Kitchen Manager job description template

A kitchen manager runs the back of house: ordering, inventory, food cost, cook schedules and food safety, and usually cooking on the line during busy shifts. At restaurants without an executive chef, this is the person who keeps the kitchen consistent and profitable. Your post should say how many cooks they'll manage and whether they'll create menu items or run a set menu.

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Kitchen Manager

Full-time
Your Company is hiring a kitchen manager to run our back of house day to day. You'll order food and supplies, manage inventory and food cost, schedule our cooks and make sure every dish goes out the way the recipe says it should. You'll also keep the kitchen clean, safe and ready for an inspection on any given day, and jump on the line when it's busy. If you're organized, steady and good with people, we'd like to talk.

What you’ll do

  • Schedule cooks and dishwashers each week to cover expected volume while staying within labor goals
  • Order food and supplies against par levels, and compare vendor prices regularly
  • Take weekly inventory and calculate food cost, flagging items that run over target
  • Keep recipe cards and plating photos current so every cook makes each dish the same way
  • Hire, train and supervise back-of-house staff, and address attendance or performance issues
  • Run daily line checks for temperatures, labeling, freshness and station setup
  • Arrange equipment repairs, hood cleaning and pest control, and keep service records on file
  • Cook on the line during peak service and step into any station that falls behind

What we’re looking for

  • Two or more years leading a kitchen as a kitchen manager, sous chef or lead cook
  • Hands-on experience with ordering, inventory counts and food cost calculations
  • A food protection manager certification such as ServSafe Manager, or able to earn one soon after hire
  • Comfortable with spreadsheets, POS sales reports and scheduling apps
  • Able to work long shifts on your feet, around hot equipment, and lift cases up to 50 lbs
  • Available for a mix of day, evening and weekend shifts

Nice to have

  • Experience writing and costing new menu items
  • Experience with restaurant software such as Toast, 7shifts or MarginEdge
  • Experience opening a new kitchen or reworking an existing menu

Schedule

Full-time, usually five days a week, covering a mix of prep, service and closing shifts. Weekends and holidays are part of the job, and we plan days off together in advance.

What we offer

  • Paid vacation and sick time
  • Quarterly bonus based on food and labor cost goals
  • Meals from our kitchen on every shift
  • Help paying for health insurance
  • Paid ServSafe Manager training and exam

Add your pay, location and schedule when you post. Jobs that show pay get noticeably more applicants.

Screening questions for a kitchen manager

Ask these on the application form to sort applicants quickly. They’re added automatically when you post this template.

  • Do you have at least two years of experience leading a restaurant kitchen or back-of-house team?Yes / No · required
  • Which ordering, inventory or scheduling tasks have you handled on your own?Short answer · required
  • Describe a kitchen system you set up, such as order guides, prep lists or cleaning schedules, and how it worked.Paragraph

Kitchen Manager interview questions

  1. How do you set par levels, and how often do you revisit them?
  2. Food cost jumped this month. Walk me through how you'd find out why.
  3. How do you make sure a dish tastes the same no matter which cook makes it?
  4. A health inspector walks in during the lunch rush. What do you do?
  5. How do you build a cook schedule for a week with a big holiday in it?
  6. Tell me about a cook you had to coach on attendance or attitude. What happened?
  7. Which equipment problems can you fix yourself, and when do you call a repair company?
  8. How do you balance working the line with getting your ordering and paperwork done?

Tips for hiring a kitchen manager

  • Hand finalists a few recent invoices and an inventory sheet and ask them to estimate food cost. You'll see quickly who has really done it.
  • Decide whether you need a cook who can manage or a manager who can cook, and say which in your post. They attract different candidates.
  • Ask references how the candidate's kitchens did on health inspections and how long their cooks stayed.
  • Be clear about who owns the menu. Some kitchen managers want to create dishes, while others prefer running a set menu well.