Kitchen Lead/ Kitchen Manager

Kitchen Manager / Lead Cook Bottom Line Bakery Café — Aiken, SC

$15/hour tips averaging an additional

$4–$6/hour Typical total compensation: approximately $20–$22/hour

30–40 hours per week

Tuesday–Saturday | No Late Nights | Sundays & Mondays Off

Paid weekly every Friday

Kitchen Manager / Lead Cook

Bottom Line Bakery Café is looking for an experienced, dependable Kitchen Manager / Lead Cook to take ownership of our daily kitchen operations. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who loves working in food service but wants something that's hard to find in this industry: daytime café hours, no late nights, and every Sunday and Monday off.

Our ideal candidate is the kind of person who walks into a kitchen, sees what needs to be prepped, cleaned, stocked or handled — and handles it. We are not looking for someone who needs to be micromanaged. We need a reliable kitchen professional who takes pride in their food, their workspace and their team and is comfortable taking ownership of the kitchen during their shifts.

Schedule

Our café is open Tuesday–Saturday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM. We are closed every Sunday and Monday. This position requires open availability Tuesday through Saturday. Kitchen shifts will vary based on staffing and business needs and may include: - Opening shifts beginning around 7:00 AM - Daytime/mid shifts - Closing shifts ending around 5:30 PM - Occasional open-to-close shifts (approximately 7:00 AM–5:30PM) when needed.

We are looking for someone available for approximately 30 hours per week with the flexibility to lead the kitchen wherever coverage is needed.

A Food-Service Schedule With Work-Life Balance No late nights. No Sundays. No Mondays. Even our closing shifts typically end shortly after 5:00 PM, and you'll have Sunday and Monday off every week. For someone who enjoys the restaurant, café or bakery industry but is tired of working nights and unpredictable late-night schedules, this position offers a fantastic work-life balance.

As our Kitchen Manager / Lead Cook, you'll be trusted to take ownership of kitchen operations during your shifts.

Responsibilities include:

- Managing kitchen stock and inventory

- Monitoring product levels and communicating ordering needs before we run out

- Maintaining proper FIFO inventory rotation

- Completing and overseeing daily kitchen prep

- Preparing our café menu consistently according to our recipes and quality standards

- Keeping food fresh, properly stored and ready for service

- Keeping our bakery and pastry counters stocked, fresh and attractive throughout the day

- Creating seasonal soups and daily/weekly specials - Helping develop new bakery, pastry and café offerings

- Taking initiative with production based on inventory, seasonality and the needs of the café

- Maintaining a clean, organized and health-inspection-ready kitchen at all times

- Following proper food handling, sanitation and food-safety procedures

- Ensuring other kitchen team members follow cleaning and food-safety expectations

- Helping train and support other kitchen employees

- Communicating inventory, staffing and operational needs proactively

- Working alongside our café team wherever needed

What We're Looking For

Reliability is extremely important in this position. This is a leadership role in a small business, so we need someone the rest of the team can depend on.

Our ideal candidate:

- Shows up consistently, on time and ready to work - Has excellent attendance and takes their scheduled shifts seriously

- Takes ownership of their responsibilities

- Works independently without constant supervision or micromanagement

- Sees what needs to be done and takes initiative to do it

- Plans ahead instead of waiting until something becomes an emergency

- Communicates clearly and proactively

- Gives as much advance notice as possible when scheduling or personal issues arise

- Approaches problems with a solution-oriented mindset

- Takes pride in serving fresh, delicious and consistently high-quality food

- Respects established recipes, portions and menu standards

- Can also use their creativity appropriately for seasonal soups, menu updates, specials and bakery/pastry offerings

- Keeps a clean and organized workspace without needing repeated reminders

- Understands proper food storage, sanitation and kitchen safety

- Can prioritize prep and production based on the needs of the café

- Is comfortable taking the lead and helping hold other kitchen employees accountable

- Works well as part of a close-knit team

- Is willing to jump in and help when needed

Qualifications Preferred

- Previous restaurant, café, bakery or commercial kitchen experience

- Previous experience as a Kitchen Manager, Kitchen Lead, Lead Cook, Sous Chef or similar leadership position

- ServSafe Manager certification

- Experience with kitchen inventory management and FIFO

- Strong understanding of commercial kitchen sanitation and food-safety standards

- Experience with food prep and line cooking

- Experience creating soups, specials and seasonal menu items

- Bakery and/or pastry experience is a plus

- Experience training or supervising other kitchen employees is a plus

ServSafe Manager certification is strongly preferred.

For the right experienced candidate, certification requirements can be discussed during the hiring process.

About Our Team

Bottom Line Bakery & Café is a small, locally owned café and bakery in Aiken. We're a close-knit team, and every person plays an important role in keeping the café running successfully. We value employees who are dependable, respectful, proactive, hardworking and willing to help one another. This isn't a corporate kitchen where you're just another person on the schedule. Your work has a direct impact on our customers, the quality of our food and the rest of your team. We're looking for someone who wants to come in, take pride in the kitchen and become someone their coworkers can genuinely depend on.

To Apply

Please submit your resume in a professional email to saltytomaiken@gmail.com and tell us briefly about:

- Your previous kitchen experience

- Any kitchen leadership or management experience

- Your current availability

- Whether you currently hold a ServSafe Manager certification

- Why you're interested in this position

Only applicants with previous food-service/line-cook experience and lead-cook or kitchen leadership experience will be considered.

This position will begin part-time for approximately the first month while you train alongside our current kitchen team, with the intention of transitioning into a full-time role. This training period gives you time to learn our menu and systems while allowing us to make sure the position is a great long-term fit for everyone. Reliability, initiative, food quality and teamwork during this period will be extremely important.

Pay: $15.00 - $21.00 per hour

Work Location: In person

Salary : $4 - $6