Job Details

Job Summary:

The Assistant Director Culinary Logistics is responsible for orchestrating the culinary arts and logistical aspects of the child nutrition program, including food and equipment procurement, centralized food production, menu and recipe development, inventory management, and culinary logistics planning. This position ensures seamless program execution, compliance with USDA and Anchorage School District policies, and alignment with student-focused nutrition goals. As a key leader, the assistant director drives efficiency and innovation while managing multi-million-dollar inventory and ensuring high-quality meal delivery across ASD. This position reports to the senior director of Student Nutrition. The position has a retirement association with the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS).

Please apply through this link: Anchorage School District Assistant Director Culinary Logistics

Essential Job Functions:

Procurement and Inventory Management: Oversees purchasing and procurement of food and equipment, ensuring compliance with USDA standards, district policies, and budget constraints.
Manages multi-million-dollar inventory operations, ensuring optimal stock levels to prevent shortages or overstock.
Collaborates with vendors to secure quality ingredients, negotiate favorable terms, and incorporate local and culturally relevant products.
Establishes and maintains systems for accurate inventory tracking and forecasting to support operational efficiency.
Centralized Food Production and Culinary Development: Directs mass-scale centralized food production processes to meet program requirements, ensuring consistent quality and adherence to nutritional standards.
Leads menu and recipe development efforts, incorporating innovative, student-approved, and culturally relevant items that align with USDA guidelines.
Collaborates with culinary and logistic development and training team to ensure recipes are operationally feasible and cost-effective.
Monitors production schedules and workflows to optimize output and resource allocation.
Culinary Logistics Planning:Develops strategies to improve culinary logistics, including workflows, cost reduction, and waste minimization.
Plans and implements hands-on culinary experience opportunities for students in the Academies of Anchorage trades program, coordinating activities at the central production facility and café sites.
Collaborates with educational stakeholders to align training opportunities with academic and career objectives.
Coordinates logistics among menu planning, procurement, warehouse operations, and kitchen sites to ensure cohesive program execution.
Leads planning efforts for new initiatives, such as transitions to scratch cooking and increased use of local Alaskan foods.
Analyzes operational data and performance metrics to inform decision-making and drive continuous program enhancements.
Compliance Oversight: Ensures all culinary, procurement, and logistics processes comply with federal, state, and local regulations, to also include food safety standards and USDA guidelines.
Conducts regular audits of inventory, production, and procurement processes to ensure quality control.
Collaborates with Student Nutrition business staff to prepare and submit required reports to the senior director and other stakeholders, including financial analyses of food and meal costs, meals per labor hour, percentage of scratch cooking produced centrally and forecasting procurement and production strategies based on historical student participation and future enrollment trends.
Team Leadership and Collaboration: Manages cross-functional teams, including ASD procurement specialists, central kitchen staff, and operational personnel fostering a culture of collaboration and accountability.
Directly leads at least two direct reports who in turn lead over 30 members collectively.
Provides mentorship and professional development opportunities to staff, ensuring alignment with program goals and standards.
Acts as a liaison among Student Nutrition department(s), vendors, and the district's Purchasing Department to support cohesive communication and problem-solving.
Program Development and Trainings:Visits school sites to observe food preparation and provide training and feedback.
Oversees the implementation and training of new recipe initiatives at multiple sites.
Supports the Academies of Anchorage Trades program by developing student internship opportunities and robust culinary career pathway.
Hiring Responsibilities:Recruits, interviews, and selects culinary and logistics staff.
Oversees onboarding and training of new hires.
Collaborates on workforce planning to meet operational needs.
Performance Management Responsibilities:Supervises and evaluates staff performance regularly.
Provides training, development opportunities, and feedback.
Addresses performance issues, resolve conflicts, and enforce policies.
Recognizes and rewards staff contributions.
Tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) for child nutrition programs to measure and promote continuous improvement.
Performs other duties as assigned.

Physical /Mental Demands
The physical demands of this job require frequent standing, walking, sitting, speaking and hearing. Specific visual abilities are also required. The employee is regularly required to reach with his/her hands and arms and occasionally lift items weighing less than 40 lbs. Additionally, the employee must be able to understand vague and implicit instructions, be able to readily recall facts and details, handle conflict and make effective decisions under pressure. The employee must have the ability to effectively manage the stress of working with students, parents, and other employees representing diverse cultures, personalities, and work styles in a dynamic work environment.

The Anchorage School District is committed to providing reasonable accommodations, according to applicable state and federal laws, to all individuals with a qualified physical or mental disability.

Work Environment
Work is performed in a professional environment with a wide variety of individuals having differing functions, personalities and abilities, including working with diverse groups of people in a variety of different settings.

While performing the duties of this job the employee may be regularly exposed to a video display. The employee may be exposed to outdoor weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Additional Job Information
This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job related duties as requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments.

Anchorage School District (ASD) employees must possess the ability to read and write in English. This also includes the ability to communicate in English with school staff, co-workers, and the public; as well as have the ability to comprehend and carry out oral and written directions and understand and follow English instructions and written documents.

Offers of employment are contingent upon completion of a satisfactory criminal background check. For certificated positions, this is in addition to the background check conducted through the certification process with the Alaska State Department of Education and Early Development (DEED).

This position may be required to work in ASD facilities on the military installations (JBER). Please visit the government REAL ID website for additional information.

The Anchorage School District is an equal employment opportunity employer.

Job Requirements

Education: A bachelor's degree in culinary arts, nutrition and dietetics, hospitality management, or a related field. Equivalent experience, education, and training may be considered in lieu of the degree requirement.
Must be a certified food manager and maintain current certification within 90 days of hire.
Experience: A minimum of 10 years of leadership experience in food service operations, logistics, or supply chain management, preferably within child nutrition programs.
A proven track record in managing large-scale procurement processes, kitchen production facilities, and inventory systems.
Skills and Knowledge: HACCP standards, and food safety regulations.
Strong organizational and analytical skills with a focus on efficiency and continuous improvement.
Proficiency in culinary and inventory management software, and Microsoft Office Suite.
Effective leadership and team-building abilities with excellent communication skills.
Exceptional creativity, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
Knowledge of formal scheduling procedures.
Additional Requirements: Ability to establish and maintain cooperative and productive working relationships.
Ability to communicate effectively with management, supervisors, administrators, and others.
Ability to facilitate group for meetings and trainings, etc.
Ability to be flexible and adapt to organizational changes.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Please apply through this link: Assistant Director Culinary Logistics