Chef / Production Manager

Company Description

Riviera Hospitality Group and Brooklyn Kitchen, a division of Riviera Hospitality Group (RHG), are reinventing the prepared meals industry with restaurant-quality, nutritious meals that are delivered to homes, shelters and senior center. Headquartered in Coney Island, we service New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Arizona. Guided by its deep hospitality roots, the company is committed to creating diverse menus inspired by Brooklyn’s rich cultural heritage and delivering a superior service experience that exceeds expectations.

Role Description

Brooklyn Kitchen is seeking a Chef / Production Manager for a full-time, on-site role located in Brooklyn, NY. The role involves overseeing menu R D, daily meal production, managing kitchen staff, ensuring quality, maintaining inventory, managing daily production operations, and planning the use of materials and human resources.. The Chef / Production Manager will develop innovative, nutritious menus in collaboration with registered dietitians while maintaining efficiency in meal preparation and delivery processes. Leadership and collaboration with team members to ensure high-quality food and service standards are central to the role.

Primary Job Duties

• Direct and coordinate all kitchen activities in preparation to make 20,000 meals daily
• Ensure food safety policies and procedures are up to date and adhered to.
• Ensure workplace safety policies and procedures are in place and monitored on the production floor to ensure Team Members safety.
• Work closely with warehouse and purchasing to requisition supplies, materials, ensuring that materials, labor, or equipment are used efficiently to meet production targets.
• Review processing schedules or production orders to make decisions concerning inventory requirements, staffing requirements, work procedures, or duty assignments, considering budgetary limitations and time constraints.
• Control labor expenses, based on the production schedule, utilizing forecasting tools, and comparing to budgeted numbers. 
• Control food expenses through recipe compliance and portion monitoring and production oversite
• Review operations and confer with team to resolve production or processing problems.
• Interview, hire, evaluate, conduct performance evaluations, coaching & counseling.
• Motivate, train, and manage hourly supervisors, hourly team members.
• Responsible for recommending or conducting disciplinary action, including termination of staff as necessary according to company standards.
• Assist in coordinating inventory control programs.
• Ensure that requirements for appropriate sanitation and safety levels in respective areas are met and team members are trained.
• Prepare and maintain production reports or personnel records.
• Monitor product standards, examining samples of raw products or directing testing during processing, to ensure finished products are of prescribed quality.
• Develop and implement production tracking or quality control systems, analyzing production, quality control, maintenance, or other operational reports to detect production problems.
• Review plans and confer with team to develop new products or processes.
• Coordinate or recommend procedures for facility or equipment maintenance or modification, including the replacement of machines.
• Effectively communicate verbally, electronically and written with clients, upper management and team in professional manner.
• Ensure Food and Human safety standards are adhered to.
• Support company programs including Riv C.A.R.E.S., Train to Succeed
• Conduct hourly spot checks on production, SOP compliance, and safety.
• Maintain current knowledge of the quality control field, relying on current literature pertaining to materials use, technological advances, or statistical studies.
• Manage special projects as required for the business.
• Ability to communicate in English and Spanish is a MUST

Qualifications

• Experience in menu planning, recipe development, and culinary techniques
• Skills in kitchen and production operations management, inventory control, and cost management
• Familiarity with health and safety regulations and food safety certifications (e.g., ServSafe, HACCP)
• Strong leadership, team management, and communication abilities
• Proficiency in time management and organizational skills for overseeing meal production schedules
• Experience in high-volume food production environments is highly desirable
• A passion for delivering quality meals and improving the well-being of others
• Culinary degree or equivalent professional experience is preferred
• Ability to communicate in English and Spanish is strongly preferred