Culinary Lead (East Coast)

Who we are:

Founded in 2013, Thistle is an early-stage food-tech startup empowering our customers to get and stay healthy while improving our food system’s sustainability. We deliver delicious, organic, healthy, plant-forward meals, cold-pressed juices, and snacks to customers on the West Coast at the elusive intersection of convenience, health, and sustainability.

We don’t want to be just another food delivery startup. Our focus is on our customers’ health and happiness, and we are revolutionizing how fresh, nutritious, high-quality food is purchased, manufactured, and delivered at scale. Thistle is headquartered in Vacaville, CA, and we are backed by some amazing investors.

About the Role

Reporting to the culinary supervisor, the culinary lead is responsible for supervising a team consisting of Culinary Associates and dishwashers. Culinary leads ensure that the cooking, cooling, and staging functions are performed in compliance with the assigned recipes. They maintain continuity of workflow on the kitchen floor, which includes prep, hotline, staging, Kitchen cooling QC, and dish room. 

• Support Production Leadership in overseeing the production process on the kitchen floor, which includes:
• Production execution, Quality Control/Quality Assurance, and time tracking.
• Ensure employees are following GMPs, products are consistently produced and controlled according to policy.
• Maintain working knowledge of current standards and processes with the assistance of  implementation of new and existing SOPs and policies across production teams; ensure processes and policies are adhered to at all times.
• Assist on training, instruction, and support on all kitchen equipment.
• Maintain a positive work environment with encouraging and supportive leadership.
• Communicate with supervisors and managers any concerns regarding staff members' concerns or frustrations.

• Driving and pushing the culinary team for better efficiency and accuracy in meeting targeted goals and deadlines for the shift.
• Organizing the staging area with the correct components and materials via requisitions
• Understanding and communicating which meal SKU the line will be working on and addressing any major allergies, meal specifics, and/or other pertinent information
• Ensure that sanitation buckets, cleaning solutions, and materials are on the line prior to culinary production, and make sure all GMPs are followed.
• Understand the targeted weight volume needed to fulfill meals and anticipate early enough to provide the Kitchen ample time to supplement the short called-out
• Ensure all documentation, Quality Control, and Quality Assurance are conducted, completed, and submitted after the end of the shift.
• Communicating break and lunchtime allotted and expectations of when to return to the kitchen floor or dish pit. Ensuring that all associates returning are on time and are accounted for.
• Updating and utilizing digital tools such as OKRA, Galley, Culinary Production Schedule, and other digital tools needed with accurate weights binned, times on projects, progression of numbers in real-time.
• Submit all Documentation to the Quality Control office daily. Ensure that Meal Components are properly labeled with the correct amount, date, meal code, & Allergy stickers.
• Identify and communicate all shorts, including, but not limited to, bin weights, components, meal count shorts, etc.
• Proper updates and communication are needed on Slack, face to face between all departments, emails and/or other necessary methods, such as the call-out line, phone, meetings, etc.
• Report all broken equipment, broken smallwares, and maintenance repair needs to the Supervisor or the Manager
• Understanding and communicating which meal the team will be working on and address any major allergies, meal specifics and/or other pertinent information
• Properly store all ingredients, separate different allergens from each other and from non-allergens. 
• Assist with the culinary department on cleaning and sanitizing all working areas within the kitchen department. 
• Additional duties that may be assigned

• Attend consistent safety meetings once per week, keeping track of policy changes and rollouts
• Support Kitchen  leadership in ensuring OSHA compliance standards are adhered to at all times by staff
• Support Kitchen  leadership with internal QA audit initiatives.
• Respond to Safety hazards and report to Kitchen leadership
• Understanding of how to safely use cleaning agents and disposing them properly. 
• Apply safety procedures and practices when working in the facilities.
• Apply Fire Prevention procedures.
• Apply proper lifting techniques.
• Knowing work area hazards.

• Master in executing food prep production tasks with minimal / no supervision and guidance
• Master in reading and executing recipes accurately
• Highly proficient in executing all four (4) culinary competencies without supervision: Prep, Hotline, blixer, and Staging.
• Strong proficiency in operating all commercial/manufacturing cooking equipment
• Highly proficient in understanding and updating all Culinary Dashboards
• Comprehensive ability to pull and print Kitchen Printouts and recipes from digital sources.
• Ability to properly label, tag, and verify materials accordingly with minimal supervision
• Ability to communicate Culinary needs and challenges to the appropriate stakeholders with minimal supervisor and guidance
• Strong leadership skills in managing associates on the floor to hit throughput targets and efficiency goals in a supportive and encouraging environment.
• Strong communication skills that put compliance first
• Ability to balance empathetic and direct feedback in order to both support and advocate for the team and maintain consistent standards of performance.
• Able to escalate Employee-related concerns and/or issues to the appropriate parties with clear documentation and follow through
• Ability to form effective working relationships with a cross-functional team
• Ability to adhere to company SOPs and implement new initiatives as needed
• High proficiency in knowing different types of allergens
• Master in knife skills, flavor profiles, some nutritional knowledge, and product knowledge. 
• Understanding simple math equations.

• Prolonged periods of standing, bending, and walking throughout the facility
• Ability to consistently life up to 25 pounds, and occasionally lift up to 50 pounds

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential values at Thistle. We know we do our best and most impactful work when we feel we are represented and belong. We're proud to actively recruit and hire talented people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.