Kitchen Manager

Role Overview

The Kitchen Manager oversees the daily functioning of the kitchen so that company standards are consistently met and all food service activity stays aligned with safety and health rules.

The organization serves schools across eight Midwest states, and compensation differs by state and role. A hiring manager will discuss pay during the application process.

Core Responsibilities

This role includes production oversight, staff supervision, compliance management, and administrative coordination.

• Check food and meal preparation regularly to keep quality, presentation, and sanitation at the expected level.
• Handle customer service concerns by looking into complaints about food quality or service and working toward resolution.
• Arrange meal preparation and, where needed, the daily delivery of meals to satellite buildings.
• Lead a daily safety and production discussion with kitchen team members.
• Model the organization’s core values and escalate concerns to the DNS right away.
• Direct kitchen staff across all production areas, assign tasks, and notify DNS immediately about personnel-related issues.
• Train, cross-train, and certify staff on all kitchen stations, and be ready to step into any kitchen task as needed.
• Keep kitchen and storage spaces clean, orderly, and well maintained.
• Follow company recipes and menu plans, and secure DNS approval at least 24 hours before any menu change.
• Adhere to the company timekeeping policy and report any discrepancies to DNS immediately.
• Record hours worked correctly through ADP clock-in/out or submit an edit sheet for missed time.
• Maintain full compliance with HACCP requirements, HHFKA and CACFP meal patterns, and all food safety and health regulations from the company and local/state authorities.
• Report unsafe conditions and safety incidents promptly.
• Prepare and submit food and supply orders through Boss.
• Keep production records accurate and complete each day by student grade group.
• Track inventory, including commodity and commercial counts, enter it into Boss, and maintain FIFO storage practices.
• Receive products carefully, verify counts, note invoice discrepancies on receiving documents, and approve invoices on the day they are received.
• Enter participation counts into Boss every day.
• Complete all required logs accurately and on time.
• Perform daily tray counts and reconcile them with district reports to confirm meals are reimbursable.
• Maintain communication with the building principal and hold a weekly update meeting.
• Run Daily Dish meetings and use the production board to organize and monitor service flow.
• Attend and participate in weekly Kitchen Manager meetings with DNS.
• Carry out any additional duties assigned by Opaa! Food Management.

Physical Requirements

The job involves frequent standing, walking, sitting, squatting, climbing, balancing, kneeling, crawling, pushing, pulling, grasping, feeling, tasting, smelling, speaking, listening, and reaching.

The employee must occasionally exert more than 60 pounds of force and be able to frequently lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move items weighing up to 25 pounds.

Vision requirements include focused attention, depth perception, clear near/far focus, and color recognition.

Work Conditions

This position may involve both indoor and outdoor work. The environment often includes moving mechanical equipment, wet or humid conditions, and high heat. There may also be occasional exposure to toxic or corrosive substances and extreme cold. Noise levels are generally loud.

Education, Skills, and Tools

A high school diploma, GED, or comparable experience is required. The role calls for the ability to understand simple instructions, short messages, and memos, write basic correspondence, and communicate effectively in one-on-one and small group settings.

Mathematical ability should include adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing using whole numbers, fractions, and decimals, along with calculating rates, ratios, percentages, and reading bar graphs. The job also requires practical reasoning to follow detailed but straightforward written or spoken instructions and solve routine issues with limited variables.

Commonly used equipment and work aids include dishwashers, steamers/kettles, mixers, ovens, stoves, fryers, slicers, thermometers, gauges, knives, box cutters, meal counting software, desktop PCs, calculators, telephones, fax machines, scanners, copiers, and printers.

ServeSafe certification is required, and additional certifications may depend on the state.

Equal Opportunity Notice

The employer is committed to workplace diversity and provides equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.