Job Overview
Employment Type
Full-time
Work Schedule
Standard Hours
Day Shifts
Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Paid Time Off
Retirement Plan
Professional development opportunities
Job Description
The hiring establishment is a school district's Nutrition Services department, located at the Food Production Center in Wichita, Kansas. This full-time position operates on a 260-day calendar schedule and is essential to the district's commitment to providing nutritious, appealing, and culturally relevant meals to its diverse student population. The department is tasked with ensuring compliance with USDA meal patterns and nutrition requirements, while balancing cost-efficiency and operational feasibility across various school sites. The Nutrition Services team plays a vital role in supporting student health and wellness through innovative culinary services, menu development, and comprehensive food service operations.
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Job Requirements
- Degree in culinary, restaurant management, food and nutrition or related field, or commensurate experience
- Five years' experience in food service, three of which must be in multi-unit or commercial settings
- Certification by American Culinary Federation preferred
- Maintain a valid Kansas driver’s license at all times
- Food Safety Basics class within 6 months of hire
- Intermediate computer skills required subject to testing
Job Qualifications
- Degree in culinary, restaurant management, food and nutrition or related field, or commensurate experience
- Certification by American Culinary Federation preferred
- Five years' experience in food service with at least three years in multi-unit or commercial settings
- Maintain a valid Kansas driver’s license at all times
- SNS credentialing preferred
- Food Safety Basics class within 6 months of hire
- Intermediate computer skills required subject to testing
Job Duties
- Lead districtwide culinary and menu strategies including recipe development, product research and standardization
- Lead the development, implementation and continuous improvement of district menus to maximize student participation, quality, and acceptability while meeting USDA meal pattern and nutrition requirements
- Collaborate with menu planners to ensure menus are nutritionally compliant, cost-effective, and operationally feasible across all sites
- Drive menu innovation incorporating district demographics, student preferences, and emerging best practices in school nutrition
- Lead recipe development, product research, and standardization, ensuring that all recipes are scalable and suitable for site production
- Research, evaluate, test, and select food products appropriate for all Nutrition Services programs
- Create and maintain productive relationships with vendors, brokers and manufacturers to support menu and product needs
- Create, test, standardize, and document recipes that support scratch, quick-scratch, local foods, cost control, and program requirements
- Analyze recipe yields, portion costs, labor requirements, and equipment needs to ensure operational efficiency
- Enter, review, and maintain accurate recipes, yields, and production documentation in the district's nutrition management software
- Maintain and keep current all required USDA and KSDE menu and recipe documentation including CN labels and serving weights
- Coordinate and conduct student taste tests, focus groups, and surveys collecting feedback to guide menu decisions
- Utilize participation data, production records, and student feedback to continuously improve menu and increase student participation
- Oversee catering operations including order intake, scheduling, purchasing, production, delivery and invoicing
- Manage catering budgets, analyze costs, and complete required expense reporting to ensure fiscal accountability
- Collaborate with purchasing and supervisors to control food costs, reduce waste, and support accurate forecasting
- Assist with product bid specifications, product substitutions, and value engineering of recipes
- Lead district scratch-cooking initiatives by developing recipes, training staff, and scaling processes
- Lead Farm to School and local food procurement efforts
- Participate in forecasting and menu planning teams ensuring coordinated decision-making
- Lead districtwide culinary training initiatives to improve food quality, consistency, food costs, presentation, and staff skills
- Develop training materials and hands-on instructions for recipes, scratch cooking, food safety, HACCP and food presentations
- Train and support production and site staff during rollout of new menus, recipes, and products providing on-site coaching and technical assistance
- Conduct chef demonstrations and promotional events with students and staff to increase program visibility and meal participation
- Participate in Nutrition Services in-service planning team
- Support Summer Food Service Program operations as assigned
- Collaborate with supervisors to review and update HACCP plans and food safety procedures
- Assist with state and federal program reviews, audits, and corrective actions
- Participate in design and development of school kitchen renovations and new facilities
- Maintain professional knowledge through participation in SNA, ICN, KSDE, USDA and other relevant trainings
- Assist with additional duties as assigned by supervisor
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Job Qualifications
Experience
Expert Level (7+ years)
Job Location
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