Homeless Service Centre Kitchen Manager

Job description

Summary 
U-turn is a leading organisation in developing pathways out of homelessness. A new position has opened for a kitchen manager to join the team at the new Wynberg Homelessness Service Centre. He/she will report directly to the Centre Manager. 

This position: 

The centre provides 3 meals per day, accessible with a voucher or by engaging in the relevant services. The Kitchen managers will be responsible for food-stock management, meal-plan development and managing rehab support clients performing cooking duties. He/she will also be responsible for the delivery of the food services along with the rest of the service delivery team. 
Service Centres
U-turns Service Centres provide services to people living on the streets, to prepare them for and to support them on a journey of change. This includes providing food and clothing, therapeutic and development-based interventions, and recovery support for those struggling with substance abuse. The ultimate aim of the Service Centre is to prepare individuals to participate in our work-based rehabilitation programme.
Work-readiness program
The work-readiness department forms part of the Life Change Journey and is tasked with providing work-based rehabilitation and skills development training that prepares clients for graduation into the open labour market and reintegration into the community. One day a week, each client attends a therapy and training day where they access group therapy, counseling, and input using a specially designed curriculum. This cycle of learning and then application follows a graded approach and continues for as long as needed. It takes an average of 18 months. Case managers coordinate the entire intervention programme for the clients and work in close collaboration with the worksite managers.

Key areas of responsibility

• Manage the kitchen and food stock according health and safety regulations
• Make necessary purchases to supplement donations
• develop a nutritious meal plan, keeping to budget constraints
• Cook 3 meals per day 
• Manage clients and/or volunteers  performing duties as part of food preparation 
• Keep a stock inventory and ensure minimal waste of stock 
• As the need arises, assist with what development work with a specific group of clients attending under the therapeutic oversight of the OT. 
• Use and contribute to existing planning and record-keeping systems to ensure continuous improvement of your areas of responsibility.

Experience and Skills

• Experience with and passion for working with homeless individuals 
• Experience with cooking nutritious meals with a variety of donated goods 
• Experience in managing a kitchen, delegating and supervising tasks 
• An emotionally mature individual who is not easily flustered. 

Personal attributes

• Passion for U-turn’s mission and values.
• Adaptability and resilience in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Empathetic individual who can maintain emotional boundaries and maintain healthy, supportive relationships with extremely marginalised and disenfranchised individuals 
• Creative individual with strong problem-solving skills 

Organisational Fit (where applicable) 

• If in recovery - actively engaged in own ongoing recovery, accessing accountability support and practicing recovery behaviour
• If employed as a Professional - affiliation with a professional board, continued personal development and accessing supervision
• Gospel orientation - connected to a local fellowship of believers, reading the Bible and grounded in Gospel-motivated Social Action

Next Steps
Candidates interested in this position should apply online at https://homeless.org.za/careers/. 

The letter of motivation should be approximately 1 page in length. Please note that applications without a letter of motivation will not be considered.

Company Description

U-turn is a thriving non-profit that exists to give homeless people the skills to overcome homelessness. Founded in 1997, we believe in life after homelessness. We believe that every homeless individual should have access to an effective pathway that addresses their physical, spiritual, and emotional needs so they can leave the streets and become a long-term productive member of society.


To help homeless people overcome homelessness, we operate a phased approach that includes rehabilitation from substance abuse, counselling, life-skills training, and work placement in one of our social enterprises. This allows candidates to test and apply the training they’ve received. In the process, the programme inculcates a healthy work ethic, furnishes modern job skills, and gives 18-24 months of real work experience so that individuals can graduate and be gainfully employed in the South African economy.


The programme is yielding wonderful results. Our candidates typically graduate into open market employment and show an 80% long-term success rate! We are actively working to expand the programme to more locations in Cape Town and across South Africa.

Posted on 09 Sep 11:32, Closing date 31 Oct