Position Summary
The Kitchen Manager is responsible for leading the daily back-of-house operations at Woodward American Grill. This position ensures consistent food quality, efficient labor management, accurate ordering, strong sanitation practices, and a positive kitchen culture.
The Kitchen Manager reports directly to EHG Hospitality’s executive leadership and is expected to provide regular updates regarding kitchen performance, staffing, food costs, inventory, maintenance, and operational needs.
Key Responsibilities
Kitchen Operations
- Direct daily kitchen operations and service execution.
- Ensure all menu items follow Woodward recipes, portions, presentation, and quality standards.
- Complete opening, shift-change, and closing kitchen inspections.
- Ensure all stations are stocked, organized, and ready before service.
- Monitor ticket times, food quality, and communication during service.
- Respond quickly to equipment, product, staffing, and service issues.
- Maintain strong communication between the kitchen and FOH team.
Team Leadership
- Recruit, train, coach, schedule, and supervise BOH employees.
- Conduct line checks and pre-shift meetings.
- Assign daily prep and cleaning responsibilities.
- Hold employees accountable for attendance, appearance, performance, and workplace conduct.
- Provide ongoing feedback and document performance concerns.
- Build a respectful, professional, and team-focused kitchen culture.
- Develop cooks and prep employees for additional responsibility.
Food Quality and Consistency
- Enforce all approved recipes, preparation methods, and plating standards.
- Taste and inspect food throughout each shift.
- Verify that products are properly prepared, labeled, dated, rotated, and stored.
- Prevent unauthorized recipe or portion changes.
- Address guest complaints and food-quality concerns immediately.
- Report recurring quality issues and corrective actions to executive leadership.
Prep and Inventory Management
- Maintain the Woodward Daily Prep and PAR System.
- Review on-hand inventory and forecasted business before assigning prep.
- Adjust PAR levels based on sales, waste, special events, and business trends.
- Complete inventory counts accurately and on schedule.
- Prepare and submit food and supply orders by established deadlines.
- Receive deliveries and verify product quality, quantity, and invoice accuracy.
- Maintain organized walk-ins, freezers, dry storage, and preparation areas.
- Report shortages, substitutions, and vendor issues promptly.
Financial Management
- Control food costs through proper purchasing, portioning, storage, and waste reduction.
- Track waste, spoilage, overproduction, comps, and incorrect orders.
- Schedule the BOH team according to forecasted business and approved labor targets.
- Monitor overtime, early clock-ins, missed breaks, and unnecessary labor.
- Review BOH timecards daily for accuracy.
- Provide executive leadership with accurate labor, inventory, purchasing, and food-cost information.
Food Safety and Sanitation
- Maintain compliance with health department, food-safety, and EHG Hospitality standards.
- Enforce proper handwashing, glove use, cooling, reheating, and temperature-control procedures.
- Ensure all food is labeled, dated, rotated, and stored using FIFO procedures.
- Complete required temperature and sanitation logs.
- Maintain a clean and inspection-ready kitchen.
- Ensure chemicals are properly labeled, stored, and used.
- Report pest-control, maintenance, and equipment concerns immediately.
Administrative and Leadership Reporting
- Maintain accurate prep, inventory, ordering, waste, temperature, and cleaning records.
- Participate in management and executive leadership meetings as required.
- Provide regular updates on staffing, labor, food costs, inventory, equipment, and operational performance.
- Assist with menu rollouts, recipe training, seasonal changes, and special events.
- Complete incident reports, coaching documentation, and required operational records.
- Execute company initiatives and follow all EHG Hospitality policies and procedures.
Qualifications
- Two or more years of kitchen leadership experience preferred.
- Strong knowledge of kitchen operations, food safety, inventory, ordering, and labor management.
- Ability to lead a high-volume kitchen during busy service periods.
- Strong communication, organization, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to coach employees and hold the team accountable.
- Current food-safety manager certification or ability to obtain certification.
- Working knowledge of scheduling, timekeeping, and restaurant management systems.
- Availability to work nights, weekends, holidays, and special events.
Physical Requirements
- Ability to stand and work for extended periods.
- Ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds.
- Ability to work around heat, steam, cold storage, sharp equipment, and wet surfaces.
- Ability to bend, reach, push, pull, and move safely throughout the kitchen.
Performance Expectations
Success in this position will be measured by:
- Food quality and recipe consistency
- Ticket times and service execution
- Food-cost and waste control
- BOH labor performance
- Inventory and ordering accuracy
- Health and sanitation compliance
- Team training, retention, and accountability
- Cleanliness and organization
- Communication and follow-through with executive leadership
- Execution of EHG Hospitality standards and initiatives
Woodward American Grill and EHG Hospitality are equal-opportunity employers. Employment is at will and may be terminated by either the employee or employer at any time, with or without cause or advance notice, subject to applicable law.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $23.00 - $30.00 per hour
Work Location: In person
