Director of Culinary Operations & Compliance

Second Harvest of South Georgia, Inc.; Valdosta, Thomasville (GA, GA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Second Harvest of South Georgia, Inc. seeks a Director of Culinary Operations & Compliance to lead the Valdosta and Thomasville kitchens, ensuring safe, compliant, and efficient food-service operations.

You will direct daily operations, coordinate production schedules, inventory, and staffing, monitor workflow, and provide hands‑on support during shortages, events, emergencies, and high‑volume production. Strong knowledge of food safety and regulatory requirements is essential.

Qualifications

• Associates or Bachelors preferred; substantial experience may substitute.
• Knowledge of food safety and regulatory compliance is required.
• Experience supervising culinary/kitchen staff and coordinating production.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily operations of Valdosta and Thomasville kitchens.
• Coordinate production schedules, supplies, food, storage, equipment, and staffing.
• Monitor workflow and provide hands‑on support during shortages, events, emergencies, and high‑volume production.
• Maintain temperature logs, sanitation records, and corrective‑action documentation for audits.
• Ensure compliance with Child Nutrition Program rules and related documentation.
• Manage inventory, equipment maintenance, and supplier coordination.
• Coordinate meeting room and catering setups and related services.
• Maintain cleanliness and readiness of kitchen and storage areas for inspections.

Skills

Leadership

Staff supervision

Food safety

Regulatory compliance

Inventory management

Kitchen operations

Education

Associate or Bachelor’s degree in culinary, food service, hospitality, business, nutrition, operations

Tools

Inventory management system

Job description

The Director of Culinary Operations & Compliance provides hands‑on oversight of the organization’s Valdosta and Thomasville commercial kitchens, ensuring safe, efficient, compliant, and professional food‑service operations.

Direct daily operations and readiness of both commercial kitchens; coordinate production schedules, supplies, food, storage, equipment, and staffing with the Kitchen Production Manager and program teams.

Monitor workflow, resolve operational barriers, and provide hands‑on support during shortages, events, emergencies, disasters, and high‑volume production.

Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance

Ensure food is safely received, stored, rotated, prepared, held, transported, and documented in accordance with law, policy, and established procedures.

Maintain temperature logs, sanitation records, cleaning schedules, inspection documentation, and corrective‑action records; promptly elevate significant concerns.

Keep refrigeration, freezer, dry‑storage, preparation, production, and sanitation areas inspection‑ready and support audits, health inspections, and regulatory reviews.

Child Nutrition Program Compliance

Maintain current working knowledge of applicable federal and state Child Nutrition Program rules, meal requirements, documentation, storage, production, and service standards.

Partner with program staff to ensure purchasing, receiving, preparation, packaging, distribution, inventory records, and production information support compliance.

Prepare operations for monitoring visits and audits, complete required training, and promptly correct deficiencies.

Inventory and Supply Management

Manage food, supplies, disposables, chemicals, and operational inventory through the designated system, including receiving, issuing, transfers, counts, reconciliation, and documentation.

Equipment and Maintenance

Keep commercial kitchen equipment safe, clean, operational, and properly maintained through inspections, preventive maintenance, and accurate service records.

Staffing and Labor Management

Supervise, schedule, train, coach, and evaluate culinary and kitchen support staff based on production, catering, event, and organizational needs.

Meeting Room and Catering Coordination

Coordinate timely setup, food service, audiovisual needs, supplies, signage, breakdown, cleaning, and reset of meeting and catering spaces.

Facility Cleanliness and Readiness

Keep kitchens, storage, meeting areas , catering, and related areas clean, organized, pest‑controlled, and inspection‑ready through monitored cleaning and sanitation schedules.

Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

Maintain kitchen, food, equipment, staffing, and production readiness for emergency and disaster feeding.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Associate or bachelor’s degree in culinary, food service, hospitality, business, nutrition, operations, or a related field preferred; substantial relevant experience may substitute.