Job Description:
Position Description and Essential Functions
The Crossroads Kitchen Lead is a working leader responsible for helping coordinate the daily operations of Crossroads Kitchen and leading Associates to deliver exceptional food, service, quality, and customer experience. Crossroads Kitchen brings together the Rooster Road Deli, Scratch Street Bakery, Catering, Grab & Go, and other prepared food offerings into one team. Kitchen Leads may have an area of expertise; however, Leads are responsible for supporting the entire Crossroads Kitchen operation, not just an individual work area.
The Kitchen Lead works alongside the team while providing direction, setting priorities, adjusting staffing and workflow, coaching Associates, maintaining standards, and ensuring the work gets done. Leads are expected to model the attitude, urgency, accountability, teamwork, and pride expected throughout Crossroads Kitchen.
Job Requirements:
Essential Responsibilities
Leadership & Team Direction
- Serve as a working leader for Crossroads Kitchen Associates during assigned shifts.
- Provide clear daily direction, priorities, and expectations to Associates across all areas of Crossroads Kitchen.
- Lead by example and consistently model Crossroads Market standards for customer service, teamwork, productivity, quality, cleanliness, food safety, and professionalism.
- Uphold and consistently enforce established standards and expectations across all shifts and work areas.
- Coach Associates in the moment when expectations are not being met and recognize employees demonstrating outstanding performance.
- Take ownership of issues, address problems when possible, and communicate significant performance, staffing, customer, or operational concerns to the Crossroads Kitchen Manager.
- Help create a positive workplace built on teamwork, respect, accountability, urgency, communication, and pride.
- Ensure Associates understand that Crossroads Kitchen operates as one team and reinforce cooperation across all work areas.
- Support the onboarding, training, cross-training, and development of new and existing Associates.
- Help identify employees with the potential and desire to take on additional responsibilities and future leadership roles.
Daily Operations & Workflow
- Help coordinate the daily operation of Rooster Road Deli, Scratch Street Bakery, Catering, Grab & Go, and other Crossroads Kitchen areas.
- Review daily production needs, customer demand, catering orders, staffing, promotions, special orders, and other priorities at the beginning of and throughout each shift.
- Assign work and adjust priorities as business needs change throughout the day.
- Actively move and redirect employees to the areas where they are most needed rather than allowing individual work areas to operate independently.
- Use cross-trained employees effectively to maximize productivity, control labor, and maintain customer service and production standards.
- Monitor workload throughout Crossroads Kitchen and step in wherever needed to support the team.
- Ensure production, stocking, special orders, catering orders, cleaning, and other assigned responsibilities are completed accurately and on time.
- Ensure appropriate communication and handoff between shifts so unfinished work, special orders, customer needs, or other important information are not missed.
- Support opening and closing procedures and ensure assigned responsibilities are completed.
Associate Accountability
- Clearly communicate assignments and expectations and ensure Associates understand what is expected of them.
- Follow up on assigned work to ensure responsibilities are completed accurately, efficiently, and on time.
- Encourage Associates to take ownership, recognize what needs to be done, and follow through to completion without waiting to be asked.
- Address minor performance or behavior concerns promptly and professionally.
- Provide coaching and retraining when an Associate needs additional instruction or support.
- Escalate recurring or significant performance, attendance, conduct, or policy concerns to the Crossroads Kitchen Manager.
- Apply expectations consistently and fairly across employees and work areas.
- Communicate employee successes, concerns, training needs, and development opportunities to the Crossroads Kitchen Manager.
Food Preparation, Production & Merchandising
- Work alongside Associates in food preparation, cooking, baking, slicing, portioning, packaging, labeling, stocking, merchandising, and other production activities as needed.
- Ensure recipes, portion standards, production procedures, and presentation expectations are consistently followed.
- Monitor product freshness, quality, appearance, availability, and presentation throughout the shift.
- Recognize low inventory, empty displays, upcoming production needs, or potential shortages and ensure appropriate action is taken.
- Ensure displays, service cases, coolers, and Grab & Go areas remain full, clean, fresh, attractive, and customer-ready.
- Help prevent overproduction, spoilage, and waste through effective production planning, rotation, portioning, and communication.
- Maintain awareness of special orders, catering commitments, promotions, seasonal products, and other production priorities.
Customer Service
- Set the standard for friendly, helpful, attentive, and professional customer service.
- Maintain a visible presence and assist customers throughout Crossroads Kitchen.
- Help Associates resolve customer questions or concerns and personally step in when additional assistance is needed.
- Take ownership of customer issues and work toward a timely and appropriate resolution.
- Ensure customer special orders and catering orders are handled accurately and professionally.
- Help create the welcoming, hometown experience Crossroads Market is known for.
Food Safety, Cleanliness & Organization
- Ensure Associates consistently follow food safety, sanitation, personal hygiene, temperature-control, allergen, labeling, and safe food-handling procedures.
- Monitor cleaning and sanitation throughout the shift rather than allowing cleaning responsibilities to accumulate until the end of the day.
- Ensure work areas, equipment, coolers, cases, storage areas, and customer-facing areas remain clean and organized.
- Verify required temperature checks, cleaning procedures, rotation, labeling, and other food-safety responsibilities are completed.
- Immediately address or report food safety, equipment, maintenance, or workplace safety concerns.
- Promote a culture where food safety, cleanliness, organization, and safe work practices are everyone's responsibility.
Staffing & Labor
- Work with the Crossroads Kitchen Manager to execute daily staffing plans.
- Monitor staffing and workload throughout the shift and recommend or make adjustments based on customer demand, production requirements, and business needs.
- Ensure staffing decisions support Crossroads Kitchen as a whole rather than any individual work area.
- Help manage breaks and employee coverage to maintain customer service and production needs.
- Promote productive use of employee time and redirect Associates when primary assignments are complete or business needs change.
- Communicate staffing shortages, scheduling concerns, overtime risks, or other labor issues to the Crossroads Kitchen Manager.
Catering & Special Events
- Support catering production, assembly, staging, and execution as needed.
- Ensure catering and special orders are complete, accurate, properly presented, and ready at the required time.
- Coordinate Kitchen resources when large catering orders or special events require assistance from multiple work areas.
- Help ensure catering commitments do not negatively impact regular customer service or daily production.
Qualifications & Expectations
Successful Crossroads Kitchen Leads should:
- Demonstrate strong leadership, dependability, initiative, and follow-through.
- Be willing and able to provide direction, coaching, and accountability to coworkers.
- Lead by example and uphold standards even when doing so require difficult conversations.
- Have a strong customer-service mindset and pride in producing high-quality food.
- Understand and support the One Kitchen, One Team philosophy.
- Be willing to learn and develop proficiency across multiple areas of Crossroads Kitchen.
- Be able to prioritize multiple responsibilities and adjust quickly as business needs change.
- Communicate clearly and professionally with Associates, fellow Leads, management, and customers.
- Demonstrate sound judgment and know when to resolve an issue independently and when to involve the Crossroads Kitchen Manager.
- Work efficiently in a fast-paced environment while maintaining quality and attention to detail.
- Be available for a flexible schedule that may include days, evenings, weekends, and holidays based on business needs.
- Prior food service, bakery, deli, catering, retail, or leadership experience is preferred.
Physical Requirements
The position may require the ability to:
- Stand and walk for extended periods.
- Bend, reach, twist, push, pull, and perform repetitive tasks.
- Safely lift and carry products, ingredients, trays, boxes, and supplies.
- Work around hot equipment, ovens, fryers, refrigerated areas, freezers, and food-production equipment.
- Safely operate equipment after receiving appropriate training.
*pay commensurate with experience up to $26/hr.*
Wage Range: 20.00 - 26.00 per hour
General Description of Benefits: Monthly Bonus Program | Employee Discount | Flexible Shifts | Locally Owned | Benefits
