Culinary Lead

The Emily Program; Dunwoody (GA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

HSA and PPO insurance with HSA or FSA

Vision insurance

Short-term and long-term disability

Company-paid life insurance

Company 401(k) matching up to 50%

Job summary

The Emily Program is seeking a Culinary Lead to guide a clinical kitchen, ensuring high‑quality, nutritious meals aligned with therapeutic care. You will lead a culinary team, maintain cycle menus, and partner with dietitians to meet dietary needs in a healing environment.

You will support operations, train staff, and ensure safe, compliant kitchen practices while coordinating with multiple sites as needed.

Qualifications

• Associate degree in culinary arts, culinary management, or combination of education/experience.
• 3–5 years of cooking in a medium volume kitchen.
• Healthcare, hospital or mental health setting preferred.
• Catering experience preferred.
• 1–2 years in culinary leadership/management preferred.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to travel to multiple sites required.
• ServSafe Manager Certification or ability to obtain upon hire.

Responsibilities

• Lead culinary team and manage kitchen operations in a therapeutic setting.
• Ensure adherence to the cycle menu and standardized recipes with accurate portions.
• Collaborate with Culinary Manager and Dietetic Technician to meet dietary needs.
• Oversee food production and service in the Culinary Manager's absence.
• Represent culinary staff in communications with clients, vendors and stakeholders.
• Maintain professional boundaries and HIPAA compliance in all activities.

Skills

Communication skills

Driver's license

Willingness to travel

Education

Associate degree in culinary arts or culinary management

Tools

ServSafe Manager Certification

Job description

Our vision is a world of peaceful relationships with food, weight, and body image, where everyone with an eating disorder can experience recovery. We believe that exceptional, individualized care leads to lasting recovery from eating disorders. That’s why our teams are comprised of compassionate, dedicated professionals from a variety of backgrounds who collaborate to provide the very best evidence-based care for our clients at all levels of care.

Position Overview

The Culinary Lead provides a positive, professional work environment and leads a culinary team in providing high quality, wholesome food that supports the therapeutic supported meal process for clients, staff, and guests. Acts as a shift lead when the Culinary Manager is not present to support the culinary team in provision of ingredients, cooking and catering operations where applicable. Maintains the kitchen, storage and culinary spaces in accordance with nutrition and culinary policies and procedures in addition to regulatory sanitation and safety standards.

Schedule

• Holidays as assigned
• Hours
• 1:00 pm-9:30 pm

Location

Final Compensation offered will be within pay range based on qualifications/experience met for the position

How Culinary Leads Empower Recovery

• Partners with the Culinary Manager to ensure efficient and functional management of the kitchen
• Keeps the Culinary Manager apprised of personnel and performance issues to enable the Culinary Manager in addressing concerns.
• Partners with the Culinary Manager to create awareness of meal planning challenges and propose solutions that meet therapeutic needs of clients and their communities of support.
• In the absence of the Culinary Manager:
• Oversees food production and service to ensure adherence to the Accanto Nutrition approved cycle menu and standardized recipes (including accurate portioning of food)
• Partners with the Dietetic Technician to ensure meals/snacks meet dietary accommodations and prescribed meal plan needs
• Acts as the culinary representative for staff, clients, vendors, and culinary production and service.
• Maintains appropriate, therapeutic boundaries with clients and their communities of support at all times ensuring adherence to HIPPA regulations for all culinary employees.
• Other duties, as assigned.

Qualifications

• Associate degree in culinary arts, culinary management, or combination of similar education/experience, required
• At least 3-5 years of cooking experience in a medium volume kitchen, required
• Experience in a healthcare, hospital or mental health setting, preferred
• Catering experience, preferred
• At least 1- 2 years in culinary leadership/management position, preferred
• Strong communication skill (written and verbal), preferred
• Experience working with vulnerable populations, preferred
• Valid driver’s license, required
• Must be willing to travel to multiple sites for delivery of internal catered meals
• ServSafe Manager Certification or ability to obtain upon hire, required

What we offer:

Employee Benefits: We understand the importance of a well-rounded benefits package. That’s why we’re dedicated to providing a range of plans to meet your needs.

For full-time employees, we offer:

• HSA and PPO insurance with HSA or FSA options (Blue Cross Blue Shield)
• Vision insurance (EyeMed)
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Company-paid life insurance
• Company 401(k) matching for up to 50% of your contribution, up to 6% of your compensation

Paid time off is a crucial part of maintaining work and life balance. Our generous PTO plan accrues annually and begins with your first whole pay period. Eligible employees enjoy seven paid holidays and one floating holiday in addition to their regular PTO.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in The Emily Program’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.