Kitchen Director

Kitchen Director | Chick-fil-A Fountain, CO (Colorado Springs)

This is not a "keep the line moving" job.

This is the person who owns the kitchen like a mission: food that is safe, craveable, and fast—every ticket, every shift, whether you are on the floor or not.

Chick-fil-A Fountain is a Leader of Leaders organization. We develop high-potential people, protect a care culture, and hold a high standard because guests and team members both deserve it. The Kitchen Director is the Operator's forward-thinking partner in Back of House: total ownership of food safety, quality, throughput, cost, and the people who make it happen.

The mission

Deliver surprisingly good food, surprisingly fast, with zero compromise on safety—and build a kitchen team that can execute at that level without you standing over them.

What you will own

• Daily Back-of-House operations: prep, cook, portion, Pathway, Lean inventory, freshness, and waste.
• Food safety as a non-negotiable: EcoSure, date labels, temps, sanitation, daily criticals, eRQAs, walkthroughs, QIV/SAFE readiness. Scores that hold when no one is watching.
• Throughput and quality together: taste, speed, accuracy, catering and event volume without breaking the line.
• Food cost and waste: positive food cost gap at or better than Top 50% of the chain; systems, not hope.
• People: recruit, train, coach, and hold Supervisors and Team Leaders accountable. Bi-monthly 1-on-1s. Clear expectations. Real development. A kitchen that grows leaders, not just cooks.
• Communication across the building: FOH, catering, marketing events, GM. Anticipate the rush. No surprises between the line and the window.
• Systems: build and run processes so excellence is repeatable on your day off.

What A+ looks like here

• EcoSure no higher than 2; cleanliness that leads the market.
• Taste and speed in the top tier of the chain.
• Waste down, food cost tight, team that executes the standard without reminders.
• Supervisors who get better because you coach them—not because you do their job for them.
• You model Care / Help / Trust and still hold the line. Kind is not the same as soft.

Who this is for

You think in teams and standards, not titles. You communicate early, clearly, and without drama. You can see three moves ahead on labor, product, and volume—and you still jump on a station when the mission requires it. Your work ethic is quiet and consistent. You want to be the most capable person in the room and the person who multiplies capability in everyone else.

If you come from a high-accountability environment—military operations, elite kitchens, high-tempo ops—you will recognize the job: own the outcome, develop the people, never outsource the standard.

Requirements

• Proven leadership in a fast, high-volume kitchen or equivalent high-stakes operations environment.
• Food safety fluency (ServSafe or ability to obtain immediately).
• Strength in communication, coaching, and holding people accountable without losing the team.
• Strategic operator: you can set monthly goals, read the metrics, and change the system—not just work harder.
• Availability for a full leadership week (including weekends as needed) and the discipline to use admin time for 1-on-1s and planning, not hiding from the floor.
• Alignment with Chick-fil-A's purpose and a servant-leader posture: glorify God by being a faithful steward of people, food, and the guest experience.

Pay & benefits

• $27–$35 per hour + Overtime (Director tier), with structured performance reviews and quarterly increase eligibility.
• Benefits included.
• A seat at the leadership table with the GM and Operator—not a glorified shift lead.

If you want a job where "good enough" is the standard, this is not it.

If you want to run a kitchen that is safe, fast, excellent, and full of people who are becoming better leaders because you were there—apply.