What are the responsibilities and job description for the Food Service Manager position at Aureate Development?
Totum Market and Cafe is seeking a Food Service Manager to oversee the prepared foods, cafe production and back of house kitchen systems for our flagship Tampa location.
This role is designed for a chef operator who combines strong culinary instincts with operational discipline across inventory planning, labor management, forecasting and retail food production.
The Food Service Manager will be responsible for building a scalable prepared foods program spanning grab and go, deli, fresh prepared foods, cafe offerings, smoothies, juices and seasonal menu rotations aligned with a natural grocery environment.
This position works closely with store leadership and the grocery buying team to ensure efficient production, strong margins and high product quality.
Key Responsibilities- Oversee all back of house production including prep workflows, packaging systems and daily output scheduling across prepared foods stations
- Align prepared foods production with store inventory to reduce shrink and improve margin performance
- Maintain portion control standards, waste reduction systems and recipe costing discipline
- Optimize back kitchen layout and workflow for efficient production in a compact footprint along with labor allocation.
- Oversee cafe food execution including smoothies, cold pressed juice program, baked goods, light cafe meals and prepared retail snacks
- Train cafe staff on product knowledge and upselling
- Coordinate production timing between kitchen and cafe teams
- Manage ordering
- Adjust output dynamically based on demand trends
- Maintain strong inventory accuracy across perishables and production ingredients
- Monitor food cost targets and contribution margins work with management team
- Ensure compliance with Florida DBPR, FDACS and local health department standards
- Maintain sanitation walkthrough routines and equipment cleaning schedules
- Oversee labeling, storage, allergen handling, FIFO rotation and temperature controls
- Recruit and develop the prepared foods and cafe production team
- Build a structured staffing model aligned with production demand
- Implement training systems for consistency across stations
- Foster a collaborative kitchen culture balancing creativity and operational discipline
- Lead seasonal menu development across kitchen and cafe platforms
- Monitor Tampa Bay food trends and competitor positioning
- Collaborate with marketing on launches and product storytelling
- Introduce limited time offerings tied to seasonal produce and local vendors
- Four to seven plus years in a culinary leadership role within grocery prepared foods, cafe production or fast casual scratch environments
- Managing ordering
- Managing labor scheduling and food cost targets
- Producing grab and go retail food programs
- Experience creating a food and beverage menu
- Operating in a grocery environment strongly preferred
- Launching or scaling a prepared foods program highly desirable
- ServSafe Manager Certification required
- Florida DBPR Food Manager Certification required
- Wine or beverage certification such as WSET or Cicerone is a plus
- Strong production planning and kitchen workflow design
- Retail food margin awareness
- Menu costing and portion control discipline
- Comfort forecasting demand and adjusting output
- Cross functional collaboration with store leadership and buyers
- Interest in seasonal sourcing and natural food systems
Compensation
- Base salary expected range $70,000 - $80,000
- Performance bonus tied to food cost control, labor productivity, prepared foods sales growth and shrink reduction. 5-10% benefits. (After baseline KPIs and metrics have been established)
- Retention bonus available following twelve months of successful program execution
- Health, Vision, Dental, Retirement, PTO and Etc
Salary : $70 - $80