Farm-To-Table Kitchen Manager/Chef (F/T)

Type: Full Time Position – 4-5 days per week (35-40 hrs per week)

Starting pay: $55,000 - Plus benefits & paid time off

Start: Summer/Fall 2023

About The Conscious Kitchen:

We are a farm-to-table prepared meal and grocery delivery service that helps people eat in alignment with their values delivering to the Collingwood/Thornbury, Guelph, and Kitchener-Waterloo areas. That means local & seasonal ingredients, plant-based, and zero-waste packaging, and creating bold & exciting weekly menus & dishes! We are a small business, with weekly dedicated customers, and have many relationships with local farms & food businesses. We operate on our farm, 40 minutes south of Meaford. The Conscious Kitchen is a proud women owned business, powered by a team of young women in our 20s & 30s. If this sounds weird & wonderful, continue reading!

The Opportunity:

We are looking for someone who wants to step away from the grind of high-stress kitchens, and find a more sustainable & passionate career in the food industry to cook up fresh & creative food. We have historically been a small team of young women, and strive to run this business from a perspective of work-life balance – no early mornings, no working past 5 pm, and flexible schedules for time off. The kitchen atmosphere is a mix of calm, laid-back prep days, and fast-paced & podcast fueled cook and delivery days. It is super important to us that you feel comfortable & fit in with our work environment & atmosphere! Our team is upbeat and positive, fun and creative, fast working & efficient, and extremely focused on cleanliness & detail (cleanliness is key, but messiness is inevitable!). Profanities, dark humour, and lots of sarcasm can sometimes make an appearance when we’re working.

We want to find someone who is prepared to be handed a lot of responsibility, and in turn receive room for creativity, flexibility, respect, and feel valued with yearly raises & benefits.

This role is multifaceted – mainly focusing on managing our kitchen, prep and cook days – but will also include delivering orders one day per week.

This is a full-time position, with a changing and flexible schedule. It is possible to create a 4-day work week. The main working days are Sundays-Fridays with Saturdays always off and an alternating second weekend day of Friday or Sunday.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

Kitchen Work (20-28 hrs per week):

• General cleaning & upkeep of kitchen
• Unloading shipments of ingredients (lifting up to 50 lbs frequently)
• Plating & packing finished dishes in our reusable containers - up to 250 servings per shift
• Some recipe creation
• Prepping/chopping significant amounts of fresh vegetables
• Preparing base ingredients such as rice, legumes, sauces, and marinades
• Cooking dishes using our recipes - very large batches of up to 75 servings per dish, with 4 recipes per shift
• Washing & sanitizing tools, equipment

Admin/Cleaning Work (5-10 hrs per week):

• Taking photographs of food/business tasks
• Managing inventory on our website
• Washing & sanitizing our reusable containers

Delivery Driving (6-9 hrs per week):

• Picking up supplies & ingredients from local suppliers
• Driving in all weather conditions, such as snow & rain (not in extreme conditions)
• Keeping the van extremely organized & ensuring customers get their correct orders
• Driving orders to customers in either Kitchener-Waterloo or Collingwood using our refrigerated cargo van one day per week (delivery route can span up to 9 hours in one shift)

Critical Skills:

• A decent knowledge of seasonal & plant-based cooking-preferably from a professional setting
• Extremely detail oriented & independent
• Extreme multi-tasking abilities!
• At least 3 years driving experience & a fairly clean driving record
• At least 3 years working as either a kitchen manager/lead cook or chef (diploma or chef school not required)
• Confidence & experience driving in rural winters & various road conditions
• Experience with batch cooking
• A natural inclination to want to be meticulously clean!! (not extreme-but cleaner than average!)
• Strong work ethic, attention to efficiency and ability to handle responsibility
• Experience working with a large variety of unique produce

Ideally the candidate will already be living in the Grey-Highlands/Blue Mountain Area. We are close to Markdale, Owen Sound, Thornbury, Meaford, Collingwood, etc. If you plan on relocating, you must have experience living/working in a rural location. Women and/or trans/non-binary folks will be given priority.

The initial pay is $55,000. The position will involve yearly raises. We also hope to offer basic health benefits after 3 months — we want to support costs like therapy, massage therapy, and other costs related to self care!

Please apply telling us about yourself and answering the questions below (we aren't judging based on your experience alone!).

Tell us about yourself!

What makes you excited about this opportunity? (What about the posting stood out to you? How does it fit with your career goals?)

In what area do you currently live? What is your experience in rural areas? Are you ok driving to/ working in a rural location?

What is your past commercial kitchen experience? Explain the types of dishes you created, and the quantity of food cooked per day. What did you like & dislike about it?

In your opinion, what are some of the most important factors in running/ maintaining a commercial kitchen?

If someone were to describe working with you, what would they say?

What are your strongest values and strengths in the kitchen?

Is there anything else you would find exciting sharing with us?

Email your responses to Celeste at [email protected]