Production Kitchen Manager - 1St Shift

This Is Who We Are
Founded in 2013, Home Chef is the leading meal solutions company with both a retail and online presence. Available online at homechef.com and in retail at more than 2,100 Kroger grocery stores, Home Chef is committed to inspiring and enabling more people to cook simple, delicious meals, no matter how busy they are. Similar to our recipes, we recognize that variety is the spice of life; therefore, our employees also bring their uniqueness and color to our fantastic team. We're eager to work with humble team players and pragmatic next-level thinkers to innovate on Home Chef's offerings.
Overview
The Production Kitchen Manager (PKM) is responsible for executing production plans for the Ready to Heat (RTH) business/kitchen and coordinating shifts and departments to complete daily plans while holding Production Kitchen Supervisors accountable for production output, efficiency, safety, and food safety standards. The PKM works closely with the Culinary team to ensure recipes scale appropriately from R&D to production and ensures that all food prepared meets the highest quality standards. In addition, the PKM is responsible for making production, safety, and food safety decisions in lieu of a department head being present and escalating relevant high impact events accordingly.
Responsibilities
Culinary Liaison:

• Ensures all meals and ingredients are prepared with consistency and quality
• Works with culinary to make adjustments to recipes to scale from R&D to production
• Define, document, and continuously improve kitchen processes

Production Planning and Management:

• Takes the weekly RTH production plan and targets provided by the production planner and creates an effective kitchen level production plan. The PKM should facilitate daily hand offs to the next shift to discuss the plan to avoid production gaps or miscommunications.
• Effectively communicates their production plans and sets clear goals for the Kitchen Supervisors
• Adjusts production plan, as needed, in response to product quality issues, shorts, or staffing levels
• Minimizes downtime by maintaining full view of production activities in progress, proactively spotting issues, and problem solving in advance of production shutdowns. Holds Kitchen Supervisors accountable to documenting any downtime and reviews actions taken
• Tracks progress against production plan and works with Kitchen Supervisors to ensure production targets are met
• Attends cross department huddles daily to relay goals and/or significant messages to the team
• Proactively shares production plan with managers and supervisors from FSQA and Warehouse to enable them to effectively support production activities
• Works with FSQA and/or Warehouse to problem solve any cross-functional issues as they arise, following standard processes associated with shorts callouts, shorts investigations, and rejections
• Owns safety, on time in full shipments, and productivity

Performance Management and Leadership Development for Kitchen Supervisors

• Ensures performance reviews and their teams performance reviews are completed on-time and documentation/ verbiage is appropriate
• Holds team members to the same high level of expectations. Has the right people in the right roles and partners with HR to work out under performers in a timely manner.
• Proactively solicits feedback from other leaders at the site for team performance
• Conducts performance reviews for Kitchen Supervisors on a quarterly basis at minimum and provides prompt feedback
• Models strong people leadership skills to ensure the positivity and strength of our culture and actively works to develop effective people leadership skills in the Kitchen Supervisors
• Recognizes the team for strong performance and good behaviors through NTF submissions, vocal affirmations, and stand up recognition.
• Ensures team structure is maintained and Kitchen Supervisors are having routine check-ins with their team. Holds Kitchen Supervisors accountable to holding team huddles and steps in when a sous chef is absent
• Helps to create a coaching culture by providing both positive and developmental feedback to Kitchen Supervisors and working through Kitchen Supervisors to provide appropriate feedback to leads and associates
• Partners with HR and/or temp agency representatives to manage staffing and daily time and attendance issues
• Manages time off requests for Kitchen Supervisors and acts as an escalation point for kitchen employees
• Works with Kitchen Supervisors and HR to provide disciplinary actions as needed for hourly employees
• Communicates performance issues with temps to temp agency representatives and Home Chef HR

Accountable for upholding team performance against targets, employee and food safety standards, and established best practices

• Makes kitchen decisions for the department, such as responding to an adverse event, warehouse roadblocks, material shorts, etc.
• Ensures all Home Chef GMP's and operational guidelines are being followed and enforced
• Owns ensuring the kitchen is clean/ free of known safety issues (blocked egress doors, trays stacked too high, slip/trip/fall risks).
• Owns coaching Kitchen Supervisors on conducting thorough safety investigations and escalating plant structural issues. Holds Kitchen Supervisors accountable to completing incident reports on time and properly
• Supports the efforts of the company to maintain our food safety system (SQF) and quality programs
• Knows, understands, and supports Home Chef's Cardinal Rules of Safety and Food Safety
• Manages the team to be fully compliant to our HACCP plan across all parts of the production process
• Keeps safety in forefront of all business decisions made and holds all direct reports accountable for ensuring safe execution of daily activities.
• Holds self and Kitchen Supervisors accountable to completing Behavioral Safety Observations, Near Misses, and Food Safety Call It Outs.
• Actively participates in Incident Review Board meetings and follows up on corrective actions to ensure completion. Assists with reports on root cause analysis as needed.
• Supports Home Chef's Safety Goals and is directly accountable for injury rates in the kitchen
• Completes all required training on time and enforces on time completion of all compliance and leadership training with the team.
• Supports and participates in all emergency activities mandated by the Company
• Maintains a strong Safety Record, Error Rate, and OTFR for the kitchen. Effectively cascades metrics down to the broader team.
• Partners with Continuous Improvement team to identify non-value add work and implements process changes to improve efficiency

SOPs & Audits:

• Has deep knowledge of all Standard Operating Procedures for the kitchen as well as all standard procedures related to cross-department coordination
• Aids in the delivery of modification and new SOPs as we refine production success in the newly created RTH kitchens
• Sets expectations for strict adherence to all SOPs for all production processes for all Kitchen Supervisors and kitchen employees
• Creates culture of SOP feedback amongst team and works with Continuous Improvement team to revise and improve SOPs
• Serves as the primary driver of process change on the floor during the roll out of modifications to SOPs
• Actively participates in SOPs audit program as defined and conducted by the Continuous Improvement Team

This position requires 10% travel as partnering with other kitchens in years 1-3 will be critical to the success of the RTH program
Qualifications
The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, ability and/or other characteristics needed for this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities.

• Minimum of 5 years of successful managerial leadership experience in a fast paced environment
• Experience leading a large scale Production Kitchen
• Cross-functional experience in 2 more departments (warehouse, production, quality, procurement etc.) preferred.
• Track record of driving KPIs and meeting or exceeding goal a must
• Experience in developing team members through both leading and managing
• Strong track record of positive culture management/improvement
• Proficient with Excel, ERP systems, and mobile technology (tablets, cell phone, etc)
• Must have floor presence and be able to stand/walk for up to 12 hours in a cold environment up to 40 degrees F.
• Must be available to respond to work related inquiries during off hours (including nights and weekends)
• Flexibility to change processes quickly and adhere to day end goal
• Communicates and leads safety above all else and create culture around it
• Full knowledge of SQF, HACCP and GMP programs
• Preference to candidates with Chef de Cuisine Certification (CCC) or Certified Executive Chef (CEC) certifications

Salary Range: $82,000 - $88,000 + bonus opportunity
More About Us
Perks and benefits:

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance - benefits start the 1st day of the month following your start date
• Company-paid Life Insurance, Short Term Disability, and Long Term Disability
• 401(k) Employer match
• Flexible spending accounts (FSA) for qualified Medical, Dependent Care, Parking, or Transit expenses
• Flexible paid time off (PTO) policy, holidays and sick time
• Generous Parental Leave
• State-of-the-art office in the historic Old Post Office building in downtown Chicago, close to multiple Metra and CTA options, and amenities such as a food court, onsite gym, and communal rooftop space
• Discounts on Home Chef meal kits and at Kroger stores
• Casual dress in a fun, friendly, and collaborative work environment

Candidates can experience Home Chef as a customer - enter promo code PEOPLE30 for $30 off your first order!
How We Work Together
We are humble team players.
We are warm and gracious with team members and customers. We seek feedback to improve ourselves - and respectfully listen to and accept input.
We are pragmatic next-level thinkers.
We come up with novel and unique ideas. We explore new strategies to avoid being constrained by conventional thinking.
We take ownership.
We approach ambiguous problems, prepared to dive in, get curious, and learn more. We are results-driven, always challenging ourselves to exceed goals.
Be at Home at Home Chef
We all show up authentically at Home Chef. Our team includes individuals with a variety of identities, backgrounds, and perspectives. You can trust that you'll be able to bring your whole self to an inclusive and enjoyable workplace.
We welcome people of all races, colors, religions, national origin or ancestry, sex (including sexual identity), age, physical or mental disabilities, pregnancy, veteran or military status, unfavorable discharge from military service, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, order of protection status, citizenship status, arrest record or expunged/sealed convictions, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law.
Home Chef is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Home Chef will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact our People team at hr@homechef.com.
Home Chef is an equal opportunity employer.
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