changes in working conditions and use of equipment to increase efficiency of workers.
• Analyzes and resolves work problems or assists staff in solving work problems.
• Communicates with teammates in a professional manner.
• Supervise food prep and cooking.
• Check food plating and temperature.
• Establish portion sizes.
• Tests all Culinary equipment on a monthly basis.
• Ensures all safety policies and regulations are being enforced.
• Completes daily kitchen/cafe inspections for safety and maintenance items.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Directly assist the Chef in the culinary department. Carries out responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include assist with training employees/participants; planning, assigning, and directing work; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Completion of required background screening as required by Florida Statutes (see HB531 | Florida Agency for Health Care Administration for more information).

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

High school diploma or general education degree (GED); and three years’ experience in Culinary and kitchen operations. Proficient in basic knife skills. Certification or degree from a culinary school preferred.

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write simple correspondence. Ability to effectively present information in one‑on‑one and small group situations to clients, and other employees of the organization.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS:

Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as percentages, area, circumference, and volume.

REASONING ABILITY:

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Strong verbal communication and active listening ability. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations. Adept at using de‑escalation language to solve conflict. Strong emotional control under pressure. Open to ideas, feedback, and instruction. Contributes to building a positive team spirit. Puts success of team above own interests.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS:

Valid Driver’s License in good standing. ServeSafe certification preferred or able to obtain within 3 months of hire.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms. The employee frequently is required to walk and climb or balance. The employee is occasionally required to sit; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; talk or hear; and taste or smell. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee frequently works near moving mechanical parts and in outside weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is sometimes loud.