Packaging and Bagging Coordinator

 Are you highly organized, detail-oriented, and energized by leading volunteer-powered work? Ceres Community Project is seeking a Packaging & Bagging Coordinator to lead daily meal packaging and bagging operations. In this hands-on role, you’ll prepare and run volunteer shifts that ensure medically tailored meals are packaged and bagged accurately, efficiently, and with care. You’ll work closely with our kitchen team, support inventory management, and help create a positive, meaningful experience for our incredible community of volunteers. If you thrive on structure, love improving systems, and enjoy collaborative work with a mission-driven team, we’d love to meet you.

DEPARTMENT: Culinary Operations

REPORTS TO: Sr. Manager, Meal Program Operations

LOCATION: Sebastopol Kitchen

EXPECTED HOURS: 32 per week

SCHEDULE: Monday-Friday. Occasional nights and weekends for periodic events. 

Position Summary

The Bagging & Packaging Coordinator ensures the efficient and organized execution of meal packaging, bagging, and inventory processes while supporting kitchen production as needed. This role leads volunteers on packaging and bagging shifts, therefore must be comfortable modeling a supportive culture that engages and empowers adult volunteers and youth. Reporting to the Sr. Manager of Meal Program Operations, and working closely with the Kitchen Manager, Chefs and Culinary Program Assistant (PA), this position ensures that meals are accurately portioned, packed, stored and prepared for delivery according to Ceres and food safety standards. The role provides critical support for meal program operations and will serve as backup to the Culinary PA. This is a fast-paced role, ideal for a detail-oriented person.

This role requires a fingerprint background check and mandated reporter training.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

§ Follows all food safety and sanitation protocols explicitly, maintains documentation of refrigeration or freezer logs, and ensures food is kept within the temperature and time guidelines.

§ Sets up and leads bagging and packaging shifts, including
  o Ensures shifts are properly set up including counting out containers, confirming the food is ready in the kitchen, understanding the order of the shift priorities; accurately accounts for any “special” items that need to be packaged and bagged.

o Instructs, assists, and supervises volunteers as they conduct packaging and bagging; gives feedback to ensure volunteers stay within Medically Tailored Meal guidelines and packaging/bagging procedures.

o Leads adult volunteer circles regularly (each shift), to communicate the daily plan and flow of activities.

o Teaches volunteers new skills related to the work of the kitchen, ensures volunteers are leveraged as fully as possible.

§ Works closely with the Lead Chef to stay aligned on production timelines, shift priorities, and kitchen needs; communicates in a timely manner with Lead Chef about support needed when items may be short, or overproduced.

§ Ensures adult volunteers and youth receive a warm welcome, are oriented to shift workflows, and that all volunteers are engaged in meaningful work throughout the course of each shift (including teaching new skills).

§ Ensures volunteers are communicated with respectfully and with appreciation at all times.

§ Documents accurate volunteer attendance on shifts.

§ Properly labels, rotates, and stores inventory.

§ Keeps packaging room neat and orderly during shifts and provides a clean handoff to the incoming chef with accuracy and good organization.

§ Models Ceres’ culture and values, maintains an atmosphere of non-judgement and respect for diverse value sets.

§ Works with the kitchen team to keep kitchen and packaging room clean, including dish washing, mopping, and laundry; conducts deep cleaning and organizational tasks at the direction of the Kitchen Manager.

§ Serves as back up when needed to the Culinary Program Assistant (particularly supporting freezer or product inventory management and/or product receiving).

§ May support emergency food provision efforts, which may include shift in role to production line cook, with increased physical demands to support increased production requirements.

§ Reads and responds to Ceres emails daily.

§ Regular, reliable, predictable attendance is required for all shifts and program meetings.

§ Other duties as required and requested.

Qualifications

§ Strong organizational skills, including the ability to manage timelines and projects.

§ Experience in food handling, meal production, or packaging preferred (professional cooking experience not required).

§ Experience in a setting working with volunteers strongly preferred.

§ Excellent attention to detail and ability to follow instructions such as packaging instructions required.

§ Understanding of food safety, portioning, and inventory management in a kitchen or food production setting preferred.

§ Ability to lead, train, and engage volunteers in a fast-paced environment.

§ Bilingual/Bicultural, ideally in Spanish, preferred but not required.

§ Active food handler’s certification (or willingness to obtain upon hire).

§ Proficiency in basic computer functions and ability to learn new computer platforms required. 

§ Commitment to Ceres Community Project’s mission and values.

§ Excellent people/communication skills, including the ability to listen, communicate warmly and clearly, work in a team, and set clear boundaries.

Physical Demands / Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a staff member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

§ While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand in a kitchen; use hands and fingers to operate various utensils and equipment; talk and hear to communicate with coworkers.

§ The job requires regular lifting, movement of large or heavy items, and going in and out of cold places.

§ Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements to ensure food safety standards.

§ Moderate lifting of up to 50 pounds, bending, stooping, and climbing a ladder is occasionally required.

§ The work environment is primarily indoors with occasional loud noise in kitchen area. (ie. pots/pans banging, water running, multiple people talking at once, music).

§ Occasionally the employee may be asked to work out-of-doors representing Ceres at events.

COVID-19

Ceres is following the guidance and requirements of the health departments of Sonoma and Marin counties and the state of California. We have protocols in place for prevention of and response to COVID-19 and all new staff will be briefed on these in their onboarding. We need a commitment from all staff that they will abide by these protocols.

Operating Principles

• Heart Centered & Love Guided - We are committed to expressing love, trust, respect and integrity in our lives, work, and organization.
• Everything Matters - Nothing is left out. We work to have every action and choice lead to the greatest positive impact.
• Young People are the Future - Young People are intelligent, responsible, capable, creative, and caring, and must be central participants in shaping our collective future.
• Equitable, Diverse, and Inclusive - We commit to championing policies and practices of social equity that build a diverse, inclusive, and healthy workplace and food system.

Ceres Organization

Founded in 2007, Ceres Community Project works to build healthy communities by restoring whole, organic and locally grown food to its place as the foundation of health, empowering youth, and connecting people in heart-centered ways to others and the earth.

Ceres Community Project's main program, Healing Meals for Healthy Communities, provides free and low-cost nourishing organic meals, nutrition education and caring support to people facing serious illness. All of the meals are prepared by teens that learn about growing, cooking and eating healthy whole foods and the connection between diet and health, develop life and work-ready skills, and discover their power to make a difference. The Healing Meals Program improves healthy eating behaviors among clients, teens and adult volunteers and educates the whole community about the link between healthy eating and the health of both people and planet. It also strengthens the social fabric of the community, another factor that is at the root of health. In times of disaster, Ceres is an emergency nutrition provider for our community.

In addition to operating three program sites in Marin and Sonoma counties, Ceres has trained 13 communities nationally to replicate our model. We are also active at the state and national level in advocating for policies that support equitable access to healthy food and health care, including reimbursement for medically tailored meals by insurers. For more information, please visit www.ceresproject.org.

Ceres Community Project is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions at Ceres are made without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin/ancestry, age, disability, marital & veteran status or any other status protected by laws or regulations.

Salary : $21 - $21