Floater Cook Manager — School Cafeteria Leader

Hartford Public Schools; Hartford (CT); Hybrid; USD 28,000 - 31,000; Full time

Job summary

ReNEW Schools is seeking a Cook Manager - Floater to supervise food service operations at multiple school locations in the Hartford area. The role includes directing staff, preparing meals as per menu, and ensuring safety and sanitation across sites.

The position requires 2 years of institutional food service experience, strong organizational skills, and the ability to coordinate orders, payroll, and inventory. This is a 10-month, 7-hour-per-day role with local 566-AFL-CIO terms.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent.
• 2 years’ experience in institutional food service or closely related field.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the procedures, practices operations, and equipment required for institutional food preparation.
• Ability to organize, supervise, train, and evaluate staff.
• Ability to manage or perform the full range of tasks required to prepare, serve, and store food in a quality institutional food service unit.
• Demonstrate organizational skills and ability to meet deadlines.
• Possess ability to follow directions in English, both written and oral, to ensure safety of food preparation and services.
• Demonstrate the ability to deal effectively and courteously with students, staff and school personnel.

Responsibilities

• Oversee food preparation and staff at assigned school.
• Opens and closes the kitchen.
• Forecasts food and supplies; prepares orders.
• Maintains inventory and records month end inventory.
• Ensures sanitary and health standards and equipment care.
• Trains and evaluates staff in food prep and sanitation procedures.
• Prepares daily reports, payroll, and inventory records.
• Maintains good relations with students, parents, faculty, and staff.

Skills

Staff supervision

Training staff

Food service knowledge

English literacy

Calculator

Computer

Inventory management

Education

High School Diploma

Tools

Calculator

Computer

Job description

POSTING NUMBER:N137 - 2627

POSTING DATE: August 20, 2026

CLOSING DATE: May 31, 2027

POSITION:Cook Manager - Floater

REPORTS TO:Field Operations Manager

SUPERVISES:Full and part-time food service employees working at the school he/she is assigned to.

PRIMARY FUNCTION: This individual(s) will be assigned to various school locations for an unspecified period of time based upon department needs. Supervises all aspects of the food service operation to maintain a smooth and efficiently managed meal program in the school in which they are temporarily assigned to. Supervises and coordinates activities of workers engaged in preparing, cooking, serving, and storing of food in the school cafeteria or special functions.Prepares daily reports, orders, payroll, and inventory in an accurate and timely manner in the absence of the assigned school Cook Manager and/or a Cook Manager vacancy.

TYPICAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Is responsible for food preparation as determined by the menu and other program requirements.
• Supervises and directs staff, food production, facilities cleaning, meal service, and other related duties.
• Assists, as needed, in the preparation, service and cleanup of student meals, adult meals and a la carte items.
• Opens and closes the kitchen.
• Forecasts amount of food and supplies needed; prepares all monthly, weekly, and daily orders on proper forms and submits to Food Service Office in a timely manner.
• Maintains inventory using proper storage principles and records month end inventory submitting to Food Service Office in a timely manner.
• Responsible for ensuring that proper sanitary and health standards are maintained for food receiving, storage, preparation and serving including cleaning and care of all equipment and work areas.
• Trains, instructs, supervises, and evaluates staff assigned to his/her school in food preparation and service, food safety and sanitation procedures, and proper personal hygiene.
• Plans and directs daily staff work schedule and job task rotations.
• Controls quality and determines quantity of food prepared and served.
• Responsible for accurate preparation of food production records.
• Submits written records to Food Service Office as required in a timely manner.
• Responsible for bank deposit and cash reconciliation.
• Maintains good public relations with students, parents, faculty, and staff.
• Performs related work as assigned.

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

• High School Diploma or equivalent.
• 2 years’ experience in institutional food service or closely related field.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the procedures, practices operations, and equipment required for institutional food preparation.
• Ability to organize, supervise, train, and evaluate staff.
• Ability to manage or perform the full range of tasks required to prepare, serve, and store food in a quality institutional food service unit.
• Demonstrate organizational skills and ability to meet deadlines.
• Possess ability to follow directions in English, both written and oral, to ensure safety of food preparation and services.
• Demonstrate a general knowledge of safe food handling principles as well as personal hygiene.
• Knowledge in the use of food service equipment in a safe and efficient manner.
• Competent in basic computation such as weights, measures, adding, subtracting, division, and multiplication.
• Proficient in the use of a calculator and computer.
• Demonstrate the ability to deal effectively and courteously with students, food service department staff and school personnel.
• Provide support to various school locations while demonstrating flexibility with job location and schedule.

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 these essential functions.The individual must be able to stand for prolonged periods of time, engage in repetitive motion, and be able to lift 40 pounds. Must be able to tolerate extreme temperature changes from freezer to oven area (0-90 degrees F).

CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: Successful Completion of Food Protection Certification Program.

SALARY AND TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT: 10 Month Work Year. 7 hrs. per day. In Accordance with Local 566-AFL-CIO, Schedule 71C, (2026-2027 $20.16-$22.44).

EVALUATION: Annually, in writing, by the designated Field Operations Manager.

UNION AFFILIATION:The Board recognizes the Local 566 Council 4 as the exclusive bargaining unit for this position.

NOTE: This description covers the principal duties and responsibilities of the job.It shall not, however, be construed as a complete listing of all miscellaneous, incidental, or similar duties which may be required from day to day.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: To be considered, all internal and external applicants must fully complete a Hartford Public Schools’ online application, which can be accessed through our Applicant Tracking System, Nimble, at https://app.hirenimble.com/jobs/hartford. Internal applicants should use a personal email address when applying. Please do not use your hartfordschools.org email. Candidates’ application and supporting documents will be reviewed.Candidates who advance through the initial review will be notified and placed in the pool for consideration by hiring managers.Candidates will be contacted directly by hiring managers for interviews.