Kitava is looking to add an experienced leader to our friendly team in Oakland. The Kitchen Lead will be responsible for operating Kitava’s location within the Kitava's Oakland Space on 375 40th St, Oakland CA 94609, with opportunities to advance as the company grows. This is an excellent opportunity to grow with a promising young brand with demonstrated financial success and lots of momentum!
Our goal is to serve real food everyone can enjoy, including those with dietary allergies and restrictions. That’s we have decided to open our own location to bring our brand of delicious, nourishing, and healthy cuisine to Temescal, Oakland.
We are excited about the opportunity to expand our brand presence, and are looking for a leader who shares a belief in our mission to nourish the world through healthy, consciously sourced meals in a warm and welcoming environment.
If you’re looking for a place to grow professionally while making a positive impact, we’d love to talk!
About the role:
The Kitchen lead for Oakland's location is expected to own all operations and financial performance for the food service operation. The KL’s job is to ensure the kitchen functions smoothly on a daily basis, while achieving ongoing profitability. This includes ensuring efficient food production, high food quality, effective kitchen operations, and managing a well-trained staff.
This is a full-time position, with no prescribed schedule. The Kitchen Lead is expected to be an independent self-starter, which includes the ability to set their own schedule based on business needs. A workweek in the range of 45-50 hours is expected, with the understanding that the Kitchen Lead is responsible for whatever is necessary for the restaurant to succeed.
The ideal fit is an experienced restaurant leader who’s obsessed with quality service, attention to detail, and accountability. If that sounds like you, we’d love to talk!
Job responsibilities include:
- Manage all kitchen staff (hiring, training, performance management, and firing)
- Understand and perfect all recipes, menu items, plating, and portioning
- Maintain up-to-date recipe books and plating guidelines
- Ensure the entire menu is available for service every day
- Manage inventory and ordering for the kitchen
- Collect and maintain compliant HR documentation (along with Accountant)
- Manage kitchen staff schedule and ensure shift coverage within budget targets
- Serve as primary point of contact for all third party vendors and service providers
- Process and code invoices to ensure prompt vendor payments
- Ensure compliance with company policies, local health code, and labor laws
- Work with Buck Wild Management to ensure all kitchen equipment is maintained and repaired as needed
- Assist with recipe development as needed
- Any other duties related to running an efficient kitchen operation
Required Experience:
- 3+ years as Kitchen Manager or General Manager for a service industry businesa
- 5+ years in a supervisory role or above for a service industry business
- Previously held the position of Kitchen Manager, General Manager, Assistant General Manager, or Senior Supervisor for a restaurant business
- Has been responsible for the financial performance of a service industry business
- Has implemented and managed systems for employee onboarding, training, inventory tracking, and ordering
- Comfortable using Google Docs and other digital software products
Preferred:
- Fast-casual restaurant experience
- Familiarity with restrictive diets (i.e. gluten-free, paleo, vegan, keto, etc.)
- Experience using restaurant point-of-sale (POS) software (i.e. Toast POS)
- Certified ServSafe Food Manager
- Bi-lingual (English / Spanish)
Benefits:
- Healthcare Option
- Commuter Benefit
- Free Kitava Meals
About Kitava
Kitava is a fast-casual restaurant built for health-conscious eaters from the ground up. We specialize in comforting classics with a healthy twist, serving modern American cuisine with a heavy emphasis on health-promoting meals everyone can enjoy. This includes guests with dietary restrictions or food allergies, which is why our meals are 100% gluten-free, paleo and keto-friendly, and veggie-centric. We believe in serving consciously-sourced food that tastes great and is good for our health.
Why do we care?
Whether someone is vegan, paleo, gluten-free, or simply health-conscious, finding exciting food that fits their lifestyle and food values can be a challenge. That’s why our menu features comforting dishes that are also health-promoting, like our General Tso’s Chicken (made with cassava flour breading and cooked in sustainably sourced oil) and Fried Plantains (cooked in organic, sustainably sourced palm oil.)
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $18.00 - $20.00 per hour
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee discount
- Flexible schedule
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Paid training
- Vision insurance
Shift:
- 10 hour shift
- 8 hour shift
- Day shift
- Morning shift
- Night shift
Experience:
- Culinary Experience: 3 years (Preferred)
- Management: 3 years (Preferred)
Work Location: In person
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: From $19.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Employee discount
- Flexible schedule
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
Shift:
Experience:
- Culinary Experience: 3 years (Required)
- Management: 1 year (Preferred)
Ability to Relocate:
- Oakland, CA 94609: Relocate before starting work (Required)
Work Location: In person
