Kitchen Director

Kitchen Director – Chick-fil-A Capital Crossing

Working at a Chick-fil-A® restaurant is more than a job—it’s an opportunity for teamwork, leadership development, and meaningful impact in a positive, people-focused environment. Chick-fil-A restaurants are locally owned and operated by independent, franchised Operators who invest in the future of their Team Members and give back to their communities.

Position Overview

The Kitchen Director is a senior leader at Chick-fil-A Capital Crossing responsible for the overall performance, culture, and operational excellence of the Back of House.

This role owns the systems, people, and results necessary to operate a safe, clean, efficient, and high-performing kitchen. The Kitchen Director is responsible for developing BOH leaders, protecting food safety and food quality, managing inventory and food cost, overseeing truck ordering and credits, supporting BOH labor performance, and ensuring the kitchen is prepared for both daily operations and Chick-fil-A evaluations.

The Kitchen Director is expected to think beyond running individual shifts. Success means building leaders, creating sustainable systems, understanding the numbers behind the business, and developing a kitchen that performs consistently regardless of who is working.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop BOH Team Members, Trainers, Team Leads, and emerging leaders
• Build a strong BOH leadership bench by identifying and intentionally developing high-potential Team Members
• Develop leaders capable of independently running high-performing kitchen shifts
• Conduct regular one-on-ones, coaching conversations, and performance evaluations
• Create and maintain Leadership Development Plans for BOH leaders
• Delegate meaningful areas of responsibility while maintaining appropriate follow-up and accountability
• Establish clear expectations and address performance concerns promptly
• Recognize strong performance while continuously raising the standard
• Create a culture of urgency, accountability, teamwork, continuous learning, and ownership

Food Safety – Non-Negotiable

The Kitchen Director owns the culture of food safety within the BOH. Food safety is everyone's responsibility, but the Kitchen Director is responsible for ensuring the systems, training, and accountability necessary to consistently meet Chick-fil-A standards.

Responsibilities include:

• Maintain continuous readiness for SAFE, EcoSure, and other Chick-fil-A food safety evaluations
• Ensure consistent execution of handwashing and glove-changing procedures
• Maintain proper raw chicken handling procedures and prevent cross-contamination
• Ensure proper labeling, dating, rotation, storage, and FIFO practices
• Monitor product temperatures, cooling procedures, hold times, and sanitation practices
• Ensure food safety documentation is accurate and completed consistently
• Conduct regular food safety observations and audits
• Address food safety concerns immediately rather than allowing poor habits to become normalized
• Review assessment results and develop measurable corrective action plans
• Coach leaders to take ownership of food safety rather than relying solely on Director oversight
• Create a kitchen culture where Team Members understand  why food safety standards matter

Food Quality & QIV

The Kitchen Director is responsible for ensuring guests receive consistently excellent food that meets Chick-fil-A quality standards.

• Maintain continuous readiness for Quality & Improvement Visits (QIV)
• Regularly evaluate product quality throughout each daypart
• Monitor breading quality and chicken coverage
• Ensure proper sandwich assembly, packaging, and presentation
• Maintain fry quality, oil quality, and appropriate fry procedures
• Monitor nuggets, strips, filets, grilled products, and other menu items for consistency
• Ensure proper hold times and product rotation
• Identify recurring quality defects and address their root causes
• Use QIV results and internal observations to create action plans
• Coach leaders and Team Members to recognize quality issues before products reach the guest
• Reinforce the expectation that we do not knowingly serve a product that fails to meet our standards

Inventory, Truck Ordering & Credits

The Kitchen Director owns the restaurant's BOH inventory management processes.

• Complete and/or oversee accurate inventory counts
• Maintain organized coolers, freezers, dry storage, and kitchen inventory areas
• Manage truck ordering based on:
• Historical sales
• Sales forecasts
• Current inventory
• Seasonal trends
• Promotions
• Catering and large orders
• Anticipated business changes
• Ensure deliveries are checked and received correctly
• Verify quantities and product condition upon delivery
• Identify shortages, damages, or incorrect products
• Submit and follow up on appropriate credits
• Maintain appropriate inventory levels without unnecessary overstock
• Prevent shortages through proactive planning
• Communicate significant inventory or supply-chain concerns to restaurant leadership

Food Cost & Waste

The Kitchen Director is expected to understand the financial impact of kitchen operations and actively manage food cost.

• Monitor food cost performance and identify trends and variances
• Understand theoretical versus actual food usage
• Investigate significant food-cost discrepancies
• Track and reduce unnecessary waste
• Ensure waste is recorded accurately
• Monitor portioning and preparation procedures
• Address overproduction and improper product management
• Maintain appropriate inventory levels to reduce spoilage
• Partner with leadership to establish food-cost goals and action plans
• Communicate food-cost performance to BOH leaders
• Teach leaders how daily operational decisions impact restaurant profitability

The goal is not simply to reduce cost—it is to practice responsible stewardship while protecting food quality and the guest experience.

BOH Scheduling & Labor

• Build and/or oversee BOH schedules that support business needs
• Ensure appropriate staffing across all dayparts
• Forecast staffing needs based on sales patterns and anticipated volume
• Monitor BOH labor performance and productivity
• Make appropriate staffing and deployment adjustments when business conditions change
• Develop cross-trained Team Members who can support multiple kitchen positions
• Identify future staffing needs before they become operational problems
• Partner with restaurant leadership regarding hiring needs
• Balance labor stewardship with food safety, quality, speed, and Team Member development

Kitchen Operations & Systems

• Ensure strong execution of opening, transition, peak-period, and closing procedures
• Establish clear ownership for kitchen positions and responsibilities
• Maintain systems and checklists that create consistency
• Evaluate kitchen flow and identify operational bottlenecks
• Improve kitchen productivity without compromising food safety or quality
• Ensure proper communication between breading, machines, fries, secondary, prep, dishes, and other BOH positions
• Partner with FOH leadership to maintain strong communication and product flow
• Ensure leaders are positioned where they create the greatest operational impact
• Regularly evaluate whether existing systems remain effective as the business changes

Cleanliness, Equipment & Facilities

• Maintain a clean, organized, and inspection-ready kitchen
• Establish and maintain daily, weekly, and detailed cleaning routines
• Ensure hard-to-reach and easily overlooked areas are included in cleaning expectations
• Ensure equipment is properly cleaned and cared for
• Identify equipment concerns and communicate repair needs promptly
• Ensure preventative maintenance expectations are completed
• Maintain organized storage areas and appropriate levels of smallwares
• Hold Team Members and leaders accountable for maintaining their work areas
• Promote stewardship of restaurant equipment, supplies, and resources

Metrics & Business Ownership

The Kitchen Director is expected to know the results of the business and use them to drive improvement.

Regular areas of focus include:

• SAFE/EcoSure results
• QIV results
• Food cost
• Waste
• BOH labor
• Productivity
• Speed of service
• Order accuracy
• Food quality
• Inventory accuracy
• Training completion
• BOH retention
• Leadership development

The Kitchen Director should be able to explain  where we are, where we need to be, why a gap exists, and what we are doing about it.

Results should be discussed regularly with BOH leaders so that metrics become part of the team's daily operation—not numbers that are only reviewed after a problem occurs.

Training & Leadership Pipeline

• Partner with Training leadership to maintain an effective BOH onboarding process
• Ensure Team Members are trained and proficient before independently working positions
• Develop and maintain strong BOH Trainers
• Create intentional cross-training plans
• Identify knowledge and skill gaps through observation and performance data
• Provide ongoing retraining when standards are not consistently met
• Develop Team Leads into leaders capable of owning shifts and areas of the business
• Create succession plans for critical BOH responsibilities
• Ensure knowledge is shared rather than concentrated with one individual

A major measure of success for the Kitchen Director is the strength of the leaders they develop.

Communication & Collaboration

• Communicate priorities, expectations, and results clearly and consistently
• Lead BOH meetings and contribute meaningfully to Director meetings
• Conduct effective shift huddles
• Communicate operational results and opportunities with the team
• Partner closely with FOH leadership on speed, accuracy, and guest experience
• Proactively communicate staffing, equipment, inventory, food safety, or product concerns
• Support restaurant-wide initiatives and promotions
• Work collaboratively with Training, Hospitality, Marketing, Catering, and other areas of the business
• Maintain professionalism and confidentiality when handling Team Member and business information

Qualifications

• Previous restaurant, kitchen, hospitality, or operations leadership experience preferred
• Strong understanding of food safety and sanitation practices
• Demonstrated ability to coach and develop others
• Strong organization and planning skills
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-volume environment
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills
• High level of accountability and attention to detail
• Comfortable working with operational and financial metrics
• Ability to give and receive constructive feedback
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Passion for developing people and building strong teams
• Availability to work a flexible schedule based on restaurant needs, including opening, closing, evenings, and weekends

Core Competencies

• Servant leadership
• Ownership and accountability
• Food safety leadership
• Operational discipline
• Coaching and talent development
• Financial stewardship
• Problem-solving
• Organization and planning
• Communication
• Sense of urgency
• Attention to detail
• Continuous improvement
• Strategic thinking

Success Metrics

Success in this role will be evaluated through a combination of results and leadership impact, including:

• SAFE/EcoSure performance
• QIV and food-quality results
• Food cost performance
• Inventory accuracy
• Waste reduction
• BOH labor and productivity
• Speed of service
• Kitchen cleanliness and organization
• Training and certification completion
• BOH Team Member retention
• Leadership bench strength and internal promotions
• Equipment care and preventative maintenance
• Consistent execution of Chick-fil-A standards

What We Expect From Our Kitchen Director

At Chick-fil-A Capital Crossing, a Director is expected to do more than successfully run a shift.

We expect our Kitchen Director to  own the kitchen as a business.

That means knowing the numbers, developing the people, protecting the standards, creating systems, solving problems, and following through.

A successful Kitchen Director should not need to personally solve every problem. Their responsibility is to develop a team capable of recognizing problems, making good decisions, maintaining standards, and holding one another accountable.

The ultimate goal is to build a kitchen that is  safe, clean, fast, financially responsible, operationally excellent, and capable of performing at a high level regardless of which leader is running the shift.

Why Join Chick-fil-A Capital Crossing?

• Purpose-driven, people-focused culture
• Significant leadership and professional development opportunities
• Hands-on experience managing a high-volume restaurant operation
• Development in food safety, inventory, food cost, labor management, and business operations
• Opportunity to build and develop a team of future leaders
• Competitive pay and growth potential
• Opportunity to positively influence Team Members, guests, and the Raleigh community

Working at a Chick-fil-A® restaurant is more than a job – it’s an opportunity for teamwork and leadership development in a positive, people-focused environment. Most Chick-fil-A restaurants are locally owned and operated by independent, franchised Operators who invest in the future of their Team Members and give back to their communities.