Sustainability Team Member - Austin
About The Position
The Sustainability team member plays a key role in ensuring that daily waste‑management procedures are executed correctly across the Austin facility, a large-scale operation spanning roughly 20 different chef teams. This role supports the operational execution of recycling, compost, waste audits, and donation processes, helping maintain clean, compliant, and efficient waste‑diversion systems and reports directly to the Sustainability and Sanitation Operations Manager. The Sustainability team member is responsible for carrying out daily walkthroughs, completing waste‑audit forms, preparing and coordinating donations, and ensuring correct sorting and disposal of materials in all kitchens and work areas. This role provides essential operational support to the facility by monitoring compliance, identifying contamination, and reinforcing correct waste‑handling behaviors among staff, freeing the Manager to focus on department growth and cross-functional coordination. You will ensure that Zero Waste procedures are followed consistently and effectively, contributing to CookUnity's environmental operational priorities — with the goal of achieving Zero Waste Certification for the Austin market.
Requirements
- Previous experience in warehouse, food production, cleaning, or other hands‑on operational roles. Comfortable working in kitchens, warehouse areas, and food production spaces.
- Ability to safely lift and move 20 lbs or more throughout the shift.
- Ability to complete daily trackers and simple audit forms.
- Ability to give clear feedback to staff and communicate deviations or contamination findings.
- Genuine interest in recycling, composting, waste diversion, or environmental practices (no prior experience required).
- Basic English required; Spanish is a strong plus.
- Bilingual – Spanish and English (mainly spoken).
- Basic knowledge of Google Docs/sheets.
- Experience operating both: Forklift; Pallet Jack Forklift experience a plus (certification support available on the job).
Responsibilities
- Perform daily bin audits across all kitchens and document findings on the Daily Audit Bin Form.
- Ensure proper waste disposal procedures are followed in all kitchens.
- Classify, weigh, and process overproduced food — routing it to charity donation's, compost, or internal reuse (family meal).
- Classify, weigh, and dispose of food waste, including donations, compost, garbage, and family meals.
- Conduct daily walkthroughs of kitchens, green stations, fulfillment, and market areas to identify contamination in recycling and compost streams.
- Check recycling and compost streams to ensure they are free of incorrect materials.
- Separate and move recyclable and compostable materials according to facility standards.
- Collect, weigh, record, and pack donations; receive donation partners and hand off prepared products.
- Coordinate donation pick‑ups with partnered non‑profit organizations.
- Support the weekly walk-in collection process — pulling, logging, sorting, and routing recoverable raw ingredients across all 20 refrigerators.
- Coordinate the sale of surplus meals through the Too Good To Go platform — including setup, customer handoff, and close-out logging.
- Coordinate logistics and shipping with local carriers to send returned packaging materials off-site for cleaning and sanitization.
- Complete daily trackers for recycling, compost, and donation volumes.
- Follow all safety, cleanliness, and Zero Waste process standards.
- Provide daily feedback to staff to reinforce correct waste‑sorting behaviors.
- Support team members as a Green Leader, promoting “Go Green” practices.
- Ensure stations have the correct supplies (stickers, posters, bins) for proper waste diversion.
- Coordinate with the cleaning team to keep the Green Stations clean and in order.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
