Kitchen Manager, Full Time

AKitchen Manager

Smithburg — South Melbourne Market
Full Time | $75,000 – $85,000 per year

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About Us

Smithburg is an all-day diner living at the heart of the South Melbourne Market. We're known for smash burgers, lobster rolls, pancakes, cold margaritas and — most importantly — a genuinely good time. We match warm, diner-style hospitality with casual food executed to an incredibly high standard. Our kitchen team is tight-knit, passionate and honestly? Pretty cool. We're not biased — we're just telling the truth.

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About the Role

This is a hands-on Kitchen Manager role working closely alongside our Head Chef to lead and develop the kitchen team day-to-day. You'll own the operational side of the kitchen — leading service, driving standards, managing food safety and keeping the commercial performance on point. If you take real pride in a well-run kitchen and love the energy of a high-volume, casual dining environment, this one's for you.

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What You'll Be Doing

• Leading the kitchen during service and making sure every dish leaving the pass hits Smithburg standards
• Taking ownership of food safety, cleanliness and the prep schedule
• Monitoring food costs, flagging variances early and keeping waste and portion sizes in check
• Building and managing kitchen rosters in line with forecast sales and labour targets
• Setting clear standards for the team, providing coaching and feedback, and training staff in recipes, equipment and kitchen procedures

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About You

• Significant experience in a busy commercial kitchen
• Previous experience supervising or managing a kitchen team
• Strong service leadership — you set the tone and the team follows
• Sound understanding of food safety requirements
• Experience with ordering, stocktakes and inventory control
• A solid grasp of food cost, yield, portion control and waste management
• Experience in burgers, high-volume casual dining or similar operations is a big plus — this is your world

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Why Smithburg?

• Staff lunch provided — because feeding the people who feed everyone else just makes sense
• A team culture that's genuinely great — we're proud of the environment we've built and the people in it
• A cool-as-heck venue — South Melbourne Market, need we say more?

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Sound Like You?

If you're rad, hardworking and ready to own a kitchen you'll actually be proud of — we want to hear from you. Hit apply and let's chat.

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Smithburg is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds.