Kitchen Manager

Job Summary: 

The Kitchen Manager is responsible for quality food production, budget management, controlling food and labor costs to meet budget, managing and maintaining café and catering menus and maintaining safety and sanitation standards. The ideal candidate must have strong culinary knowledge as well as technical and customer service skills. The Kitchen Manager will help to achieve our mission to bring expertly crafted baked goods to our guests through a warm and welcoming bakery café experience that delivers joy to everyone. 

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

•Leads in baking and preparing food as necessary.

•Ensures that product quality, freshness and presentation meet company standards for bake, cake, sandwich and beverage. 

•Adheres to and embraces company Food & Beverage mandated menu and purchasing programs.

•Maintains budgeted revenue, cost of goods, labor, supplies and operating cash flow relating to food operations. Reviews monthly profit and loss statements and acts on all variances.

•Plans, supervises and executes all catering functions in conjunction with the operations and sales staff.

•Estimates food consumption and makes purchases as appropriate from the company-specified food program.

•Recruits, hires and retains best in class work force with the assistance of the management team and regional management team.

•Addresses and resolves disciplinary issues as appropriate. 

•Fosters a teamwork environment.

•Supervises all kitchen staff members and oversees the preparation, portioning, merchandising and storage of all food. 

•Maintains kitchen and storage facilities in sanitary condition. 

•Schedules staff efficiently to accommodate varying business volumes.

•Facilitates and manages all kitchen equipment maintenance as well as local Department of Health (DOH) regulations by implementing and conducting Sanitation Audits and Cleaning Schedules. Reports critical issues to General Manager. 

•Develops monthly action items to address any issues (including spoilage, margin, quality of product, etc). 

•Interacts with client/customers on a daily/weekly basis. 

•Proactively ensures that a clean, safe environment is maintained at all times. 

•Must be able to coordinate staff and resources in a high-volume environment.

•Participates in team and regional meetings as scheduled.

•Other duties may be assigned. 

Education/Experience

•Associate degree or culinary degree preferred.

•Minimum of three years kitchen management experience in high-volume retail, bakery, hospitality, or restaurant venue required. 

•Experience preparing catered events and presenting foods for special events is desirable.

•Current ServSafe certification, ServSafe instructor certificate, or ability to become certified preferred. Chicago Food Manager and Illinois Food Certifications, or ability to become certified within 30 days of employment.

•Passion for people! Dynamic and engaged leader who has a passion for empowering, inspiring, motivating & developing team members. 

•Exceptional organizational and communication skills with the ability to effectively balance priorities and deliver results in a fast-paced, ever-changing, and highly entrepreneurial environment. 

•Feedback is a gift! Ability to provide construction feedback and recognition to every member of the organization, to ensure we have an open and transparent culture of high-performance standards. 

•High emotional intelligence with the ability to work with, and manage diverse teams by being highly empathetic, intuitive, self-motivated and driven. 

•Teams Win! Has to be a team player who fosters a collaborative and engaged teamwork environment. 

Language Skills

•Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.  Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the public. Understand and speak English and Spanish, preferred.

Mathematical Skills

•Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as measurements, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume.  Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry.

Reasoning Ability

•Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.  Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables

Computer Skills

•To perform this job successfully, an individual should have advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel. Working knowledge of payroll software needed.

•Proficient on Point-of-Sale systems, currently Toast, understand the importance of cash handling and accuracy of transactions.

Other

•Ability to work a flexible schedule, including weekends, holidays and early morning shifts

•High sense of integrity and ownership

•Time management, ability to prioritize and follow direction

•Ability to multi-task

•Being a Brand Ambassador, with excellent knowledge of and commitment to Paris Baguette’s Mission, Vision, Brand Values and Culture.