Upland Brewing in Bloomington, IN is looking for a motivated Executive Chef/Kitchen Manager to join our team. Our ideal candidate is a self-starter, motivated, and reliable. 

Position Summary

The Executive Chef/Kitchen Manager will work in consultation with the General Manager to achieve procedural and budgetary targets and work to deliver further on our mission of exceptional customer service of fresh, handcrafted foods paired alongside our brewery’s award-winning beers. The ability to spot problems and resolve them quickly, maintain a level head, and delegate many kitchen tasks simultaneously is a must. 

Key Goals: set a tone of culinary professionalism, maximize efficiency, profitability, and staff accountability in order to ensure delivery of high-quality, consistent product with continued focus on the Upland Philosophy of Food, using fresh, local, and sustainable ingredients. 

 
Essential Duties and Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following: 

Administrative Responsibilities:

Manage Daily Operations 

• Track food inventory, manage storage, place orders, and examine deliveries; monitor kitchen operations and provide line support if necessary; oversee quality and portion control on all dishes and prepped items; focus on staff accountability through policy and procedure adherence; periodically monitor floor operations and secure monies.

Meet Financial Goals

• Control costs and adjust systems when necessary; create and evolve procedures and documents to control waste (order guides, par levels, checklists, signage, organization of line and walk-in); monitor and adjust labor hours; supervise workflow and analyze systems for efficiency.

Control Food Cost

• Monitor food production quality through staff oversight and training to ensure food waste is minimalized.
  • Product Management: Order the least amount of product without running out; train staff on checking-in deliveries, proper stock rotation, and organization; identify items in inventory for specials/immediate use; ensure prepped items are properly stored and labeled.
  • Quality Control: Train and monitor staff for proper portion control and on proper cooking techniques; monitor stock and report quality issues; communicate ideas for improving current systems; etc.)
  • Documentation: Update order guides; monitor and update prep and stock par levels; update recipe yields; update proper plating/execution instructions. 

Maximize Labor

• Create weekly BOH staff schedules; adjust labor hours according to business volumes; effectively leverage staff skills by playing to individual strengths; increase the productivity of the staff through expedient closes, labor cutting, and delegation of projects;
  • Staff productivity: Monitor and manage line productivity and ensure expedient prep; cut labor based on business; delegate deep cleaning projects; identify staffing issues and communicate ideas for improvement; assist in training new hires. 

Project Future Business

• Identify trends and use sales data to anticipate future needs
  • Ordering: Use past data and par sheets to ensure we are ordering the proper quantities for upcoming business.
  • Prep: Ensure that all prep lists are being utilized and you are adjusting pars depending on volume of business.
  • Staff Scheduling: Use past data to make sure we are scheduling accordingly and that we are able to deliver quality service at all times. 

Uphold Service Standards

• Monitor and evaluate food offerings; maintain high-value staff training; initiate improvements; develop relationships with vendors and deliver on our philosophy of local, from scratch food.

Focus on Accountability

• Monitor and evolve kitchen checklists; development and maintenance of quality control system; hold yourself and team accountable to developed and implemented systems, defined roles and duties, and maintain a positive attitude; diligently document any policy or performance violations.

Staff Management

• Accomplish Company Human Resource Objectives: recruit top kitchen professionals; Provide explicit communication of and adherence to kitchen and company policy; lead by example, maintaining a positive attitude and provide managerial oversight to reduce staff stress; manage staff expectations and attitudes; provide restaurant GM with job reviews and recommended compensation levels
• Staff Accountability and Quality Control
  • Use checklists for daily and weekly side work and cleaning duties; use of write up forms for policy infractions; communicating any facility issues with appropriate manager; maintaining quality of prepped items ad plated food, etc
• Production and Staff Training
  • Ensure proper food preparation techniques through recipe completion tests, efficient yields, and portion control; ensure proper cooking techniques and plating

Facilities Maintenance and Permitting

• Coordinate with restaurant GM preventative maintenance for kitchen equipment; stay abreast of inspection dates and reports related to health and sanitation; maintain safe, secure, and healthy environment by establishing, following, and enforcing sanitation standards and procedures; etc.

Physical Demands and Work Environment
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to be on feet, standing or walking/moving briskly, for several hours at a time. The employee is required to bend, squat, crawl, kneel, push, pull, and lift kegs (with help) stand; walk; sit; reach with hands and arms. The employee is required to work hours that exceed 10 PM. The employee must occasionally lift or move a minimum of 20 pounds. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to high.