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Food Truck Driver / Team Lead

About Ricobene’s

Ricobene’s is a family-owned Chicago restaurant serving the community since 1946. We are seeking a dependable, professional, and hands-on Food Truck Driver / Team Lead to help operate and lead our mobile food-truck events.

This is not a driver-only position. The Food Truck Driver / Team Lead is responsible for safely operating the truck, supervising the event crew, supporting food preparation and service, completing required documentation, and ensuring the truck is opened, operated, and returned according to company procedures.

Pay and Schedule

• Pay: $20–$25 per hour, based on experience
• Job Type: Full-time and part-time positions available. Hours may vary seasonally based on event schedules and business needs.
• Expected hours: Approximately 20-40+ hours per week
• Reporting location: 26th Street Restaurant
• Schedule varies based on events and may include weekdays, evenings, weekends, holidays, festivals, private parties, and extended event days
• Start and end times may change based on travel, setup, service volume, weather, and event requirements

Primary Responsibilities

• Safely drive the food truck to and from scheduled events
• Complete vehicle inspections before departure and after returning
• Supervise and direct food-truck team members during setup, service, breakdown, and return
• Ensure employees follow the established chain of command and company procedures
• Maintain professional communication with customers, event organizers, employees, and management
• Verify that required food, beverages, supplies, equipment, and smallwares are loaded before departure
• Complete opening and pre-departure checklists
• Monitor food temperatures and complete accurate temperature logs
• Maintain food-safety, sanitation, labeling, storage, and cleaning standards
• Assist with food preparation, cooking, order assembly, customer service, and cleaning as needed
• Operate the point-of-sale system and help ensure accurate transaction handling
• Monitor product levels and complete nightly inventory-in and inventory-out documentation
• Document waste, transfers, shortages, damaged products, and inventory discrepancies
• Inspect food-truck equipment and immediately report unsafe or malfunctioning equipment
• Take clear photographs of equipment, vehicle, food-safety, or operational issues when required
• Email photographs and written documentation to management according to company procedures
• Complete closing, cleaning, shutdown, and end-of-night truck-return procedures
• Secure the vehicle, equipment, products, keys, records, and company property
• Escalate safety, staffing, vehicle, equipment, food-quality, or customer-service concerns promptly
• Stop unsafe operations when necessary and contact management for direction
• Protect company recipes, preparation methods, operating procedures, customer information, pricing, and other confidential information

Required Qualifications

• Valid driver’s license
• Acceptable driving record and ability to meet company insurance requirements
• Reliable transportation to the truck’s reporting location
• Strong attendance, punctuality, and dependability
• Availability for evenings, weekends, holidays, festivals, and changing event schedules
• Ability to safely operate a food truck or similar vehicle after training
• Ability to supervise employees and provide clear direction
• Ability to follow and enforce written company procedures
• Ability to complete checklists, temperature logs, inventory records, photographs, and email reports accurately
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced and physically demanding environment
• Professional communication and customer-service skills
• Ability to obtain required food-handler or food-safety certification within the company’s required training period
• Ability to work independently while following management direction

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous food-truck, restaurant, catering, festival, or high-volume food-service experience
• Previous shift-lead, team-lead, supervisory, or management experience
• Experience driving a food truck, box truck, delivery truck, or similar commercial vehicle
• Experience using point-of-sale systems
• Current food-handler or food-safety certification
• Experience completing inventory, temperature, opening, and closing records

Physical and Working Requirements

This position requires the ability to:

• Stand and work for extended periods
• Work inside a confined mobile kitchen
• Work near fryers, grills, refrigeration, hot equipment, and commercial cooking equipment
• Work outdoors in varying temperatures and weather conditions
• Bend, reach, push, pull, load, unload, and carry supplies
• Lift and carry up to 50 pounds, with or without reasonable accommodation
• Safely enter and exit the vehicle throughout the workday
• Travel to events throughout Chicago and surrounding communities
• Work extended event days when required

Leadership Expectations

The Food Truck Driver / Team Lead is expected to lead by example, communicate professionally, enforce food-safety and operating procedures, maintain accurate records, and immediately report issues that could affect employee safety, customer safety, food quality, vehicle condition, or event operations.

The Team Lead must never conceal, ignore, alter, backdate, or falsify company records. All temperature, inventory, equipment, vehicle, incident, and operational documentation must be accurate and completed at the required time.

Employment Requirements

Any offer may be contingent upon verification of the applicant’s driver’s license, eligibility to operate a company vehicle, acceptable motor-vehicle record, employment eligibility, references, required certifications, and successful completion of company training.

Ricobene’s is an equal-opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, experience, performance, and business needs without unlawful discrimination.

Ricobene’s is a family-owned Chicago restaurant and local institution that has proudly served the community since 1946. Best known for our famous breaded steak sandwich and traditional Chicago-style food, Ricobene’s has built its reputation through quality, consistency, hard work, and generations of loyal customers.

Our food-truck operation brings the Ricobene’s experience to festivals, community events, private parties, corporate gatherings, and other locations throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Food-truck employees represent a respected and recognizable Chicago brand while working in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment.

We value dependable employees who communicate professionally, take pride in their work, follow established food-safety and operating procedures, and provide excellent service to every customer. Team members receive structured training, clear expectations, direct support from management, and opportunities to develop leadership and operational experience as our mobile business continues to grow.