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About the Role
Lenox Hill Neighborhood House is seeking an innovative, ambitious, and mission-driven Head Chef to oversee the daily operations of the Food Services Department. This role provides hands-on leadership to a culinary team in a fast-paced, high-volume environment, supporting the organization's mission by delivering exceptional food service and advancing its farm-to-institution model.
Responsibilities
- Oversee the management and operations of the institutional kitchen, including menu creation and management in accordance with nutrition and funder requirements.
- Lead and work closely with Sous Chefs, Chef Tournant, and Food Services team members for effective daily operations, including overseeing schedules, hiring, onboarding, and training.
- Collaborate with chefs to develop, test, and introduce culturally responsive, farm-to-institution recipes scalable for institutional food service.
- Support the expansion of healthy food initiatives, including coordinating meal production, distribution logistics, and community partnerships.
- Utilize technology and data systems to track food costs, inventory, and production quantities while ensuring compliance with government funding requirements.
- Evaluate costs, negotiate prices with vendors, and develop relationships with potential new sourcing opportunities.
- Facilitate routine team training, facility self-inspections, and inventory.
- Assist with all daily food operations, as well as in-house special events (menu prep, event set-up and breakdown, etc.).
- Lead the ongoing improvement of kitchen standard operating procedures (SOPs), ensuring clear systems for production, sanitation, inventory, and team workflows.
- Maintain compliance with all food handling procedures, including those of the Department of Health and the Neighborhood House.
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary staff across departments at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and ensure streamlined communication related to menus and in-house meal service.
- Complete all other responsibilities and duties as assigned by the Executive Chef & Director of Culinary Programs.
Requirements
- Chef who thrives in a highly social, fast-paced community and institutional kitchen environment.
- Bachelor’s degree.
- 5+ years of culinary, food production, or restaurant management experience.
- Experience operating community food programs and managing high-volume meal production kitchens and food service teams.
- Be certified, or become certified, to make and serve food in New York City and ensure compliance with NYC Food Standards.
- Possess a Food Protection Certificate from the New York City Department of Health, or ability to obtain.
- Commitment to food equity, sustainable food systems, and social justice.
- Strong management, organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.
- Computer literacy, including Excel and relevant culinary or food service software.
- Experience working with government agencies, such as NYC Aging and Child and Adult Care Food Program strongly preferred.
- Fluency in Spanish is preferred to support effective communication with staff and community members.
- Flexible and dependable, with the ability to work holidays as needed to ensure uninterrupted meal service.
- All individuals, as a condition for employment, are required to undergo a pre-employment background check. Certain positions require more extensive background checks to comply with applicable laws.
Skills
- Culinary
- Food production
- Restaurant management
- High-volume meal production
- Food service management
- Menu creation
- Nutrition requirements
- Funder requirements
- Team leadership
- Hiring
- Onboarding
- Training
- Recipe development
- Farm-to-institution model
- Food initiatives
- Meal production logistics
- Distribution logistics
- Community partnerships
- Technology utilization
- Data systems
- Food cost tracking
- Inventory management
- Production quantity tracking
- Government funding compliance
- Cost evaluation
- Vendor negotiation
- Sourcing
- Team training
- Facility self-inspections
- Standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Production systems
- Sanitation systems
- Team workflows
- Food handling procedures
- Department of Health compliance
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
- Communication
- Excel
- Relevant culinary or food service software
- Spanish fluency (preferred)
Location
- New York City
Work Type
- Full-time
Experience Level
- 5+ years of culinary, food production, or restaurant management experience
- Experience operating community food programs
- Experience managing high-volume meal production kitchens and food service teams
Education Level
- Bachelor's degree
Salary/Compensations
- $80,000 - $80,000 annually
Benefits
- Comprehensive health insurance choices for staff and their families
- Extensive paid time off – 25 days’ vacation; 12 holidays; and sick time
- Matching contributions to Retirement Plan
- Paid parental leave policy for all staff
- Professional Development Opportunities – certifications and licenses, conferences, trainings, lectures and more
- Free Life Insurance – 3x annual salary
- Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts for Medical, Dependent Care and Parking/Mass Transit
- Supplemental Insurance Coverage (Accident, Hospital and Critical Illness)
- Staff events and parties including Film and Dinner nights, bowling parties, baseball games, food trucks, holiday parties, parties on our Green Roof, chocolate event for Valentine’s Day and ice cream socials, and much more.
- Staff use of State-of-the Art Fitness Center, Gym and Swimming Pool
- Staff group fitness classes, swimming lessons and lap swim for staff
- PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness) Eligible Employer
About the Company
- Lenox Hill Neighborhood House is widely recognized as one of New York’s premier human services providers, a settlement house founded in 1894 that provides an extensive array of effective and integrated services—social, educational, health, housing, mental health, nutritional and fitness—which significantly improve the lives of 16,000 people in need each year, ages 3 to 103, on the East Side of Manhattan.
- Our clients include older adults, unhoused and formerly unhoused adults, children and families, disabled persons, adult learners and more.
- Lenox Hill Neighborhood House's Food Services is a leader in New York City's nonprofit farm-to-institution movement.
- Our team prepares and serves approximately 1,600 healthy, delicious, and culturally appropriate meals each day across our two Older Adult Centers, Early Childhood Center, Social Adult Day Program, and Women's Mental Health Shelter.
- In addition to daily meal service, our team supports internal and external catering, special events, and community food initiatives throughout the organization.
- Food Services works collaboratively with the Teaching Kitchen®, a program which trains nonprofit organizations to transform their food service programs using the farm-to-institution model originally developed through our own meal programs.
- Our Food Services and Teaching Kitchen® programs aim to improve the health of individuals and families who have limited resources, food insecurity, chronic health conditions, and low income by increasing their access to fresh, healthy food.
Equal Opportunity
- At Lenox Hill Neighborhood House we value respect, diversity and integrity. We are an equal opportunity employer. Lenox Hill Neighborhood House prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. Lenox Hill Neighborhood House conforms to the spirit as well as to the letter of all applicable laws and regulations. The policy of equal employment opportunity (EEO) and anti-discrimination applies to all aspects of the relationship between Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and its colleagues.