Job Summary

The Culinary Arts Program Coordinator is responsible for developing and coordinating all classes, programming and private events taking place in the J’s Culinary Studio. This space is a hands-on culinary kitchen with a goal to be the destination for culinary classes and events for the Jewish Community and Southwest Houston. Initiatives of the space include: offering a broad array of culinary experiences for targeted age groups, including special focus on programs that infuse Jewish culture, holidays and tradition; private events for intact groups, including children’s birthday parties; and showcasing specialty visiting chefs. The program coordinator will design classes, hire teachers and assistants to run the classes, purchase ingredients, develop internal and external partnerships, and market the culinary studio and experiences in it. The space is a dairy kitchen and no meat will be brought in. This is a role where social entrepreneurship meets hospitality. Helping to mold and building a new program area from concepts to execution, marketing and filling classes, collaborating with leaders, and building community are central to the role. This position requires working some evenings and weekends to work classes and events.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT & EVALUATION

1. Coordinate culinary studio programs, including classes for children, teens and adults, camps, and private events. Together with the culinary committee and instructors, develop ideas for the classes and hire chefs to teach each class.
2. Book guest chefs and culinary authors to teach special events.
3. Book culinary parties and work with clients on their custom parties.
4. Work with our culinary camp director to ensure groceries are ordered and assist with camp scheduling and communication with parents, taking photos and creating weekly communication.
5. Work with J marketing department and committee to design promotion strategy for culinary programs and use of the studio for private events. Draft descriptions of classes and partner to drive registration.
6. Ensure that our classes meet the participant expectations, seeking feedback through evaluations and follow-up calls.

LOGISTICS MANANGEMENT

1. Organize and execute all logistics for culinary programs including ordering of supplies, drafting of class descriptions, managing registration, communication with registrants, staffing of kitchen and preparing for classes with instructors and kitchen team.
2. Maintain the culinary studio calendar and collaborate with internal partners at the J on scheduling, when they are using the studio.
3. Reviewing the calendar and planning and ensuring the timely purchase of ingredients needed for each class, including sourcing specialty items when needed in recipes.
4. Maintain the equipment and stock the kitchen, so that it is in excellent condition and ready for programs. This includes scheduling any necessary maintenance on equipment, keeping a list of supply inventory, replenishing and purchasing items as needed for upcoming classes.

COMMUNICATION, MARKETING & OUTREACH

1. Work closely with Culinary Studio Committee Chair and committee, developing programming and evaluating what’s working at committee meetings and regular update emails and meetings. Building a partnership with volunteer leaders is essential.
2. Collaborate internally with other departments across the J to develop opportunities for cross-functional programming.
3. Together with the marketing department, coordinate marketing materials, including flyers, ads, website posts, social media and features in public relations.
4. Develop and outreach the program to community organizations including networking with groups inside the Jewish community to book private and semi-private events in the studio.

ADMINISTRATION

1. Track expenses to monitor budget.
2. Create class descriptions and submit classes to be entered each semester on the website and back-end program registration software.
3. Design and track registration trends across classes and analyze results.
4. Design and implement a program evaluation for classes. Analyze results and share with committee and chair to help evaluate class success and future programming.

 AGENCY

1. Participate in agency-wide meetings and in-service training programs.
2. Work to promote programs in other areas and collaborate across the agency with other staff and volunteers to further the J’s mission.

Qualifications

• Minimum requirement of Bachelor’s degree. Preferred areas of focus include business, event planning, Jewish studies, marketing, hospitality, or culinary sciences.
• 2-5 years of work experience preferred in a Jewish non-profit, event planning role, hospitality industry, or kitchen management.
• Experience planning successful programs, with a focus on recruiting participation and evaluating impact.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Excellent time management skills, ability to juggle multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral. Able to interact professionally with all levels of internal and external personnel.Comfort speaking in front of people, interacting and welcoming guests, to build connection and community in the classroom.
• Self-confidence in reaching out to build a network and working with outside individuals and organizations to help build partnerships and recruit participants.
• Positive energy and attitude; ability to work independently and take responsibility for a process from beginning to end.
• Strong time management skills balancing both planning and execution to achieve tasks with deadlines and urgency.
• Experience working in a team and collaborating with others. Experience working with committees in a leadership role is a plus.
• Interest in customer satisfaction. Experience evaluating programs with metrics, surveys and trend analysis is a plus.
• Interest and a passion for the Jewish community and food/cooking, especially to experience Jewish culture.
• Willingness to be flexible and available to work evenings and weekends as required for events/classes.
• Desire to go above and beyond for the success of the program with a willingness to perform job tasks that are not part of the immediate job responsibilities.
• Ability to lift and carry packages, equipment, and materials up to 20 pounds.