Kitchen Manager

About the role

Drive disciplined kitchen execution in a high-throughput airport environment where every minute matters. Reporting to the Executive Chef, this role converts culinary standards into reliable production, staffing, food safety, quality, speed, and cost performance. The ideal candidate is a hands-on kitchen leader who brings urgency without sacrificing safety or standards. This manager builds strong shift leadership, uses labor and production data intelligently, and maintains readiness despite fluctuating passenger demand, secured deliveries, constrained storage, and compressed service windows.

The Mandate: Build a reliable, accountable airport kitchen that delivers quality food at pace, controls labor and food cost, maintains exceptional sanitation, and develops future culinary leaders.

Role Scope & Leadership Expectations

• Lead daily kitchen operations, shift execution, staffing deployment, production, sanitation, and service readiness
• Execute recipes, prep standards, portion controls, pars, ordering, receiving, and inventory systems established by the Executive Chef
• Lead culinary hiring, onboarding, coaching, performance documentation, and workforce recommendations with the Executive Chef and HR
• Coordinate closely with the General Manager and front-of-house leadership to manage ticket flow and guest recovery
• Maintain airport access, delivery, storage, security, and compliance requirements
• Serve as the senior culinary leader on duty when assigned

Essential Duties

Daily Kitchen Leadership

• Conduct opening readiness, station checks, shift deployment, pre-service alignment, peak-period leadership, and closing verification
• Ensure prep, pars, staffing, equipment, product, and sanitation are ready before demand
• Monitor ticket pacing, order accuracy, quality, portion, temperature, and communication throughout service
• Reallocate labor and production quickly in response to flight activity, volume shifts, call-outs, product shortages, or equipment issues
• Escalate material operating, employee, safety, and equipment risks promptly

Cost, Inventory & Productivity

• Manage food usage, waste, yield, transfers, inventory, receiving, storage, and purchasing within assigned authority
• Use sales, production, ticket, waste, and labor data to improve deployment and reduce avoidable cost
• Maintain accurate counts, logs, invoices, transfer records, and variance explanations
• Protect portions, recipes, prep levels, shelf life, rotation, and product availability
• Support forecast, budget, and action-plan development with accurate operating insight

People Leadership & Training

• Interview, onboard, schedule, coach, document performance, and recommend employment actions consistent with company policy
• Certify employees on stations, sanitation, allergens, equipment, recipes, and airport requirements
• Develop leads and supervisors capable of independently controlling shifts
• Set expectations for urgency, attendance, teamwork, respect, cleanliness, and accountability
• Partner with HR and culinary leadership on retention, employee relations, and corrective action

Food Safety & Quality Assurance

• Maintain compliance with food protection, sanitation, allergen, cooling, reheating, holding, labeling, chemical, and personal hygiene standards
• Complete and verify required logs, checks, training, and corrective actions
• Maintain continuous inspection readiness and immediately correct unsafe conditions
• Ensure equipment is used safely, cleaned properly, and removed from service when unsafe
• Report incidents, injuries, near misses, guest claims, and food safety concerns promptly

Cross-Functional & Airport Coordination

• Coordinate production and service pacing with front-of-house leaders
• Plan secured receiving, product movement, storage, and vendor access within airport requirements
• Communicate shortages, delays, substitutions, equipment issues, and capacity constraints early
• Support irregular operations and peak travel demand with disciplined contingency plans

Success Measures

• Food Cost & Waste: food cost, portion control, yield, spoilage, waste, variance, purchasing compliance, receiving accuracy
• Labor & Productivity: kitchen labor %, sales per labor hour, overtime, deployment accuracy, attendance, schedule effectiveness
• Speed & Execution: ticket times, station readiness, throughput, production completion, product availability, shift recovery
• Quality: recipe adherence, order accuracy, presentation, temperature, product consistency, guest feedback
• People: training completion, station certification, turnover, attendance, leadership readiness, performance follow-through
• Safety & Compliance: food safety, sanitation, allergen control, inspection results, injury trends, airport requirements, corrective actions

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive culinary experience, including at least 2 years leading shifts, supervisors, or kitchen teams in a high-volume operation
• Working knowledge of food cost, labor deployment, inventory, production planning, and food safety systems
• Ability to obtain and maintain airport credentials and required food-safety certifications
• Ability to lead early mornings, late evenings, weekends, holidays, and peak travel periods
• Strong written, verbal, and digital communication skills
• Legal authorization to work in the United States

Preferred Qualifications

• Airport, high-volume restaurant, hotel, resort, institutional, or travel-hospitality experience
• Culinary degree, apprenticeship, or equivalent professional development
• Experience with constrained storage, secured receiving, variable-volume forecasting, and rapid service
• Certified Food Protection Manager and recognized safety training

Leadership Competencies

• Financial Acumen: interprets operating statements, forecasts, margin drivers, and capital decisions
• Enterprise Leadership: balances immediate operations with long-term brand, talent, and org priorities
• Talent Builder: selects strong leaders, sets expectations, coaches, and develops succession depth
• Operational Discipline: builds repeatable systems and uses data to drive consistency
• Executive Communication: communicates complex issues with clarity and sound judgment
• Integrity & Stewardship: protects resources, confidential information, safety, and trust

Work Environment

This position works in a commercial airport kitchen and requires extended standing and walking, frequent bending and reaching, exposure to heat, steam, refrigeration, sharp tools, and chemicals, and the ability to lift and move typical food products and equipment. Airport screening and access requirements apply. Reasonable accommodations available for qualified individuals.