Founded by former Noma head chef Dan Giusti, Brigaid is a startup that began challenging the school food status quo by putting professional chefs into public schools to cook fresh, wholesome food from scratch. In 2016, we launched our first pilot program with the New London Public School district in New London, Connecticut. Since then, we’ve partnered with several more East Coast school districts and expanded our reach into institutional kitchens of all kinds, equipping chefs to work within the parameters of federally-funded food assistance programs to provide organizations with practical solutions and hands-on training that facilitate improved outcomes for those they serve. We encourage you to learn more about our work by visiting our website, chefsbrigaid.com, and our Instagram, @brigaid.

Job Title: Chef
Job Status: Full-time Exempt (10 months per year, and based on an anticipated 3-year project timeframe)
Supervisor: Brigaid Regional Chef
Compensation: $50,000 plus benefits (paid on a 12-month schedule)

Start Date: Tuesday, August 3, 2021

About Position: Brigaid is embarking on its largest scale project yet in an extensive partnership with Denver Public Schools (DPS) that will place 12 chefs in the district for three school years beginning August 2021. DPS is driven to elevate its already ambitious scratch cooking program (they bake their own breads!) and their talented teams into the model for exemplary school meals nationwide. DPS wants to be THE place for school food innovation and quality, and we are looking to hire 12 motivated, talented chefs who can share our passion and excitement for the mission of this groundbreaking project and the hard work it will require. 

Each Brigaid chef will be assigned a cluster of schools and will work with those DPS school teams, demonstrating the techniques, protocols, and best practices included in Brigaid’s school kitchen training program and helping schools implement the collaborative vision of DPS and Brigaid. The training topics include:

• Kitchen organization and the setup of efficient workspaces
• Food safety and sanitation best practices, including proper receiving, cooking, heating and cooling, serving, storage, and the use of HACCP logs
• Fundamental culinary techniques like weights and measures, knife skills, and preparation/cooking methods that can be utilized to prepare a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, grains, and entrees
• National School Lunch Program guidelines
• High quality service and meal presentation standards

Each Brigaid chef would then reinforce these topics over the three-year training period, working in conjunction with DPS supervisors and managers to support the preparation and service of school food of the highest quality. 

Job Responsibilities:

• Work with your cluster of DPS schools to implement the protocols and best practices contained in the Brigaid training program. Your job will be to set the highest example in quality and safety for DPS employees to uphold every day, then to reinforce these standards and continue to monitor progress and adherence;
• Interface with food service employees, managers, and supervisors from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds in ways above and beyond a strict teaching capacity, including the possibility of engagement with the school and broader community;
• Independently plan, manage, and document school visits, fill out daily chef journals for internal recordkeeping, and participate in a weekly Zoom call with the Brigaid HQ team to discuss progress;
• Assist with any job-related tasks, including but not limited to receiving and storage of food and supplies, kitchen set-up and break-down, recipe scaling, food preparation, packing, serving, cleaning, dishes, etc., recognizing that other duties not listed may be required as needed;
• Follow all Brigaid/DPS protocols and standards of conduct according to the Brigaid and DPS employee handbooks;
• Adhere to all National School Lunch Program and Department of Health (DOH) guidelines and regulations.

Job Qualifications:

• At least 3 years of professional cooking experience (high volume cooking experience is a plus);
• ServSafe Manager certified, or the ability to take a Brigaid-sponsored 8-hour ServSafe Manager course and pass the exam during the initial training period;
• Strong understanding of good food safety practices;
• Strong cooking ability, with understanding of all basic cooking techniques;
• Strong leadership and teaching skills;
• Ability to lead, direct, and inspire food service teams;
• Ability to use high volume kitchen equipment;
• Ability to follow recipes and use basic math to determine preparation quantities;
• Good verbal and communication skills (bilingual in Spanish a plus);
• Well versed in National School Lunch Program standards and regulations, or the ability to learn and adhere to these standards;
• Basic computer literacy, including Microsoft and Google programs;
• Flexibility in accommodating changes in schedule;
• Ability to work well under pressure and coordinate tasks;
• Ability to work well with others in a team environment.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to travel between various school sites in a timely manner (and the possibility of carrying kitchen/culinary equipment during this travel);
• Ability to lift and carry heavy objects up to 50 pounds;
• Ability to walk around and stand for long periods of time.

Benefits:

• 100% company-paid health, dental, and vision insurance
• 2 paid months off in the summer!
• 8 days of paid vacation (to be taken during school holidays)
• 8 paid federal holidays
• 6 days of paid sick leave
• 401k with 4% company match