Kitchen Production Manager

Kitchen Production Manager

Location: Maryland

Employment Type: Full-Time

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Kitchen Production Manager to take ownership of our day-to-day kitchen production operation.

This is a hands-on leadership position responsible for making sure our kitchen consistently produces high-quality meals safely, efficiently, on schedule, and according to established recipes and production standards.

You will lead the production team, organize daily workflow, assign labor, monitor food quality and safety, and hold the team accountable to our production standards.

This is not a traditional restaurant kitchen management position. Our operation is a high-volume food production environment, and success in this role requires someone who enjoys systems, organization, accountability, and continuous improvement.

What You'll Do

• Lead daily kitchen production and ensure all scheduled production is completed on time
• Build and manage daily production schedules and prep assignments
• Direct, train, coach, and hold kitchen employees accountable
• Ensure recipes, portion sizes, yields, and quality standards are consistently followed
• Monitor food temperatures, cooling, storage, labeling, sanitation, and food safety procedures
• Maintain a clean, organized, and inspection-ready production environment
• Coordinate production priorities based on customer demand and shipping schedules
• Identify bottlenecks and implement improvements to increase productivity
• Monitor food waste, yields, labor utilization, and production efficiency
• Work closely with Operations and Inventory to ensure ingredients and supplies are available when needed
• Assist with inventory control and communicate shortages or purchasing needs
• Ensure proper FIFO rotation and product storage
• Train employees on recipes, equipment, food safety, sanitation, and production procedures
• Address performance issues and enforce company standards
• Help develop and improve SOPs, recipes, production procedures, and training materials
• Step into production and work alongside the team when necessary

What We're Looking For

The ideal candidate is a strong kitchen leader who understands production—not just cooking.

You should have:

• 3+ years of professional kitchen leadership or high-volume food production experience
• Experience supervising and developing kitchen employees
• Strong understanding of food safety and sanitation
• Experience working with production schedules, prep lists, recipes, and standardized procedures
• Strong organizational and time-management skills
• The ability to prioritize competing production demands
• A calm but firm leadership style
• Excellent communication and problem-solving skills
• The ability to hold employees accountable while maintaining a positive team environment
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, physically active production environment

Strongly Preferred

Experience in one or more of the following:

• High-volume meal preparation
• Commissary or central kitchen operations
• Catering production
• Meal-prep or food delivery operations
• Institutional foodservice
• Food manufacturing
• HACCP/GMP environments
• Inventory management
• Production planning
• Recipe scaling and yield management
• ServSafe Manager certification

What Success Looks Like

Within your first 90 days, you will be expected to establish a kitchen operation where:

• Daily production consistently finishes on schedule
• Employees understand exactly what is expected of them
• Recipes and portions are followed consistently
• Food safety and sanitation standards are non-negotiable
• Waste and rework are minimized
• Production bottlenecks are identified and addressed
• The kitchen is organized and ready for the next production day
• The Operations Manager does not have to constantly chase production issues

Why This Role Matters

We are growing, and our kitchen needs a leader who can help us build the systems and culture necessary to operate at a much higher level.

This is an opportunity for someone who wants to take ownership of a production operation, build a team, improve processes, and grow with the company.

If you are an experienced kitchen leader who is ready to move beyond simply getting through the shift and wants to build a genuinely efficient production operation, we'd like to meet you.