Culinary Production Supervisor

Job Summary

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Dining is actively seeking a Culinary Production Supervisor to join its in-house dining and catering program. Be a part of the group that delivers exceptional hospitality by supporting local farms through seasonally-inspired menus, and utilizing the strengths of its staff to provide the absolute best in culinary artistry to the greater community.

While RISD Dining welcomes all applicants who meet the minimum qualifications for this role, we are especially interested in candidates who have advanced culinary education, as well as prior experience working in a commissary production kitchen and/or catering environment; creating, writing, and executing seasonal menus and using Menu Management systems; recipe testing and writing; and experience with authentic cookery of international cuisines, especially Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Spanish, and Latino.

Culinary Production Supervisors work with the Executive Chef to develop a wide variety of recipes and menus. Supervise the production of all recipes and ingredients needed for daily operation. Provide direction, supervision and leadership to culinary staff and utility personnel. Are an intrinsic part of the training program for new employee training and assists with on-going training in Dining venues. Maintain cleanliness of kitchen, including all preparation and serving areas, with strict attention to sanitation procedures. Actively participate in a team setting, with keen attention to customer service, culinary methods, ingredients, and presentation in support of Dining's mission and core values.

Essential Functions:


In support of Dining and Catering's mission and values, the incumbent may be called upon to perform any one or a combination of the following functions listed below:

• Responsible for pre-preparation work necessary to facilitate production in a timely manner for meal periods and catering. Responsible for hands-on production work and for efficiently coordinating the work of others, including obtaining recipes, preparing specific items, assuring that all necessary items have been ordered and are on hand. Ensure culinary staff use and follow recipes for production needs. Ensure recipes are accurate as to ingredients, quantities, and methods; make necessary changes per associated SOP.
• Assign daily duties to culinary staff to ensure timely preparation of items, anticipating customer volume and service requirements. Ensure all health code procedures are followed including but not limited to:
  temperature management, personal hygiene and sanitation. Routinely evaluates menu offerings with Executive Chef and others on the RISD dining team, evaluating quality, overall appearance/presentation, seasoning, flavor, nutrition and customer response. Glean customer and unit satisfaction relevant menu offerings, merchandizing, station setup, menu mix, presentation and service standards for all foods prepared in unit.
• Actively engage in the purchasing of food items, ingredients and supplies; maintain accurate inventories and pars. Test new products and make recommendations to Executive Chef and culinary team. Stays current on trends in the industry, understands the importance of cultural sensitivity as to international dishes, has strong working knowledge of international cuisines, cookery and flavor profiles.
• Actively provide over-site of maintenance and repair of equipment within the kitchen and back of house. Enforces safety and sanitation standards; develops and implements cleaning schedules, daily checklists and SOP's. Maintain daily cleanliness of all cooking areas, equipment, refrigerators and freezers. Responsible for day-to-day maintenance of daily log books; temperature, production, cleaning and GRU's.
• Serve as an intrinsic part of the training program for new employees. Reviews all kitchen and production protocol. Reports any short-comings in training to Managers. Provides on-going training, inspiration and feedback for culinary staff. Conduct daily pre-meal meetings to ensure all members of staff are familiar with what is being served across all stations and communicated with as to upcoming events, changes, feedback, successes and challenges.
• Conduct staff performance evaluations for culinary staff in consultation with RISD Dining's Executive Chef, create weekly schedules, and manage vacation requests.

• Ability to actively reference classical culinary cooking and preparation techniques, e. g. charcuterie, garde manger, sauce production, meat fabrication, et al.
• Strong oral and written communication skills required, including the ability to effectively communicate effectively with diverse and multilingual populations.
• Strong ability to work independently and as a member of a team.
• Rhode Island sanitation/ServSafe certification is required or must be attained within orientation and review period.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office software and other computer-based systems.
• Associates degree in Culinary Arts or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• A minimum of three (3) to five (5) years of progressive supervisory kitchen experience in a fast-paced, high-volume environment with rigorous quality standards with the proven ability to effectively guide, mentor, train, and onboard staff.

• Additional culinary education.
• Prior experience working in a commissary production kitchen and/or catering environment.
• Creating, writing, and executing seasonal menus and using Menu Management systems.
• Recipe testing and writing.
• Experience with authentic cookery of international cuisines, especially Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Spanish, Latino.
• A valid driver's license and safe driving record.