Kitchen Manager

About Us

We are an independent artisan cafe in the heart of Ancoats and two other branches in Piccadilly and Wigan, serving freshly made sandwiches, salads, soups, meal deals and bang on artisan coffee from Atkinsons, as well as a full brunch and bar menu. We’ve been part of the Manchester food scene for more than ten years, with a loyal customer base.

Job Overview

You will be in charge of both of our kitchens. The service kitchen where our brunch orders are prepared a la carte, and the downstairs production kitchen where all batch recipes and sandwiches are made for our shops. You’ll lead the kitchen team, keep standards high, and make sure food quality is spot on before it leaves the pass or premises, safety and costs are under control too. You’ll work closely with our General Manager, who you’ll report to, and with our Operations Manager and Business owners.

Key responsibilities

• Hybrid hands-on role, you’re no stranger to the pass or prep if it comes to it
• Manage both kitchens, including the staff. Chefs, kitchen assistants and KPs
• Oversee production of batches, sandwiches and brunch dishes to a consistent, high standard. Labeling, plating, portion control, etc.
• You’ll action whenever theres a high food cost and kitchen labour cost against targets
• Kitchen rota is your comfort zone
• Order ingredients and supplies, manage stock levels and reduce waste
• Be the direct contact with our supplier representatives if something goes wrong
• Control new and existing recipes on our systems and calculate accurate costings
• Contribute to developing new sandwiches, salads, soups, dishes and seasonal items.
• Maintain excellent cleanliness and organisation across both kitchens
• Keep the kitchens fully compliant with food hygiene and allergen regulations, including HACCP, cleaning schedules and records, and be close to EHO check ready every day
• Train, coach and develop kitchen staff, including new items introductions, food hygiene inductions
• Recruit and interview new kitchen team members
• Work with senior management to create and maintain brand standards
• Keep communication clear between the kitchens and front of house

Requirements

Essential Skills

• Experience managing or running a catering style kitchen, ideally production or multi-site as well as pass coordination.
• Proven ability to control food and labour costs
• Neat knowledge of food safety, HACCP and allergen management
• Level 3 Food Hygiene certificate
• Experience building rotas and ordering
• Confident leading and motivating a team
• Right to work in the UK

Desirable Skills

• Working recipe costing software or spreadsheets (Nutritics)
• Experience with logistics supplying more than one site
• Experience writing or improving kitchen structure and systems
• Experience with recipe development

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From £28,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Discounted or free food
• Employee discount

Experience:

• Managerial : 2 years (required)

Work Location: In person