Jail Cook - Juvenile Justice Complex

What We Offer

The County of Ventura offers an attractive compensation and benefits package that includes:

• New Hire/Retention/Referral Incentive: New hires may be eligible for a one-time New Hire Incentive up to 10% of the current annual base wage.
• Educational Incentive: 2.5% for completion of an associate's degree, 3.5% for a bachelor's degree, or 5% for a graduate's degree.
• Bilingual Incentive: Proficiency levels by exam are $.69 per hour (Level I), $1.00 per hour (Level II), or $1.32 per hour (Level III).
• Vacation Accrual: New full‑time employees accrue approximately 14 days of vacation per year for the first 10,400 hours or 5 years of service, with increases thereafter up to 26 days.
• Annual Leave Redemption: After 14,560 continuous hours, employees may redeem up to 80 hours of vacation accrued in the same year.
• Sick Leave: Accrues 3.08 hours per pay period, with an advance at hire of 40.04 hours.
• Deferred Compensation: Eligible for the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or Section 457 Plan, with up to a 3.00% match.
• Health Plans: Flexible credit allowance for purchasing medical, dental, and vision insurance from authorized plans.
• Flexible Spending Accounts: Pre‑tax benefit towards eligible medical, dental, and vision care expenses.
• Pension Plan: Participation in the defined pension plan with reciprocity with CalPERS.
• Holidays: 12 paid days per year, including a floating holiday.
• Additional Benefits: Tuition reimbursement, disability plans, employee assistance program, life insurance, wellness program.

Under direction, performs large quantity cooking and related work in a juvenile correctional institution for the County of Ventura's Probation Agency.

The ideal candidate will have experience cooking in a large‑scale eatery preparing a variety of meals in large quantities.

Jail Cook

• Prepares and cooks in accordance with the nutritional requirements of California Title 15 for inmates in Detention Centers and the National School Breakfast and Lunch programs.
• Cooks in large quantities using USDA standardized recipes.
• Understands and adheres to environmental health regulations for food safety and sanitation.
• Assists in the serving of food within a correctional facility.
• Maintains cleanliness of work area and equipment.
• Directs and trains Food Services Assistants in the preparation and serving of food.
• Performs other related duties as required.

A minimum of two (2) years experience as a cook in a kitchen preparing a variety of meals in large quantities.

Willing and able to work rotating shifts, weekends, and holidays.

Experience as a cook in a correctional facility, military, hospital, university, or other large‑scale eatery.

Working knowledge of methods of preparing food in quantity and considerable variety, kitchen sanitation, and food storage.

Working ability to plan and direct the work of others; write simple English sentences; understand and follow written and oral instructions and recipes; prepare appetizing food, serve it attractively, and prepare large quantities of food with a minimum of waste.

Work is performed primarily in a correctional facility kitchen or food preparation area and may involve contact and supervision of jail inmates in the preparation and serving of food.

The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.