Sous Chef

Growing Chefs is hiring!

Do you want to support sustainable and just food practices? Build connections between kids and their food? Make local, sustainable food accessible? Engage communities through food? If yes, then this might be the place for you!

We’re looking for someone who has experience collaborating to put out large volumes of food, enjoys working with kids, and has a passion for nourishing food and supporting food literacy.

Role: Sous Chef

Compensation: $26.15 per hour

Schedule: Part-time, variable hours. Shifts are generally 5-7 hours on weekdays, between 8:30am-3:30 pm.

Upon hiring, this role will require a minimum of 1 shift per week for 6-weeks to ensure effective and meaningful training (annual requirement). After successful completion of training, scheduling will vary to reflect the coverage and capacity needs of the organization as well as candidate availability.

Contract Term: Part-time variable hours until June 30, 2026 with the possibility of extension.

Location: onsite in Vancouver schools (exact location TBD).

Anticipated Start Date: as soon as possible

Positions Available: (2)

Position Summary:

This part-time position with variable hours plays a key role in providing coverage and support for our Chef teams in residence.

The Sous Chef supports our teams of Chefs-in-Residence with preparing meals, maintaining a safe and clean kitchen environment, and with the coordination and supervision of student chefs in the kitchen. Sous Chefs work directly with our community volunteers to deliver interactive edible education and non-stigmatizing, nourishing, and culturally-relevant meals that kids want to eat.

Responsibilities include:

Meal Prep and Service

• Executes meal service for designated number of students at assigned LunchLAB school
• Executes engaging, nourishing, and culturally-relevant menus for students
• Executes supplier and vendor deliveries and pick-ups
• Collaborates with program team to implement weekly food literacy skills curriculum into meal prep for student chefs

Kitchen

• Implements program and procedure manuals and documents kitchen procedures
• Monitors and executes day-to-day maintenance and general upkeep of equipment and kitchenwares
• Responsible for the safety and security of all those who participate in our programs (children, families, volunteers, staff) through policy implementation
• Monitors and executes proper food storage and transport that follows FoodSafe procedures
• Collaborates to manage usage of school garden produce (if applicable), and supplier orders and deliveries
• Collaborates to coordinate and execute material and food pick-ups and deliveries
• Executes day-to-day kitchen opening/closing and cleaning procedures

Delivery of Growing Chefs Programs

• Collaborates to execute delivery of high quality programming in schools and in the community

• Contributes to recommend improvements to efficiencies, impacts, complexities, and identified gaps in the program delivery model to executive team

• Contributes to delivery of edible education lesson plans and learning activities for GC programs
• Contributes to program delivery in alignment with GC mission, values, and policies

• Collaborates to coordinate volunteer activities of the ground
• Collaborates to foster a positive and engaging program environment for all those participating

Community Building

• Contributes to a positive work environment for staff, volunteers, and student chefs
• Mentors student chefs in the kitchen
• Collaborates to manage usage of school garden produce (if applicable), and supplier orders and deliveries
• Contributes to stewardship of relationships with teachers, students, volunteers, and general school community

Qualifications & Skills:

• Experience collaborating to produce large volumes of food and working in fast-paced kitchen environments
• Passionate about food justice, local food and supporting a strong, local food system.
• Knowledge of culinary techniques in food production for large-volume kitchen operations.
• Experience opening and closing kitchens.
• Excited and open to create varied, culturally-relevant and nourishing kid-friendly menus.
• Would be comfortable working outside of a traditional kitchen setting and willing to improvise and adapt when presented with challenges.
• You succeed in a mentoring role and love helping kids learn alongside you.

Job Requirements:.

• Experience in a restaurant or catering kitchen or equivalent experience preparing and serving 100+ meals.
• Must be available and able to work weekdays on-site at Vancouver schools 8:30am - 3:30pm
• Must be legally authorised to work in Canada
• Must be able to lift and move up to 50 pounds
• FoodSafe Level 1 Certification (GC able to support acquiring)
• The successful applicant will be required to obtain a Vulnerable Sector Check for working with children. Growing Chefs will cover the cost to obtain this check.
• Valid BC drivers licence

Asset but not required:

• Chef Red Seal certification
• Access to a personal vehicle

Growing Chefs operates on the on the land of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. As we work towards a world with just and sustainable food practices, we continue to learn and explore how to uplift Indigenous food and cultural values within our local food systems.

Growing Chefs is an equal opportunity employer and employs personnel without regard to racialization, ancestry, place of origin, ethnic origin, language, citizenship, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, physical and/or mental access needs, or financial ability.