About Us
We are Santa Barabara s only non-profit cooking school, dedicated to building community through cooking. We teach children, teens, and adults how to prepare delicious, nutritious, and affordable meals using seasonal, local ingredients. We offer an array of cooking classes for our community: children's school and camp programs, family classes, specialty adult cooking classes, and community classes.
The Role
We are seeking a dependable and organized Kitchen Assistant to support the daily operations of our teaching kitchen. This role focuses on ingredient preparation, kitchen and stock organization, shopping, team leadership, and supporting instructors through lesson plans and recipe preparation. The ideal candidate enjoys working in a dynamic environment, is highly organized and is passionate about food education and teamwork. The candidate should demonstrate experience working in a similar field.
Key Responsibilities
Prepare and portion ingredients for daily after-school cooking classes
Daily kitchen organization with ingredients, supplies and equipment before classes
Maintain a clean, organized, and fully stocked kitchen environment
Lead cleanup and oversee resetting the kitchen before and after classes
Anticipate class needs and troubleshoot setup issues in advance
Shop for groceries and kitchen supplies as needed for classes and events
Monitor ingredient and supply inventory to ensure classes are fully prepared
Organize storage areas and rotate inventory properly to minimize waste
Maintain organization and cleanliness of all kitchen spaces in compliance with health and safety standards
Assist with organizing recipes and preparing materials for instructors
Support lesson plan preparation and class logistics
Ensure all ingredients and supplies align with planned recipes and activities
Lead or assist in teaching cooking classes for students of varying skill levels both adults and children
Help manage and direct kitchen volunteers during class preparation and cleanup
Demonstrate culinary techniques clearly and effectively
Foster a fun, educational, and inclusive learning environment
Ensure safety and proper kitchen practices are followed during classes
Strong organizational and time management skills
Ability to multitask in a multi-faceted kitchen environment
Experience working in kitchens, food service, or educational programs preferred
Comfortable working with students, instructors, and volunteers
Knowledge of food safety and sanitation practices
Must have California Food Handlers certificate (Managers certificate preferred)
Must be proficient in computer usage and organizational applications (Google workspace, time and attendance software, recipe software)
Positive attitude and strong teamwork skills
Passion for cooking and food education
Ability to work independently and anticipate kitchen needs
Flexible and dependable schedule availability
Transportation
This position requires personal transportation from the kitchen to school sites. Transportation time and mileage may be eligible for reimbursement.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of the job, the employee is regularly required to stand, talk and hear, lift and/or move up to 50 pounds, stand, walk, climb or balance in conditions that include stairs, uneven ground, walking between buildings, etc. Normal vision is required for this job (with corrective lenses if necessary). Work environment may be noisy at times.
Location
Please be aware that this is an in-person, full time position in Santa Barbara, CA. No relocation reimbursement is offered.