Director of Culinary Operations and Procurement

ABOUT US

Rethink Food is a chef-led nonprofit partnering with restaurants to better feed communities.

Through strong partnerships with local restaurants and community-based organizations we work with a responsive hyperlocal network that provides culturally celebrated nutritious meals. Since 2017 weve served over 35 million meals and reinvested more than $157 million into local economies.

Our work falls into three core areas:

• Building the Network: We connect restaurants community-based organizations and food donors to deliver meals where theyre needed most.
• Setting the Example: Through our Sustainable Community Kitchen we demonstrate what dignified community-centered food access can look like.
• Advocating for Change: We champion policy and systems change to create a more sustainable equitable food future for all.

ROLE SUMMARY

We are seeking a Director of Culinary Operations and Procurement who pairs a serious culinary background with rigorous sourcing and compliance discipline. The ideal candidate came up in professional kitchens and moved into dedicated procurement and operations work. You can read a spec sheet and a cost model with equal fluency hold a purveyor to a delivery standard and keep a production kitchen clean organized and inspection-ready.

You will partner with our culinary team to build the operational systems and standards that keep the kitchen running and you will own procurement end to end - category strategy purveyor relationships competitive bids contracts and negotiations. You will also own the permits HACCP programs and USDA and city inspection readiness that our Sustainable Community Kitchen depends on. This is a hands-on onsite leadership role that works closely with Culinary Operations Finance and Programs and serves as our primary point of contact with vendors inspectors and regulators.

In our agile environment your role extends beyond core duties - its an invitation to amplify your influence. Youll be expected to proactively leverage your diverse talents contributing across a variety of initiatives to directly achieve our shared objectives.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Culinary Operations

• Collaborate with the Culinary Team: Identify daily and seasonal procurement needs balance inventory and source ingredients that align with menu development and the communities we serve. Work alongside the team on the line during production peaks service pushes and events.
• Operational Systems Design: Build out implement and maintain robust standard operating procedures for receiving prep production storage and cleaning so the kitchen runs seamlessly efficiently and predictably.
• Sanitation & Efficiency Standards: Establish systems schedules and accountability loops that ensure the culinary team is working clean organized and in strict compliance with the highest food safety and sanitation standards.
• Yield Waste & Food Cost Discipline: Build and maintain ingredient recipe meal and unit-cost models covering yield and trim loss freight rebates payment terms waste spoilage and price variance. Track verified savings and report budget risks and opportunities early.
• Agile Budget Management: Monitor supply chains seasonal agricultural shifts and market price fluctuations to protect operational budgets while maintaining high ingredient standards.
• Kitchen Equipment & Cold Chain Reliability: Own preventive and corrective maintenance work orders service vendors and replacement planning for kitchen equipment refrigeration and cold storage. Building systems security janitorial capital projects and fleet operations sit outside this role.
• Emergency Readiness: Lead response to equipment failures utility interruptions and food-safety incidents. Maintain escalation protocols and business-continuity plans so people food and operations stay protected.

Vendor Relations & Procurement

• Purveyor & Vendor Relations: Cultivate maintain and expand relationships with local farms regional growers specialty distributors and culinary purveyors. Bring your own network and keep building it.
• Category Strategy & Sourcing: Own purchasing for food packaging supplies smallwares equipment and kitchen service vendors. Translate program and production needs into clear specifications volumes and sourcing plans.
• Contracts & Negotiation: Lead RFPs RFQs vendor diligence competitive bids negotiations contracts and service-level agreements. Secure volume pricing and hold firm quality consistency and delivery terms. Maintain alternate sourcing and continuity plans so a single supplier cannot stop production.
• Procurement Records & Grant Compliance: Maintain procurement records conflicts documentation cost/price analyses and required clauses for applicable government- and grant-funded purchases.
• Supplier Performance: Maintain approved-supplier files insurance licenses certifications and food-safety documentation. Use scorecards and corrective-action plans to manage quality service delivery and price and develop qualified local small and diverse suppliers including MWBE-eligible businesses where practical.
• Planning & Inventory: Partner with Culinary and Programs on demand forecasts PAR levels purchasing calendars receiving standards cycle counts inventory turns cold-chain control and reduction of shrink spoilage and emergency buys.

Permits Food Safety & Compliance

• USDA & Regulatory Permits: Identify secure document and maintain all applicable permits and inspection readiness across USDA-FSIS FDA/FSMA NYC DOHMH New York State Agriculture and Markets and OSHA. Determine jurisdiction keep permits and records current and coordinate inspections audits regulators and specialist advisors.
• HACCP Program Ownership: Maintain and continuously improve HACCP plans and records including hazard analyses critical control points monitoring verification deviations corrective actions reassessment record review retention and employee training.
• Meat Processing Sanitation & Traceability: Maintain compliant meat-processing controls sanitation SOPs GMPs approved-source documentation receiving and production records lot traceability temperature controls storage records and recall readiness.

Leadership & Reporting

• Cross-Functional Bridge: Act as the strategic link between the kitchen floor logistics finance and programs to align ingredient sourcing with yield tracking waste reduction and community meal execution.
• Tech Stack & Reporting: Oversee procurement inventory and maintenance software to automate ordering minimize waste and produce clear food cost compliance and operational reporting for Operations Culinary Finance and executive leadership.
• Team Leadership: Lead staff vendors and contractors through clear SOPs training service standards KPIs and accountability.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Professional kitchen experience on the line or in kitchen leadership (e.g. Sous Chef Chef de Cuisine Executive Chef) preferably within Michelin-starred fine dining high-volume or luxury hospitality operations.
• 5 years of subsequent dedicated experience in a procurement purchasing or operations leadership role including building internal logistics or kitchen systems and at least 3 years leading people vendors and budgets.
• At least 3 of those years in a regulated food-production commissary food-manufacturing meat-processing or high-volume foodservice environment with cold-chain responsibility.
• A proven active and reliable network of farm contacts food distributors and specialized culinary purveyors.
• Demonstrated ownership of significant spend competitive sourcing vendor negotiations contract lifecycle management and measurable cost savings.
• Direct experience securing and maintaining USDA and city/state food permits and inspection readiness including meat-processing controls sanitation SOPs GMPs approved sources traceability temperature control recall readiness and regulatory inspections or audits.
• Working experience with USDA-FSIS requirements - grant of inspection 9 CFR Part 416 (sanitation and SSOPs) and 9 CFR Part 417 (HACCP) or an equivalent meat and poultry inspection system.
• Formal HACCP training and demonstrated responsibility for HACCP plans logs verification deviations corrective actions reassessment and record retention.
• Experience with public or grant-funded procurement including competition conflicts controls cost/price analysis documentation allowability and audit readiness.
• Advanced food and total-cost analysis skills including specifications yields trim loss landed cost freight rebates waste spoilage inventory and purchase-price variance.
• Hands-on ownership of kitchen equipment and refrigeration maintenance service contractors and equipment replacement.
• A strong track record of designing workflow systems and enforcing strict kitchen cleanliness and organization protocols.
• Strong command of procurement inventory and maintenance software plus advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills and clear operational reporting.
• Excellent judgment negotiation problem-solving communication and change-management skills; able to work independently proactively and resourcefully in a fast-moving environment.
• Bachelors degree or equivalent combination of education and substantial relevant experience.
• NYC Food Protection Certificate required by the start date or within 30 days of hire; ServSafe Manager is preferred.

Nice to Have

• PCQI qualification under FDA/FSMA preventive controls (21 CFR Part 117) for the portions of our production that fall under FDA rather than USDA jurisdiction.
• Familiarity with 2 CFR Part 200 and NYC or New York State contracting rules.
• CPSM ASCM CSCP PMP or a comparable procurement supply-chain or project-management credential.

• Must have excellent knife skills and proficiency in all aspects of cooking.
• Ability to work in a clean organized and efficient manner in a high-pressure environment.
• Able to work onsite and respond to urgent kitchen equipment or compliance needs outside normal hours when necessary.
• Must be able to stand bend stretch lift and carry heavy materials up to 50 lbs.
• Must embrace the mission and core values of Rethink Food.
  
  

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE: Commitment to embodying our values of -

Inventiveness: At our core we are relentlessly curious about solving problems. As our name suggests were a team of creative thinkers but were also hands-on doers challenging norms with humility to find practical solutions that can create lasting change.

Vulnerability: Guided by an always be better mindset we are a team that intentionally reflects on what we are doing well and where we need to improve. We hold ourselves and each other accountable every day. No blame no shame we just want to be sure were always doing the right thing.

Thoughtfulness: Our vision for a nourished and thriving world starts with nourished and thriving individuals in each of our communities. Our work is centered on the needs of the people that bring our communities to life. We dont pretend to have all of the answers. We are committed to listening and learning in order to identify and scale solutions that ensure stable and reliable access to healthy food for all so each and every community can thrive.

Kindness: At Rethink we show up every day with empathy and compassion and believe everyone should be treated with dignity. Kindness goes a long way we are all about just being kind

EEO STATEMENT

Rethink Food is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race color creed religion gender (including gender identity or expression) pregnancy childbirth or related medical conditions sexual orientation marital status domestic violence sexual violence or stalking victim status ancestry national origin alienage or citizenship age disability military or veteran status genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristic or other protected status. The organization is an Equal Opportunity Employer drug-free workplace and complies with ADA regulations as applicable.

Required Experience:

Director