Kitchen Shift Leader

Job Description

Job Description

Kitchen Manager

At Luxe Bites, we specialize in creating visually stunning and delicious catering experiences, including charcuterie, grazing tables, food carts, corporate catering, weddings, private events, and large-scale brand activations.

We are looking for an experienced, organized, and hands-on Kitchen Shift Leader to take ownership of our daily kitchen operations and ensure our team consistently delivers the quality, presentation, and efficiency Luxe Bites is known for.

Job Summary

The Kitchen Shift Leader will oversee daily kitchen operations, including team management and scheduling, production, inventory control, waste management, quality assurance, food safety, and communication between our kitchen, operations, and events teams.

This is a hands-on leadership position. The ideal candidate is highly organized, proactive, comfortable managing a team in a fast-paced environment, and able to anticipate and solve problems before they affect an order or event.

Key Responsibilities

Kitchen Operations & Production

• Oversee daily food preparation, assembly, packaging, and order fulfillment.
• Review upcoming orders and events to ensure the kitchen is properly prepared.
• Coordinate daily production priorities and ensure all orders are completed accurately and on time.
• Maintain an organized, clean, and efficient kitchen.
• Identify opportunities to improve workflow and overall kitchen efficiency.

Inventory & Purchasing

• Conduct regular inventory checks and maintain accurate inventory levels.
• Monitor ingredients, packaging, disposables, and kitchen supplies.
• Ensure sufficient inventory is available for upcoming orders and events.
• Communicate purchasing needs in advance to prevent shortages and unnecessary last-minute purchases.
• Establish and maintain appropriate par levels for frequently used products.
• Monitor receiving, storage, expiration dates, and product rotation.
• Identify and address inventory discrepancies or excessive product usage.

Waste & Cost Control

• Monitor food waste, spoilage, overproduction, and unnecessary product usage.
• Track recurring sources of waste and implement solutions to reduce them.
• Ensure proper portioning and recipe standards are followed.
• Maintain FIFO procedures and proper product rotation.
• Proactively use inventory before expiration whenever possible.
• Help control food and supply costs without compromising Luxe Bites' quality or presentation standards.

Team Leadership & Scheduling

• Manage, supervise, and support kitchen staff during daily production.
• Create and manage kitchen schedules based on production volume, orders, and upcoming events.
• Ensure appropriate staffing levels while minimizing unnecessary overtime or overstaffing.
• Adjust staffing and schedules as business needs change.
• Train and onboard new kitchen team members.
• Delegate responsibilities and hold team members accountable for assigned tasks.
• Maintain strong standards for communication, professionalism, punctuality, cleanliness, and teamwork.

Operations & Events Communication

• Serve as a key point of communication between the kitchen, operations, and events teams.
• Review upcoming event details to ensure food, supplies, equipment, packaging, and special requests are properly prepared.
• Maintain clear communication regarding changes, shortages, substitutions, delays, or concerns.
• Ensure a smooth transition and handoff from kitchen production to the events team.
• Verify that event teams receive the correct products, quantities, equipment, and supplies before leaving for an event.
• Work closely with operations to anticipate high-volume days and properly plan staffing, inventory, purchasing, and production.
• Help eliminate communication gaps between departments that could negatively impact an order, event, or client experience.

Quality Control

• Inspect outgoing products for accuracy, freshness, portioning, presentation, labeling, and packaging.
• Ensure every order meets Luxe Bites' quality and presentation standards before leaving the kitchen.
• Verify quantities against order and event requirements.
• Maintain consistency across products regardless of which team member prepared them.
• Address quality issues immediately and provide additional staff training when necessary.

Food Safety & Kitchen Standards

• Ensure compliance with food safety, sanitation, storage, labeling, and temperature-control requirements.
• Maintain proper cleaning, opening, and closing procedures.
• Ensure refrigerators, freezers, prep areas, storage areas, and equipment remain clean and organized.
• Monitor kitchen equipment and communicate maintenance or repair needs promptly.
• Ensure staff consistently follows Luxe Bites' kitchen procedures and food safety standards.

Qualifications

• Minimum 1 years of kitchen management, supervisory, catering, or high-volume food production experience.
• Experience supervising and scheduling a kitchen or production team.
• Strong understanding of inventory management, purchasing, waste control, and food safety.
• Excellent organizational and multitasking abilities.
• Strong leadership and communication skills.
• Ability to work efficiently in a fast-paced catering environment with changing daily demands.
• Strong attention to detail and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to remain calm and solution-oriented under pressure.
• Catering, commissary kitchen, event production, or high-volume food production experience is strongly preferred.

Physical & Scheduling Requirements

• Ability to stand for extended periods and work actively in a kitchen environment.
• Ability to lift and move kitchen supplies and inventory as needed.
• Must have flexibility based on catering and event volume.
• Weekend and early-morning availability may occasionally be required.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for someone who treats the kitchen as their operation , rather than someone who simply waits for daily instructions.

The right person notices when inventory is running low, recognizes when too much product is being wasted, anticipates staffing needs, catches mistakes before orders leave the kitchen, and communicates proactively with the operations and events teams.

This person should be comfortable taking ownership, creating structure, holding a team accountable, and continuously finding ways to make the kitchen more efficient without sacrificing Luxe Bites' quality or presentation standards.

Why Join Luxe Bites?

• Be part of a growing catering and events company.
• Take ownership of an important leadership position within our operations.
• Work in a creative, fast-paced environment with a wide variety of events and clients.
• Opportunities for professional growth and advancement.
• Collaborative and supportive team environment.

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