Culinary Development & Training Manager
Reports To: Director of Operations / Owner
Employment Type: Full-Time (Salary)
Compensation:
- $75,000–$100,000/year (depending on experience)
- Performance bonus up to $10,000–$20,000/year based on food cost, successful menu launches, and training KPIs
- Mileage reimbursement for travel between locations
- PTO
- Employee meals
- Health benefits (if offered)
Job Description
About the Role
We’re looking for a Culinary Development & Training Manager to help build and scale our restaurant group. This role is responsible for creating standardized recipes, improving kitchen operations, training teams, reducing food costs, and ensuring every guest receives the same high-quality experience at every location.
This isn’t just a chef position—it’s an operations role focused on building systems that allow our restaurants to grow.
Responsibilities
Recipe Development
- Create and test new menu items
- Standardize recipes across all locations
- Write detailed recipe cards with weights, measurements, and instructions
- Develop seasonal and limited-time offerings
Food Cost & Profitability
- Calculate food cost for every menu item
- Maintain target food cost percentages
- Identify opportunities to improve margins
- Reduce waste and improve yields
- Work with vendors to source quality ingredients at competitive prices
Kitchen Training
- Train all kitchen staff on recipes and standards
- Create training manuals and videos
- Ensure consistency across all locations
- Develop onboarding programs for new cooks and kitchen managers
Kitchen Operations
- Improve kitchen workflows
- Increase speed of service
- Standardize prep procedures
- Build prep lists and production schedules
- Conduct regular kitchen audits
Quality Control
- Ensure every plate meets company standards
- Monitor consistency, presentation, and taste
- Support restaurant openings and menu rollouts
- Work closely with operations and leadership to continuously improve execution
Qualifications
- 5+ years of culinary leadership experience
- Executive Chef, Corporate Chef, Culinary Director, or Multi-Unit Kitchen Management experience preferred
- Strong understanding of food costing and inventory
- Experience creating recipe books and kitchen SOPs
- Excellent leadership and training skills
- Ability to travel between restaurant locations
- Passion for building scalable systems, not just cooking
Success Looks Like
Within your first 90 days, you will have:
- Standardized every core recipe
- Built recipe books and kitchen SOPs
- Trained all kitchen teams
- Reduced food waste
- Improved kitchen efficiency
- Established quality audits for every location
- Created a process for launching future menu items consistently
Ideal Candidate
You’re someone who enjoys building systems as much as creating great food. You know how to turn recipes into repeatable processes, coach teams, and ensure every location delivers the same exceptional guest experience. You thrive in a fast-growing company where you’ll help shape the future of multiple restaurant concepts.
Pay: $75,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
