Kitchen Manager

We're looking for an experienced and passionate Kitchen Manager to lead our Food & Dining team at Forest Lake Gardens Retirement Village.

This is a hands-on leadership role where you'll take ownership of the Food & Dining operation while continuing to work alongside your team, preparing fresh, high-quality meals for our residents. You'll play an important role in creating exceptional dining experiences and fostering a positive, service-focused kitchen culture.

This is a permanent 35-hour per week position, working Tuesday to Saturday. No late shifts apart from our traditional Friday Fish and Chips and monthly events.

Key Responsibilities

• Prepare nutritious, delicious meals for our Independent Living Village residents.
• Lead, mentor, and supervise the kitchen team to deliver excellent service.
• Manage recruitment, training, and ongoing development of kitchen employees.
• Develop attractive, resident-focused menus and cabinet food offerings.
• Oversee stock control, ordering, and kitchen budgets.
• Ensure compliance with Food Control Plan requirements and audit standards.
• Champion high standards of food quality, presentation, and customer service.
• Promote a safe, healthy, and positive workplace environment.

About You

To be successful in this role, you'll bring:

• Proven experience as a Chef, with previous Café leadership or management experience.
• Strong people leadership skills and the ability to motivate and develop a team.
• Excellent knowledge of food safety, stock control, and kitchen operations.
• A passion for delivering exceptional customer experiences.
• Strong organisational and communication skills.
• Experience working within the aged care or retirement living sector would be advantageous, but is not essential.

Most importantly, you'll be a collaborative leader who takes pride in creating great food and building a team culture that's second to none.

About Metlifecare:

We pride ourselves on providing retirement communities in which people are empowered to be the best version of themselves.

Check out some of our Benefits!

• 3 paid wellness days & 1 paid day of leave to celebrate your birthday each year.
• Health and Life Insurance - automatic cover free to all permanent staff.
• 26 weeks of parental leave on full pay and 5 days paid leave for partners.
• KiwiSaver payments continued for those opted in over the age of 65 years.

How to apply:
Please apply by clicking on the below APPLY NOW button or by visiting our careers page www.careers.metlifecare.co.nz/home

Please note that Identification and work eligibility is required with your application.

Job Details

Reference #

51282

Location(s)

Hamilton

Expertise

Kitchen Management

Job level(s)

Experienced, Management

Work type(s)

Permanent full-time

More details (document)

Kitchen Manager.pdf